Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 1303
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 1303.03 (2026)

Negotiable instrument - UCC 3-104

✓ current as of May 2026
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Effective:
August 19, 1994
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 147 - 120th General Assembly
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(A) Except as provided in divisions (C) and (D) of this section, "negotiable instrument" means an unconditional promise or order to pay a fixed amount of money, with or without interest or other charges described in the promise or order, if it meets all of the following requirements:

(1) It is payable to bearer or to order at the time it is issued or first comes into possession of a holder.

(2) It is payable on demand or at a definite time.

(3) It does not state any other undertaking or instruction by the person promising or ordering payment to do any act in addition to the payment of money, but the promise or order may contain any of the following:

(a) An undertaking or power to give, maintain, or protect collateral to secure payment;

(b) An authorization or power to the holder to confess judgment or realize on or dispose of collateral;

(c) A waiver of the benefit of any law intended for the advantage or protection of an obligor.

(B) "Instrument" means a negotiable instrument.

(C) An order that meets all of the requirements of divisions (A)(2) and (3) of this section and otherwise falls within the definition of "check" is a negotiable instrument and a check.

(D) A promise or order other than a check is not an instrument if, at the time it is issued or first comes into possession of a holder, it contains a conspicuous statement, however expressed, to the effect that the promise or order is not negotiable or is not an instrument governed by this chapter.

(E)(1) "Note" means an instrument that is a promise.

(2) "Draft" means an instrument that is an order.

(3) If an instrument is both a "note" and a "draft," a person entitled to enforce the instrument may treat it as either.

(F) "Check" means either of the following:

(1) A draft, other than a documentary draft, payable on demand and drawn on a bank;

(2) A cashier's check or teller's check.

An instrument may be a "check" even though it is described on its face as a "money order" or by another term.

(G) "Cashier's check" means a draft with respect to which the drawer and drawee are the same bank or branches of the same bank.

(H) "Teller's check" means a draft drawn by a bank on another bank or payable at or through a bank.

(I) "Traveler's check" means an instrument that meets all of the following conditions:

(1) It is payable on demand.

(2) It is drawn on or payable at or through a bank.

(3) It is designated by the term "traveler's check" or by a substantially similar term.

(4) It requires, as a condition to payment, a countersignature by a person whose specimen signature appears on the instrument.

(J) "Certificate of deposit" means an instrument containing an acknowledgment by a bank that a sum of money has been received by the bank and a promise by the bank to repay the sum of money. A "certificate of deposit" is a note of the bank.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 64 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1968–2025 · leading case: Deutsche Bank Natl. Trust Co. v. Najar, 2013 Ohio 1657 (Ohio Ct. App. 2013).
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Deutsche Bank Natl. Trust Co. v. Najar, 2013 Ohio 1657 (Ohio Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 6× “Negotiability of the Note {¶45} R.C. 1303.03 sets forth the requirements for a “negotiable instrument.”
Bank of Am., N.A. v. Pasqualone, 2013 Ohio 5795 (Ohio Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 4× “97590, 2012-Ohio-3455, ¶ 17 (holding that a note "contain[ed] the indicia generally found in a negotiable instrument as defined by R.C. 1303.03," where it provided for a fixed amount of money to be paid, plus interest, to a specific individual, at a specific date); Parmore Group…”
Silliman v. Nebraska Higher Educ. Loan Prog. (In Re Silliman), 144 B.R. 748 (Bankr. N.D. Ohio 1992). · cites it 4× “Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 1303.03 (A)(1) (Anderson 1979).”
Fed. Land Bank v. Taggart, 508 N.E.2d 152 (Ohio 1987). · cites it 3× “The instrument must be a negotiable instrument as set forth in R.C. 1303.03 (UCC 3-104). 2 Although there is disagreement as to the capacity in which appellee signed, there is no disagreement among the parties in the present case that the promissory note is “signed by the…”
Nationstar Mtge., L.L.C. v. West, 2014 Ohio 735 (Ohio Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 3× “{¶ 27} Initially, we note that if a note is negotiable under R.C. 1303.03(A), R.C. Chapter 1303 will apply.”
Ransier v. McFarland (In Re McFarland), 170 B.R. 613 (Bankr. S.D. Ohio 1994). · cites it 2× “The certificate of deposit at issue, in the amount of $150,000, was payable to Dan McFarland or Phyllis McFarland.”
In Re Smoak, 461 B.R. 510 (Bankr. S.D. Ohio 2011). · cites it 2× “See also Ohio Revised Code § 1303.03(A) for the definition of a negotiable instrument.”
In Re Wells, 407 B.R. 873 (Bankr. N.D. Ohio 2009). · cites it 2× “A “person” under Ohio Rev.Code § 1301.01 "includes an individual or an organization.”
Buckeye Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. Guirlinger, 581 N.E.2d 1352 (Ohio 1991). · cites it 2× “R.C. 1303.03 provides as follows: “(A) Any writing to be a negotiable instrument within sections 1303.”
Jamison v. Soc'y Nat'l Bank, 611 N.E.2d 307 (Ohio 1993). · cites it 3× “01(A)(9) defines “instrument” as a: “ * * * [Negotiable instrument as defined in section 1303.03 of the Revised Code, * * * or any other writing which evidences a right to the payment of money and is not itself a security agreement or lease and is of a type which is in ordinary…”
Klingshirn v. Westview Concrete Corp., 680 N.E.2d 691 (Ohio Ct. App. 1996). “]” R.C. 1303.03(A). The coupons fulfill these criteria.”
Franke v. Third Nat'l Bank & Trust Co., 509 N.E.2d 955 (Ohio Ct. App. 1986). · cites it 2× “01 of the Revised Code, or any other writing which evidences a right to the payment of money and is not itself a security agreement or lease and is of a type which is in ordinary course of business transferred by delivery with any necessary indorsement or assignment.”
Show all 64 citing cases →
— Ohio Rev. Code § 1303.03(A) — 30 cases
Deutsche Bank Natl. Trust Co. v. Najar, 2013 Ohio 1657 (Ohio Ct. App. 2013). “Negotiability of the Note {¶45} R.C. 1303.03 sets forth the requirements for a “negotiable instrument.”
Nationstar Mtge., L.L.C. v. West, 2014 Ohio 735 (Ohio Ct. App. 2014). “{¶ 27} Initially, we note that if a note is negotiable under R.C. 1303.03(A), R.C. Chapter 1303 will apply.”
Bank of Am., N.A. v. Pasqualone, 2013 Ohio 5795 (Ohio Ct. App. 2013). “97590, 2012-Ohio-3455, ¶ 17 (holding that a note "contain[ed] the indicia generally found in a negotiable instrument as defined by R.C. 1303.03," where it provided for a fixed amount of money to be paid, plus interest, to a specific individual, at a specific date); Parmore Group…”
Klingshirn v. Westview Concrete Corp., 680 N.E.2d 691 (Ohio Ct. App. 1996). “]” R.C. 1303.03(A). The coupons fulfill these criteria.”
Meyers v. McGuire, 610 N.E.2d 542 (Ohio Ct. App. 1992).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 1303.03(A)(1) — 2 cases
Silliman v. Nebraska Higher Educ. Loan Prog. (In Re Silliman), 144 B.R. 748 (Bankr. N.D. Ohio 1992). “Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 1303.03 (A)(1) (Anderson 1979).”
G.F.D. Enter., Inc. v. Nye, 525 N.E.2d 10 (Ohio 1988).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 1303.03(A)(2) — 1 case
Smith v. Vaughn, 882 N.E.2d 941 (Ohio Ct. App. 2007).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 1303.03(A)(4) — 2 cases
Ransier v. McFarland (In Re McFarland), 170 B.R. 613 (Bankr. S.D. Ohio 1994). “The certificate of deposit at issue, in the amount of $150,000, was payable to Dan McFarland or Phyllis McFarland.”
Dryden v. Dryden, 621 N.E.2d 1216 (Ohio Ct. App. 1993).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 1303.03(B) — 4 cases
In Re Smoak, 461 B.R. 510 (Bankr. S.D. Ohio 2011). “See also Ohio Revised Code § 1303.03(A) for the definition of a negotiable instrument.”
First Nat'l Bank of Findlay v. Fulk, 566 N.E.2d 1270 (Ohio Ct. App. 1989).
Ohio Bureau of Workers' Comp. v. Key Bank Nat'l Ass'n, 748 N.E.2d 1189 (Ohio Ct. App. 2000).
Sandeep & Payal, Inc. v. Richmond, 2014 Ohio 76 (Ohio Ct. App. 2014).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 1303.03(B)(1) — 1 case
Nat'l City Bank v. Ohio Nat'l Life Assurance Corp., 676 N.E.2d 536 (Ohio Ct. App. 1996).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 1303.03(B)(2) — 1 case
Nat'l City Bank v. Ohio Nat'l Life Assurance Corp., 676 N.E.2d 536 (Ohio Ct. App. 1996).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 1303.03(B)(3) — 1 case
Witt v. Ward, 573 N.E.2d 201 (Ohio Ct. App. 1989).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 1303.03(B)(4) — 1 case
Huron Cnty. Banking Co., N.A. v. Knallay, 489 N.E.2d 1049 (Ohio Ct. App. 1984).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 1303.03(C) — 3 cases
Jamison v. Soc'y Nat'l Bank, 611 N.E.2d 307 (Ohio 1993). “01(A)(9) defines “instrument” as a: “ * * * [Negotiable instrument as defined in section 1303.03 of the Revised Code, * * * or any other writing which evidences a right to the payment of money and is not itself a security agreement or lease and is of a type which is in ordinary…”
Jamison v. Soc. Natl. Bank, 1993 Ohio 167 (Ohio 1993).
Gallwitz v. Novel, 2011 Ohio 297 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 1303.03(D) — 2 cases
Bank of Am., N.A. v. Pasqualone, 2013 Ohio 5795 (Ohio Ct. App. 2013). “97590, 2012-Ohio-3455, ¶ 17 (holding that a note "contain[ed] the indicia generally found in a negotiable instrument as defined by R.C. 1303.03," where it provided for a fixed amount of money to be paid, plus interest, to a specific individual, at a specific date); Parmore Group…”
Ohio Bureau of Workers' Comp. v. Key Bank Nat'l Ass'n, 748 N.E.2d 1189 (Ohio Ct. App. 2000).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 1303.03(E)(1) — 2 cases
Trinity Fin. v. D'Apolito, 2024 Ohio 825 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024).
Hanover v. Real Time Resolutions, Inc. (S.D. Ohio 2023).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 1303.03(G) — 1 case
Moyer v. Abbey Credit Union, Inc., 2020 Ohio 5410 (Ohio Ct. App. 2020).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 1303.03(J) — 1 case
Ohio Bureau of Workers' Comp. v. Key Bank Nat'l Ass'n, 748 N.E.2d 1189 (Ohio Ct. App. 2000).
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