Code of Alabama
Ala. Code § 8-5-20 (2026)
Bonds, Contracts, Writings for Payment of Money, Etc., Assignable by Endorsement.
✓ official Alabama Legislature (ALISON) text, current July 2026
All bonds, writings, and contracts for the payment of money, or other thing, or the performance of any act or duty, are assignable by endorsement so as to authorize an action thereon by each successive endorsee.
(Code 1852, §1530; Code 1867, §1838; Code 1876, §2099; Code 1886, §1762; Code 1896, §876; Code 1907, §5158; Code 1923, §9231; Code 1940, T. 39, §200.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9
cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1981–2026 · leading case: Conf. Am. v. Telecom. Co-Op, 885 So. 2d 772 (Ala. 2004).
Conf. Am. v. Telecom. Co-Op, 885 So. 2d 772 (Ala. 2004). “[5] Ala.Code 1975, § 8-5-20, provides: " All bonds, writings, and contracts for the payment of money, or other thing, or the performance of any act or duty, are assignable by endorsement so as to authorize an action thereon by each successive endorsee.”
Cash v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 125 F. Supp. 2d 474 (M.D. Ala. 2000). “While Alabama law permits the assignment of contractual obligations and rights, see Ala.Code § 8-5-20 (1975), the statute must be read consistently with the Alabama Supreme Court’s unambiguous characterization of bad faith actions as tortious, rather than contractual in nature.”
Head v. S. Dev. Co., 614 So. 2d 1044 (Ala. 1993). “Alabama Code 1975, § 8-5-20, provides: “All bonds, writings and contracts for the payment of money, or other thing, or the performance of any act or duty, are assignable by endorsement so as to authorize an action thereon by each successive endorsee.”
Birmingham Trust Nat'l Bank v. Herren (In Re Herren), 10 B.R. 252 (Bankr. N.D. Ala. 1981). “Under § 8-5-20 of the Code, all bonds, writings and contracts for the payment of money, or other thing, or the performance of any act or duty, are assignable by endorsement so as to authorize an action thereon by each successive endorsee.”
First S. Dev. Corp. v. Chandler, 477 So. 2d 360 (Ala. 1985). “Code 1975, § 8-5-20. However, no Alabama court has ever construed these two clauses together to allow such action as has been taken here by a third-party assignee.”
Thomas v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co. (M.D. Ala. 2020). “See Ala. Code § 8-5-20 . While bad faith actions are somewhat founded in contractual duties, they nevertheless are characterized and treated as tort claims.”
Bennett v. CIT Bank, N.A. (N.D. Ala. 2021). “Fannie Mae points also to Ala. Code § 8-5-20 , which is contained in the chapter of the commercial code addressing “nonnegotiable instruments.”
Bennett v. CIT Bank, N.A. (N.D. Ala. 2021). “” Ala. Code § 8-5-20 ; see also, Conf. Am., Inc.”
Thuston (N.D. Ala. 2026). “In addition, Thuston relies on Alabama Code § 8-5-20 for the proposition that “[b]reach of contract claims are assignable under Alabama law,” but this statute applies to nonnegotiable instruments and is a component of Title 8.”
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