Title 28, Commercial Instruments and Transactions. [Enacted title]

If an assignee named in an assignment for the benefit of creditors fails or refuses to comply with any of the requirements of sections 28-2103 and 28-2104 , a judge of the court having probate jurisdiction may, on the application of the assignor or a creditor interested in the as…

An assignee or trustee, after giving bond, shall collect and take into his possession all the property covered by the assignment, and to that end he may bring suit in his own name to recover debts due or property belonging to the assignor and embraced in the assignment. The court…

A provision in a voluntary assignment made for the payment of one debt or liability in preference to another is void, and all debts and liabilities within the provisions of the assignment shall be paid pro rata from the assets. This section does not affect the priority of liens a…

A proceeding instituted under this chapter by one or more creditors is deemed to be for the equal benefit of all creditors, but the court may make such allowance to the creditor or creditors instituting the same, out of the fund to be distributed, or expenses, including counsel f…

This chapter does not prevent a creditor otherwise entitled from attacking an assignment as made to hinder or defraud the creditors of the assignor. When the court finds an assignment to have been made with that intent, it may enjoin any proceeding thereunder, and upon finally de…

The court shall require a trustee, whether named in the assignment or appointed by the court, in pursuance of this chapter, to give notice as the court may think proper to all the creditors of the assignor to produce and prove their respective claims against the assignor before t…

A judgment or money decree may be assigned in writing, and upon the assignment thereof being filed in the clerk’s office the assignee may maintain an action or sue out an execution on the judgment in his own name, as the original plaintiff might have done.

An obligee named in a bond or obligation under seal for the payment of money may assign it in writing and the assignee may maintain an action thereon in his own name.

An owner of a nonnegotiable written agreement for the payment of money, including a nonnegotiable bill of exchange and a promissory note, or for the delivery of personal property, an open account, debt, and demand of a liquidated character, except a claim against the United State…

In a general assignment which includes choses in action, it is not necessary to execute a separate assignment of each chose in action, but the assignee, by virtue of the general assignment, may sue in his own name on the several choses in action included therein.

(a) A contract attempting or purporting to transfer or assign salary or wages to be earned by the debtor, if made in the District of Columbia, is invalid and contrary to public policy and unenforceable, and if made outside the District of Columbia, is unenforceable in any court w…

A bond, when required by or referred to in this Code, means an obligation in a certain sum or penalty, subject to a condition, on breach of which it is to become absolute and enforceable by action. An undertaking means an agreement entered into by a party to a suit or proceeding,…

A bond in a penal sum, containing a condition that it shall be void on the payment of a certain sum of money, or the performance of an act or of certain duties, has the same effect for the purpose of maintaining an action upon it as if it contained a covenant to pay the money or …

When a bond is executed to the United States by a fiduciary or public officer, conditioned for the performance of certain duties, in the performance of which private persons are interested, a person aggrieved by a breach of the condition may maintain an action thereon in his own …

A person appointed by order or decree of the court to a fiduciary office may not discharge his bond for the due performance of his duties, by receipts, releases, or acquittances from himself, as attorney for parties interested, to himself as fiduciary; but the funds or estate for…

The following days in each year, namely, New Year’s Day, January 1; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, the third Monday in January; Washington’s Birthday, the third Monday in February; District of Columbia Emancipation Day, April 16; Memorial Day, the last Monday in May; Jun…

The standard time applicable in the District of Columbia shall be advanced by one hour from 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March of each year until 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday in November of each year and this time, known as daylight savings time, shall, during the period of…

In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) “assignment” includes a written stock power, bond power, bill of sale, deed, declaration of trust or other instrument of transfer; (2) “claim of beneficial interest” includes a claim of any interest by a decedent’s legat…

A corporation or transfer agent registering a security in the name of a person who is a fiduciary or who is described as a fiduciary is not bound to inquire into the existence, extent, or correct description of the fiduciary relationship, and thereafter the corporation and its tr…

Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, a corporation or transfer agent making a transfer of a security pursuant to an assignment by a fiduciary: (1) may assume without inquiry that the assignment, even though to the fiduciary himself or his nominee, is within his authority…

A corporation or transfer agent making a transfer pursuant to an assignment by a fiduciary who is not the registered owner shall require the following evidence of appointment or incumbency: (1) in the case of a fiduciary appointed or qualified by a court, a certificate issued by …

(a) A person asserting a claim of beneficial interest adverse to the transfer of a security pursuant to an assignment by a fiduciary may notify in writing the corporation or transfer agent of the claim. The corporation or transfer agent is not put on notice unless the written not…

A corporation or transfer agent does not incur liability to any person by making a transfer or otherwise acting in a manner authorized by this chapter.

(a) A person who participates in the acquisition, disposition, assignment or transfer of a security by or to a fiduciary including a person who guarantees the signature of the fiduciary is not liable for participation in any breach of fiduciary duty by reason of failure to inquir…

(a) The rights and duties of a corporation and its transfer agents in registering a security in the name of a fiduciary or in making a transfer of a security pursuant to an assignment by a fiduciary are governed by the law of the jurisdiction under whose laws the corporation is o…

This chapter does not affect any obligation of a corporation or transfer agent with respect to estate, inheritance, succession, or other taxes imposed by the laws of the District of Columbia.

(a) For the purposes of this chapter, the term: (1) "Account agreement" means an agreement that: (A) Is in a record between a bank and one or more depositors; (B) May have one or more beneficiaries as additional parties; and (C) States the intention of the parties to establish a …

(a) This chapter applies to a special deposit under an account agreement that states the intention of the parties to establish a special deposit governed by this chapter, regardless of whether a party to the account agreement or a transaction related to the special deposit, or th…

(a) The effect of §§ 28-2951 through 28-2955, §§ 28-2957 through 28-2960, and § 28-2963 may not be varied by agreement, except as provided in those sections. Subject to subsection (b) of this section, the effect of §§ 28-2956, 28-2961, and 28-2962 may be varied by agreement. (b) …

(a) A deposit is a special deposit if it is: (1) A deposit of funds in a bank under an account agreement; (2) For the benefit of at least 2 beneficiaries, one or more of which may be a depositor; (3) Denominated in a medium of exchange that is currently authorized or adopted by a…

(a) A special deposit must serve at least one permissible purpose stated in the account agreement from the time the special deposit is created in the account agreement until termination of the special deposit. (b) If, before termination of the special deposit, the bank or a court…

(a) Unless the account agreement provides otherwise, the bank is obligated to pay a beneficiary if there are sufficient actually and finally collected funds in the balance of the special deposit. (b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the obligation to pay the …

(a) Neither a depositor nor a beneficiary has a property interest in a special deposit. (b) Any property interest with respect to a special deposit is only in the right to receive payment if the bank is obligated to pay a beneficiary and not in the special deposit itself. Any pro…

(a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, creditor process with respect to a special deposit is not enforceable against the bank holding the special deposit. (b) Creditor process is enforceable against the bank holding a special deposit with respect to an amount the bank is …

A court may enjoin, or grant similar relief that would have the effect of enjoining, a bank from paying a depositor or beneficiary only if payment would constitute a material fraud or facilitate a material fraud with respect to a special deposit.

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) or (c) of this section, a bank may not exercise a right of recoupment or setoff against a special deposit. (b) An account agreement may authorize the bank to debit the special deposit: (1) When the bank becomes obligated to pay a beneficia…

(a) A bank does not have a fiduciary duty to any person with respect to a special deposit. (b) When the bank holding a special deposit becomes obligated to pay a beneficiary, a debtor-creditor relationship arises between the bank and beneficiary. (c) The bank holding a special de…

(a) Unless otherwise provided in the account agreement, a special deposit terminates 5 years after the date the special deposit was first funded. (b) Unless otherwise provided in the account agreement, if the bank cannot identify or locate a beneficiary entitled to payment when t…

Subtitle I of this title, District consumer protection law, District laws governing deposits generally, District law related to escheat and abandoned or unclaimed property, and the principles of law and equity, including law related to capacity to contract, principal and agent, e…

In applying and construing this chapter, consideration must be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law among jurisdictions that enact it.

(a) This chapter applies to: (1) A special deposit made under an account agreement executed on or after [February 3, 2026]; and (2) A deposit made under an agreement executed before [February 3, 2026], if: (A) All parties entitled to amend the agreement agree to make the deposit …

For the purposes of this chapter, the term: (1) “Affiliate” means: (A) A person who directly or indirectly owns, controls, or holds with power to vote 20% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the debtor, other than a person who holds the securities: (i) As a fiduciary …

(a) A debtor is insolvent if the sum of the debtor’s debts is greater than all of the debtor’s assets, at a fair valuation. (b) A debtor who is generally not paying his or her debts as they become due is presumed to be insolvent. (c) A partnership is insolvent under subsection (a…

(a) Value is given for a transfer or an obligation if, in exchange for the transfer or obligation, property is transferred, or an antecedent debt is secured or satisfied. Value does not include an unperformed promise made otherwise than in the ordinary course of the promisor’s bu…

(a) A transfer made, or obligation incurred, by a debtor is fraudulent as to a creditor, whether the creditor’s claim arose before or after the transfer was made or the obligation was incurred, if the debtor made the transfer or incurred the obligation: (1) With actual intent to …

(a) A transfer made, or obligation incurred, by a debtor is fraudulent as to a creditor whose claim arose before the transfer was made or the obligation was incurred if the debtor made the transfer or incurred the obligation without receiving a reasonably equivalent value in exch…