Printable Format84-3-403. Unauthorized signature. (a) Unless otherwise provided in this article or article 4, an unauthorized signature is ineffective except as the signature of the unauthorized signer in favor of a person who in good faith pays the instrument or takes it for value. An unauthorized signature may be ratified for all purposes of this article.
(b) If the signature of more than one person is required to constitute the authorized signature of an organization, the signature of the organization is unauthorized if one of the required signatures is lacking.
(c) The civil or criminal liability of a person who makes an unauthorized signature is not affected by any provision of this article which makes the unauthorized signature effective for the purposes of this article.
History: L. 1991, ch. 296, § 40; February 1, 1992.
KANSAS COMMENT, 1996
This section is identical to the 1995 Official Text. This section is derived from the former 84-3-404 and 84-3-405(1)(c), with the addition of subsection (b). Historical case and statutory references can be obtained from the 1965 and 1983 bound volume 7 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated.
An unauthorized signature operates as the signature of the person signing the instrument, and that person has undertaken the obligations of the maker, drawer or indorser as the case may be, on behalf of those, in good faith, who pay or give value for the instrument. Subsection (b) defines the signature of a single person, where two are required by the organization, as an unauthorized signature. A single person signing an instrument for an organization requiring two signatures would be liable as the signer, and the duties and statute of limitations of 84-4-406 ("the bank statement rule") would apply to the instrument when returned to the organization.
Revisor's Note:
Former section 84-3-403 was repealed by L. 1991, ch. 296, § 111 and the number reassigned to the current text.
CASE ANNOTATIONS
1. Whether allegations employees knew of forgeries and retroactively adopted signatures stated claim for ratification examined. Deere and Co. v. Zahm, 837 F. Supp. 346, 353 (1993).