Study Secured Transactions with expertly written law school outlines available in Full, Cram, and Bar exam formats.
Secured Transactions is the UCC Article 9 course — the uniform framework for security interests in personal property. Our outline walks through the lifecycle of a secured transaction step by step. Scope and definitions come first: what counts as a security interest, the categories of collateral (goods broken into consumer goods, equipment, farm products, and inventory; quasi-tangible collateral like chattel paper, documents, and instruments; and intangibles like accounts, general intangibles, and deposit accounts). Attachment under §9-203 requires value, debtor rights in the collateral, and an authenticated security agreement (or possession/control in lieu of an agreement for certain collateral types). Perfection is covered comprehensively — by filing a financing statement under §9-502, by possession (pledge) for goods and instruments, by control for deposit accounts and investment property, and automatic perfection for purchase-money security interests in consumer goods. Priority rules are the bulk of the course: first-to-file-or-perfect, the PMSI super-priority (nine-factor compliance for inventory, twenty-day grace period for non-inventory goods), the interaction between secured parties and lien creditors, trustees in bankruptcy under §544(a), and the rights of buyers (buyer in the ordinary course under §9-320(a), garage-sale buyers of consumer goods under §9-320(b)). Proceeds, commingling, and tracing are covered. Default and enforcement address the secured party's self-help repossession right under §9-609, commercially reasonable disposition under §9-610, strict foreclosure under §9-620, redemption, and deficiency calculations. Available in Full, Cram, and Bar formats. Connects to Contracts, Business Associations, and Remedies. Search terms: PMSI purchase money security interest, Article 9 attachment, perfection by filing, buyer in ordinary course, financing statement UCC-1, commercially reasonable disposition.