27 V.S.A. § 1565: Evidence of unpaid debt or undischarged obligation

(a) A record of a putative holder showing an unpaid debt or undischarged obligation is prima facie evidence of the debt or obligation.

(b) A putative holder may establish by a preponderance of the evidence that there is no unpaid debt or undischarged obligation for a debt or obligation described in subsection (a) of this section or that the debt or obligation was not, or no longer is, a fixed and certain obligation of the putative holder.

(c) A putative holder may overcome prima facie evidence under subsection (a) of this section by establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that a check, draft, or similar instrument was:

(1) issued as an unaccepted offer in settlement of an unliquidated amount;

(2) issued but later was replaced with another instrument because the earlier instrument was lost or contained an error that was corrected;

(3) issued to a party affiliated with the issuer;

(4) paid, satisfied, or discharged;

(5) issued in error;

(6) issued without consideration;

(7) issued but there was a failure of consideration;

(8) voided not later than 90 days after issuance for a valid business reason set forth in a contemporaneous record; or

(9) issued but not delivered to the third-party payee for a sufficient reason recorded within a reasonable time after issuance.

(d) In asserting a defense under this section, a putative holder may present evidence of a course of dealing between the putative holder and the apparent owner or of custom and practice.