§ 680.180.Document of Title

A document of title -- a warehouse receipt or bill of lading, for instance -- represents goods without physically being the goods. This section pulls in the Commercial Code's definition wholesale, then adds one more layer: whether that document counts as negotiable, tested against the Commercial Code's own negotiability rule.

That negotiability question is not academic. A negotiable document of title generally has to be taken into the levying officer's possession before the underlying goods can be reached, much like currency or a bearer instrument, because whoever holds the document controls the goods it represents. A non-negotiable document does not carry that same possessory significance, so different levy mechanics apply.