2025 Session Last amended: 1989 session

§ 336.2A-305 — Sale or Sublease of Goods by Lessee

Plain-Language Summary

This section covers what happens when a lessee sells or subleases goods that the lessee is holding under an existing lease. A buyer or sublessee from the lessee generally takes only the leasehold interest the lessee had power to transfer and takes subject to the existing lease. A lessee with a voidable leasehold interest can still pass a good interest to a good faith buyer or sublessee for value, even if the goods were delivered after a mistaken identity, a dishonored check, or a fraud. If the lessor entrusted the goods to a lessee who is a merchant dealing in goods of that kind, a buyer or sublessee in the ordinary course of business takes the goods free of the existing lease, and rights in goods covered by a certificate of title are limited by both this section and the certificate of title law.

Practical Notes
A buyer or sublessee who takes goods from someone leasing them usually steps into only that lessee’s rights and stays bound by the original lease. The exception is when the lessor entrusted the goods to a lessee who is a merchant dealing in that kind of goods: then a buyer or sublessee in the ordinary course of business takes them free of the existing lease.