Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 554.3420 (2026)

Conversion of instrument

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section IA-LEGlegis.iowa.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

1. The law applicable to conversion of personal property applies to instruments. An instrument is also converted if it is taken by transfer, other than a negotiation, from a person not entitled to enforce the instrument or a bank makes or obtains payment with respect to the instrument for a person not entitled to enforce the instrument or receive payment. An action for conversion of an instrument may not be brought by the issuer or acceptor of the instrument or a payee or endorsee who did not receive delivery of the instrument either directly or through delivery to an agent or a co-payee.

2. In an action under subsection 1, the measure of liability is presumed to be the amount payable on the instrument, but recovery may not exceed the amount of the plaintiff’s interest in the instrument.\n\nTue Dec 09 22:02:41 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 554 (108, 4) §554.3420, UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE 78\n\n 3. A representative, other than a depositary bank, who has in good faith dealt with an instrument or its proceeds on behalf of one who was not the person entitled to enforce the instrument is not liable in conversion to that person beyond the amount of any proceeds that it has not paid out. 94 Acts, ch 1167, §67, 122; 2013 Acts, ch 30, §261 Referred to in §554.4203\n\n PART 5 DISHONOR \n

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 1 case, 1995–1995 · leading case: Willey v. Riley, 541 N.W.2d 521 (Iowa 1995).
Willey v. Riley, 541 N.W.2d 521 (Iowa 1995). · cites it 4× “The legislature also recently added Iowa Code section 554.3420 (1995), effective July 1, 1995, which is entitled "Conversion of an instrument.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.