Secured transactions in the United States

Last updated August 08, 2024

Secured transactions in the United States are an important part of the law and economy of the country. By enabling lenders to take a security interest in collateral (that is, the assets of debtors), the law of secured transactions provides lenders with assurance of legal relief in case of default by the borrower. The availability of such remedies encourages lenders to lend capital at lower interest rates, which in turn facilitates the free flow of credit and stimulates economic growth.

Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), as adopted by all fifty states, generally governs secured transactions where security interests are taken in personal property.^[1]¹ It regulates creation and enforcement of security interests in movable property, intangible property, and fixtures. UCC Article 9 replaced a wildly diverse array of security devices that had evolved in the various states during the 19th and early 20th centuries, in response to the reluctance of U.S. courts to enforce general nonpossessory security interests as either against public policy or because they were perceived as fraudulent conveyances.^[2] The drafters of UCC Article 9, particularly Grant Gilmore, successfully argued that since historical experience showed that disfavoring such security interests would not prevent creditors from requesting them or debtors from trying to give them by any means necessary, and because they were clearly economically useful, the better path was to develop a unified, simplified law of security interests.

Transactions where security interests are taken in real property are regulated not by Article 9, but by real property laws that vary among jurisdictions. However, the assignment or conveyance of a contract secured by real property may be regulated by Article 3 to the extent that the contract is a negotiable instrument. Both must be distinguished from a secured interest in a promissory note that is secured by a mortgage or deed of trust on real property, which is regulated by Article 9. This latter distinction is important in the context of the sale and purchase of promissory notes secured by real property.

There are a variety of situations in which this distinction is important. For example, a non-depository mortgage lender may fund their operations with a warehouse line of credit, while a distressed loan workout specialist may obtain a line of credit. The first makes loans for the purchase of real property; the second will acquire nonperforming loans at a discount from their face value (and then will either renegotiate them or foreclose on the underlying collateral). In either situation, the mortgage lender or workout specialist's interest in underlying real property collateral will be secured under state real property law. But their lender's interest in the notes secured by the underlying collateral will be secured under Article 9.

Security interests are particularly valuable in bankruptcy, because creditors who have security interests in a bankrupt debtor's estate take priority over creditors who lack such interests (unsecured creditors) in the distribution of the debtor's assets.

Attachment and perfection

A security interest becomes enforceable against the collateral as soon as it attaches. Attachment requires three things: (i) that the debtor have rights in the collateral or the power to convey rights; (ii) that value be given; and (iii) in most cases, that the debtor have authenticated a security agreement that adequately describes the collateral. See U.C.C. § 9-203. Subject to some minor restrictions relating to consumer goods and commercial tort claims, a security interest can encumber after-acquired property—that is, it can attach to property the debtor acquires after authentication of the security agreement. See U.C.C. § 9-204. Value can include a new loan or an old debt. See U.C.C. § 1-204.

Attachment of a security interest does not ensure that the secured party's interest in the collateral will be superior to the interest of other lienors or subsequent buyers, lessees, or licensee. In general, to obtain priority over such other claimants, the security interest must be "perfected." Although some security interests are perfected automatically upon attachment, see U.C.C. § 9-309, for most perfection must be achieved through compliance with statutory procedure designed to give the world notice that the collateral is encumbered. The most common method of perfection is through filing a financing statement (often referred to by its form number: UCC-1) in the appropriate state office (usually the office of the Secretary of State) in the U.S. state in which the debtor is located. See U.C.C. §§ 9-301, 9-310. For real property, the creditor records a security instrument such as a mortgage or deed of trust in the county where the real property is located.

Related Research Articles

The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), first published in 1952, is one of a number of uniform acts that have been established as law with the goal of harmonizing the laws of sales and other commercial transactions across the United States through UCC adoption by all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Territories of the United States.

A mortgage is a legal instrument of the common law which is used to create a security interest in real property held by a lender as a security for a debt, usually a mortgage loan. Hypothec is the corresponding term in civil law jurisdictions, albeit with a wider sense, as it also covers non-possessory lien.

A creditor or lender is a party that has a claim on the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. The first party, in general, has provided some property or service to the second party under the assumption that the second party will return an equivalent property and service. The second party is frequently called a debtor or borrower. The first party is called the creditor, which is the lender of property, service, or money.

A promissory note, sometimes referred to as a note payable, is a legal instrument, in which one party promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of money to the other, either at a fixed or determinable future time or on demand of the payee, under specific terms and conditions.

A bill of sale is a document that transfers ownership of goods from one person to another. It is used in situations where the former owner transfers possession of the goods to a new owner. Bills of sale may be used in a wide variety of transactions: to sell goods, exchange, give, or mortgage objects. They can be used only to transfer ownership of goods that people already own or to transfer ownership of moveable tangible goods and only by individuals and unincorporated businesses.

In the United States, bankruptcy is largely governed by federal law, commonly referred to as the "Bankruptcy Code" ("Code"). The United States Constitution authorizes Congress to enact "uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States". Congress has exercised this authority several times since 1801, including through adoption of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, as amended, codified in Title 11 of the United States Code and the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA).

Hypothec, sometimes tacit hypothec, is a term used in civil law systems or to refer to a registered real security of a creditor over real estate, but under some jurisdictions it may additionally cover ships only, as opposed to other collaterals, including corporeal movables other than ships, securities or intangible assets such intellectual property rights, covered by a different type of right (pledge). Common law has two main equivalents to the term: mortgages and non-possessory lien.

Repossession, colloquially repo, is a "self-help" type of action in which the party having right of ownership of a property takes the property in question back from the party having right of possession without invoking court proceedings. The property may then be sold by either the financial institution or third party sellers.

In finance, a floating charge is a security interest over a fund of changing assets of a company or other legal person. Unlike a fixed charge, which is created over ascertained and definite property, a floating charge is created over property of an ambulatory and shifting nature, such as receivables and stock.

In finance, a security interest is a legal right granted by a debtor to a creditor over the debtor's property which enables the creditor to have recourse to the property if the debtor defaults in making payment or otherwise performing the secured obligations. One of the most common examples of a security interest is a mortgage: a person borrows money from the bank to buy a house, and they grant a mortgage over the house so that if they default in repaying the loan, the bank can sell the house and apply the proceeds to the outstanding loan.

A security agreement, in the law of the United States, is a contract that governs the relationship between the parties to a kind of financial transaction known as a secured transaction. In a secured transaction, the Grantor assigns, grants and pledges to the grantee a security interest in personal property which is referred to as the collateral. Examples of typical collateral are shares of stock, livestock, and vehicles. A security agreement is not used to transfer any interest in real property, only personal property. The document used by lenders to obtain a lien on real property is a mortgage or deed of trust.

In law, perfection relates to the additional steps required to be taken in relation to a security interest in order to make it effective against third parties or to retain its effectiveness in the event of default by the grantor of the security interest. Generally speaking, once a security interest is effectively created, it gives certain rights to the holder of the security and imposes duties on the party who grants that security. However, in many legal systems, additional steps --- perfection of the security interest --- are required to enforce the security against third parties such as a liquidator.

A secured loan is a loan in which the borrower pledges some asset as collateral for the loan, which then becomes a secured debt owed to the creditor who gives the loan. The debt is thus secured against the collateral, and if the borrower defaults, the creditor takes possession of the asset used as collateral and may sell it to regain some or all of the amount originally loaned to the borrower. An example is the foreclosure of a home. From the creditor's perspective, that is a category of debt in which a lender has been granted a portion of the bundle of rights to specified property. If the sale of the collateral does not raise enough money to pay off the debt, the creditor can often obtain a deficiency judgment against the borrower for the remaining amount.

Chattel mortgage, sometimes abbreviated CM, is the legal term for a type of loan contract used in some states with legal systems derived from English law.

A secured transaction is a loan or a credit transaction in which the lender acquires a security interest in collateral owned by the borrower and is entitled to foreclose on or repossess the collateral in the event of the borrower's default. The terms of the relationship are governed by a contract, or security agreement. In the United States, secured transactions in personal property are governed by Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code (U.C.C.).

A deed of trust refers to a type of legal instrument which is used to create a security interest in real property and real estate. In a deed of trust, a person who wishes to borrow money conveys legal title in real property to a trustee, who holds the property as security for a loan (debt) from the lender to the borrower. The equitable title remains with the borrower. The borrower is referred to as the trustor, while the lender is referred to as the beneficiary.

A UCC-1 financing statement is a United States legal form that a creditor files to give notice that it has or may have an interest in the personal property of a debtor. This form is filed in order to "perfect" a creditor's security interest by giving public notice that there is a right to take possession of and sell certain assets for repayment of a specific debt with a certain priority. Such notices of sale are often found in the local newspapers. Once the form has been filed, the creditor establishes a relative priority with other creditors of the debtor. This process is also called "perfecting the security interest" in the property, and this type of loan is a secured loan. A financing statement may also be filed in the real estate records by a lessor of fixtures to establish the priority of the lessor's rights against a holder of a mortgage or other lien on the real property. The creditor's rights against the debtor and the lessor's rights against the lessee are based on the credit documents and the lease, respectively, and not the financing statement.

Strict foreclosure in the law of security interests in the United States, is the foreclosure of personal property that is subject to such an interest. This is permitted under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. The secured party in a strict foreclosure takes physical possession of collateral, and the debt for which the property served as collateral is discharged as fulfilled. Strict foreclosure is an effective remedy where the creditor has a need or use for the physical property itself. For example, a seller of goods that forecloses on goods in which it had a purchase money security interest (PMSI) may then return the foreclosed goods to its inventory and resell them at its leisure. Similarly, a company that operates equipment and sells some surplus equipment can put the foreclosed equipment back into the service of the company. Strict foreclosure is also an effective remedy where the value of the goods foreclosed is the equivalent of the debt due and owing, and the creditor can easily sell the goods for that value.

UCC Insurance generally insures the attachment, perfection and priority of security interests in personal property. UCC Insurance is utilized for transactions described in Article 9, "Secured Transactions", of the Uniform Commercial Code,"UCC". All of the larger land-title insurance companies now offer various versions of UCC insurance. The policies contain significant differences, but tend to serve the same purpose.

The Personal Property Security Act ("PPSA") is the name given to each of the statutes passed by all common law provinces, as well as the territories, of Canada that regulate the creation and registration of security interests in all personal property within their respective jurisdictions.

References

↑ The American Law Institute – UCC 2007 Edition (Official Text with Comments) product page Archived 2007-12-08 at the Wayback Machine . Accessed February 3, 2009.
↑ Grant Gilmore, Security Interests in Personal Property, vol. 1 (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1965), 24–25.

Notes

^1 Even Louisiana, much of whose commercial law is based on Continental civil law, and not on the Anglo-American common law from which the UCC ultimately derives, has adopted Article 9 to govern its secured transactions. See La. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 10, §§ 9-101 to -710 (West 2004).

External links

Charles W. Mooney Jr., "Relationship between the Prospective UNIDROIT International Registry, Revised Uniform Commercial Code Article 9 and National Civil Aviation Registries", 4 Unif. L. Rev. n.s. 335 (1999)

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[1] The American Law Institute – UCC 2007 Edition (Official Text with Comments) product page Archived 2007-12-08 at the Wayback Machine . Accessed February 3, 2009.

[2] Grant Gilmore, Security Interests in Personal Property, vol. 1 (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1965), 24–25.

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