examination, this Article redefines "debtor" and adds new |
defined terms, "secondary obligor" and "obligor." In the |
context of Part 6 (default and enforcement), these |
definitions distinguish among three classes of persons: (i) |
those persons who may have a stake in the proper enforcement |
of a security interest by virtue of their non-lien property |
interest (typically, an ownership interest) in the |
collateral, (ii) those persons who may have a stake in the |
proper enforcement of the security interest because of their |
obligation to pay the secured debt, and (iii) those persons |
who have an obligation to pay the secured debt but have no |
stake in the proper enforcement of the security interest. |
Persons in the first class are debtors. Persons in the |
second class are secondary obligors if any portion of the |
obligation is secondary or if the obligor has a right of |
recourse against the debtor or another obligor with respect |
to an obligation secured by collateral. One must consult |
the law of suretyship to determine whether an obligation is |
secondary. The Restatement (3d), Suretyship and Guaranty § |
1 (1996), contains a useful explanation of the concept. |
Obligors in the third class are neither debtors nor |
secondary obligors. With one exception (Section 9-616 |
[Maine cite section 9-1616], as it relates to a consumer |
obligor), the rights and duties in provided by Part 6 affect |
non-debtor obligors only if they are "secondary obligors." |