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PUBLIC LAWS OF MAINE
Second Regular Session of the 119th

PART 6
DEFAULT
SUBPART 1
DEFAULT AND ENFORCEMENT OF SECURITY INTEREST

§9-1601. Rights after default; judicial enforcement; consignor or buyer of accounts, chattel paper, payment intangibles or promissory notes

     (1) After default, a secured party has the rights provided in this part and, except as otherwise provided in section 9-1602, those provided by agreement of the parties. A secured party:

     (2) A secured party in possession of collateral or control of collateral under section 9-1104, 9-1105, 9-1106 or 9-1107 has the rights and duties provided in section 9-1207.

     (3) The rights under subsections (1) and (2) are cumulative and may be exercised simultaneously.

     (4) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (7) and section 9-1605, after default, a debtor and an obligor have the rights provided in this part and by agreement of the parties.

     (5) If a secured party has reduced its claim to judgment, the lien of any levy that may be made upon the collateral by virtue of an execution based upon the judgment relates back to the earliest of:

     (6) A sale pursuant to an execution is a foreclosure of the security interest or agricultural lien by judicial procedure within the meaning of this section. A secured party may purchase at the sale and thereafter hold the collateral free of any other requirements of this Article.

     (7) Except as otherwise provided in section 9-1607, subsection (3), this part imposes no duties upon a secured party that is a consignor or is a buyer of accounts, chattel paper, payment intangibles or promissory notes.

§9-1602. Waiver and variance of rights and duties

     Except as otherwise provided in section 9-1624, to the extent that they give rights to a debtor or obligor and impose duties on a secured party, the debtor or obligor may not waive or vary the rules stated in the following listed sections:

     (1) Section 9-1207, subsection (2), paragraph (d), subparagraph (iii), which deals with use and operation of the collateral by the secured party;

     (2) Section 9-1210, which deals with requests for an accounting and requests concerning a list of collateral and statement of account;

     (3) Section 9-1607, subsection (3), which deals with collection and enforcement of collateral;

     (4) Section 9-1608, subsection (1) and section 9-1615, subsection (3) to the extent that they deal with application or payment of noncash proceeds of collection, enforcement or disposition;

     (5) Section 9-1608, subsection (1) and section 9-1615, subsection (4) to the extent that they require accounting for or payment of surplus proceeds of collateral;

     (6) Section 9-1609 to the extent that it imposes upon a secured party that takes possession of collateral without judicial process the duty to do so without breach of the peace;

     (7) Section 9-1610, subsection (2) and sections 9-1611, 9-1613 and 9-1614, which deal with disposition of collateral;

     (8) Section 9-1615, subsection (6), which deals with calculation of a deficiency or surplus when a disposition is made to the secured party, a person related to the secured party or a secondary obligor;

     (9) Section 9-1616, which deals with explanation of the calculation of a surplus or deficiency;

     (10) Sections 9-1620, 9-1621 and 9-1622, which deal with acceptance of collateral in satisfaction of obligation;

     (11) Section 9-1623, which deals with redemption of collateral;

     (12) Section 9-1624, which deals with permissible waivers; and

     (13) Sections 9-1625 and 9-1626, which deal with the secured party's liability for failure to comply with this article.

§9-1603. Agreement on standards concerning rights and duties

     (1) The parties may determine by agreement the standards measuring the fulfillment of the rights of a debtor or obligor and the duties of a secured party under a rule stated in section 9-1602 if the standards are not manifestly unreasonable.

     (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the duty under section 9-1609 to refrain from breaching the peace.

§9-1604. Procedure if security agreement covers real property or fixtures

     (1) If a security agreement covers both personal and real property, a secured party may proceed:

     (2) Subject to subsection (3), if a security agreement covers goods that are or become fixtures, a secured party may proceed:

     (3) Subject to the other provisions of this part, if a secured party holding a security interest in fixtures has priority over all owners and encumbrancers of the real property, the secured party, after default, may remove the collateral from the real property.

     (4) A secured party that removes collateral shall promptly reimburse any encumbrancer or owner of the real property, other than the debtor, for the cost of repair of any physical injury caused by the removal. The secured party need not reimburse the encumbrancer or owner for any diminution in value of the real property caused by the absence of the goods removed or by any necessity of replacing them. A person entitled to reimbursement may refuse permission to remove until the secured party gives adequate assurance for the performance of the obligation to reimburse.

§9-1605. Unknown debtor or secondary obligor

     A secured party does not owe a duty based on its status as secured party:

     (1) To a person that is a debtor or obligor unless the secured party knows:

     (2) To a secured party or lienholder that has filed a financing statement against a person unless the secured party knows:

§9-1606. Time of default for agricultural lien

     For purposes of this part, a default occurs in connection with an agricultural lien at the time the secured party becomes entitled to enforce the lien in accordance with the statute under which it was created.

§9-1607. Collection and enforcement by secured party

     (1) If so agreed, and in any event after default, a secured party:

     (2) If necessary to enable a secured party to exercise under subsection (1), paragraph (c) the right of a debtor to enforce a mortgage nonjudicially, the secured party may record in the office in which a record of the mortgage is recorded:

     (3) A secured party shall proceed in a commercially reasonable manner if the secured party:

     (4) A secured party may deduct from the collections made pursuant to subsection (3) reasonable expenses of collection and enforcement, including reasonable attorney's fees and legal expenses incurred by the secured party.

     (5) This section does not determine whether an account debtor, bank or other person obligated on collateral owes a duty to a secured party.

§9-1608. Application of proceeds of collection or enforcement; liability for deficiency and right to surplus

     (1) If a security interest or agricultural lien secures payment or performance of an obligation, the following rules apply.

     (2) If the underlying transaction is a sale of accounts, chattel paper, payment intangibles or promissory notes, the debtor is not entitled to any surplus, and the obligor is not liable for any deficiency.

§9-1609. Secured party's right to take possession after default

     (1) After default, a secured party:

     (2) A secured party may proceed under subsection (1):

     (3) If so agreed, and in any event after default, a secured party may require the debtor to assemble the collateral and make it available to the secured party at a place to be designated by the secured party that is reasonably convenient to both parties.

§9-1610. Disposition of collateral after default

     (1) After default, a secured party may sell, lease, license or otherwise dispose of any or all of the collateral in its present condition or following any commercially reasonable preparation or processing.

     (2) Every aspect of a disposition of collateral, including the method, manner, time, place and other terms, must be commercially reasonable. If it is commercially reasonable, a secured party may dispose of collateral by public or private proceedings, by one or more contracts, as a unit or in parcels and at any time and place and on any terms.

     (3) A secured party may purchase collateral:

     (4) A contract for sale, lease, license or other disposition includes the warranties relating to title, possession, quiet enjoyment and the like that by operation of law accompany a voluntary disposition of property of the kind subject to the contract.

     (5) A secured party may disclaim or modify warranties under subsection (4):

     (6) A record is sufficient to disclaim warranties under subsection (5) if it indicates "There is no warranty relating to title, possession, quiet enjoyment or the like in this disposition" or uses words of similar import.

§9-1611. Notification before disposition of collateral

     (1) In this section, "notification date" means the earlier of the date on which:

     (2) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (4), a secured party that disposes of collateral under section 9-1610 shall send to the persons specified in subsection (3) a reasonable authenticated notification of disposition.

     (3) To comply with subsection (2), the secured party shall send an authenticated notification of disposition to:

     (4) Subsection (2) does not apply if the collateral is perishable or threatens to decline speedily in value or is of a type customarily sold on a recognized market.

     (5) A secured party complies with the requirement for notification prescribed by subsection (3), paragraph (c), subparagraph (ii) if:

§9-1612. Timeliness of notification before disposition of collateral

     (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2), whether a notification is sent within a reasonable time is a question of fact.

     (2) In a transaction other than a consumer transaction, a notification of disposition sent after default and 10 days or more before the earliest time of disposition set forth in the notification is sent within a reasonable time before the disposition.

§9-1613. Contents and form of notification before disposition of collateral: general

     Except in a consumer-goods transaction, the following rules apply.

     (1) The contents of a notification of disposition are sufficient if the notification:

     (2) Whether the contents of a notification that lacks any of the information specified in subsection (1) are nevertheless sufficient is a question of fact.

     (3) The contents of a notification providing substantially the information specified in subsection (1) are sufficient, even if the notification includes:

     (4) A particular phrasing of the notification is not required.

     (5) The following form of notification or the form appearing in section 9-1614, subsection (3), when completed, provides sufficient information:

     NOTIFICATION OF DISPOSITION OF COLLATERAL

To:

[Name of debtor, obligor or other person to which the notification is sent]

From:

[Name, address, and telephone number of secured party]

Name of Debtor(s):

[Include only if debtor(s) not addressee]

[For a public disposition:]
We will sell [or lease or license, as applicable] the [describe collateral] [to the highest qualified bidder] in public as follows:

Day and Date:

Time:

Place:

[For a private disposition:]
We will sell [or lease or license, as applicable] the [describe collateral] privately sometime after [day and date].

You are entitled to an accounting of the unpaid indebtedness secured by the property that we intend to sell [or lease or license, as applicable] [for a charge of $ ]. You may request an accounting by calling us at [telephone number].

[End of Form]

§9-1614. Contents and form of notification before disposition of collateral: consumer-goods transaction

     In a consumer-goods transaction, the following rules apply.

     (1) A notification of disposition must provide the following information:

     (2) A particular phrasing of the notification is not required.

     (3) The following form of notification, when completed, provides sufficient information.

     [Name and or addresses of intended recipient]

     [Date]

NOTICE OF OUR PLAN TO SELL PROPERTY

[Name and address of any obligor who is also a debtor]
Subject: [Identification of Transaction]
We have your [describe collateral] because you broke promises in our agreement.
[For a public disposition:]
We will sell [describe collateral] at public sale. A sale could include a lease or license. The sale will be held as follows.

     Date:

     Time:

     Place:

You may attend the sale and bring bidders if you want.
[For a private disposition:]
We will sell [describe collateral] at private sale sometime after [date]. A sale could include a lease or license.
The money that we get from the sale (after paying our costs) will reduce the amount you owe. If we get less money than you owe, you [will or will not, as applicable] still owe us the difference. If we get more money than you owe, you will get the extra money unless we must pay it to someone else.
You can get the property back at any time before we sell it by paying us the full amount you owe (not just the past due payments), including our expenses. To learn the exact amount you must pay, call us at [telephone number].
If you want us to explain to you in writing how we have figured the amount that you owe us, you may call us at [telephone number] [or write us at [secured party's address]] and request a written explanation.
If you need more information about the sale, call us at [telephone number] [or write us at [secured party's address]].
We are sending this notice to the following other people who have an interest in [describe collateral] or who owe money under your agreement.
[Names of all other debtors and obligors, if any]

[End of Form]

     (4) A notification in the form of subsection (3) is sufficient, even if additional information appears at the end of the form.

     (5) A notification in the form of subsection (3) is sufficient, even if it includes errors in information not required by subsection (1), unless the error is misleading with respect to rights arising under this Article.

     (6) If a notification under this section is not in the form of subsection (3), law other than this Article determines the effect of including information not required by subsection (1).

§9-1615. Application of proceeds of disposition; liability for deficiency and right to surplus

     (1) A secured party shall apply or pay over for application the cash proceeds of disposition under section 9-1610 in the following order to:

     (2) If requested by a secured party, a holder of a subordinate security interest or other lien shall furnish reasonable proof of the interest or lien within a reasonable time. Unless the holder does so, the secured party need not comply with the holder's demand under subsection (1), paragraph (c).

     (3) A secured party need not apply or pay over for application noncash proceeds of disposition under section 9-1610 unless the failure to do so would be commercially unreasonable. A secured party that applies or pays over for application noncash proceeds shall do so in a commercially reasonable manner.

     (4) If the security interest under which a disposition is made secures payment or performance of an obligation, after making the payments and applications required by subsection (1) and permitted by subsection (3):

     (5) If the underlying transaction is a sale of accounts, chattel paper, payment intangibles or promissory notes:

     (6) The surplus or deficiency following a disposition is calculated based on the amount of proceeds that would have been realized in a disposition complying with this part to a transferee other than the secured party, a person related to the secured party or a secondary obligor if:

     (7) A secured party that receives cash proceeds of a disposition in good faith and without knowledge that the receipt violates the rights of the holder of a security interest or other lien that is not subordinate to the security interest or agricultural lien under which the disposition is made:

§9-1616. Explanation of calculation of surplus or deficiency

     (1) In this section:

     (2) In a consumer-goods transaction in which the debtor is entitled to a surplus or a consumer obligor is liable for a deficiency under section 9-1615, the secured party shall:

     (3) To comply with subsection (1), paragraph (a), subparagraph (ii), a writing must provide the following information in the following order:

     (4) A particular phrasing of the explanation is not required. An explanation complying substantially with the requirements of subsection (1) is sufficient, even if it includes minor errors that are not seriously misleading.

     (5) A debtor or consumer obligor is entitled without charge to one response to a request under this section during any 6-month period in which the secured party did not send to the debtor or consumer obligor an explanation pursuant to subsection (2), paragraph (a).

§9-1617. Rights of transferee of collateral

     (1) A secured party's disposition of collateral after default:

     (2) A transferee that acts in good faith takes free of the rights and interests described in subsection (1), even if the secured party fails to comply with this Article or the requirements of any judicial proceeding.

     (3) If a transferee does not take free of the rights and interests described in subsection (1), the transferee takes the collateral subject to:

§9-1618. Rights and duties of certain secondary obligors

     (1) A secondary obligor acquires the rights and becomes obligated to perform the duties of the secured party after the secondary obligor:

     (2) An assignment, transfer or subrogation described in subsection (1):

§9-1619. Transfer of record or legal title

     (1) In this section, "transfer statement" means a record authenticated by a secured party stating:

     (2) A transfer statement entitles the transferee to the transfer of record of all rights of the debtor in the collateral specified in the statement in any official filing, recording, registration or certificate-of-title system covering the collateral. If a transfer statement is presented with the applicable fee and request form to the official or office responsible for maintaining the system, the official or office shall:

     (3) A transfer of the record or legal title to collateral to a secured party under subsection (2) or otherwise is not of itself a disposition of collateral under this Article and does not of itself relieve the secured party of its duties under this Article.

§9-1620. Acceptance of collateral in full or partial satisfaction of obligation; compulsory disposition of collateral

     (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (7), a secured party may accept collateral in full or partial satisfaction of the obligation it secures only if:

     (2) A purported or apparent acceptance of collateral under this section is ineffective unless:

     (3) For purposes of this section:

     (4) To be effective under subsection (1), paragraph (b), a notification of objection must be received by the secured party:

     (5) A secured party that has taken possession of collateral shall dispose of the collateral pursuant to section 9-1610 within the time specified in subsection (6) if:

     (6) To comply with subsection (5), the secured party shall dispose of the collateral:

     (7) In a consumer transaction, a secured party may not accept collateral in partial satisfaction of the obligation it secures.

§9-1621. Notification of proposal to accept collateral

     (1) A secured party that desires to accept collateral in full or partial satisfaction of the obligation it secures shall send its proposal to:

     (2) A secured party that desires to accept collateral in partial satisfaction of the obligation it secures shall send its proposal to any secondary obligor in addition to the persons described in subsection (1).

§9-1622. Effect of acceptance of collateral

     (1) A secured party's acceptance of collateral in full or partial satisfaction of the obligation it secures:

     (2) A subordinate interest is discharged or terminated under subsection (1), even if the secured party fails to comply with this Article.

§9-1623. Right to redeem collateral

     (1) A debtor, any secondary obligor or any other secured party or lienholder may redeem collateral.

     (2) To redeem collateral, a person shall tender:

     (3) A redemption may occur at any time before a secured party:

§9-1624. Waiver

     (1) A debtor or secondary obligor may waive the right to notification of disposition of collateral under section 9-1611 only by an agreement to that effect entered into and authenticated after default.

     (2) A debtor may waive the right to require disposition of collateral under section 9-1620, subsection (5) only by an agreement to that effect entered into and authenticated after default.

     (3) Except in a consumer-goods transaction, a debtor or secondary obligor may waive the right to redeem collateral under section 9-1623 only by an agreement to that effect entered into and authenticated after default.

SUBPART 2
NONCOMPLIANCE WITH ARTICLE

§9-1625. Remedies for secured party's failure to comply with Article

     (1) If it is established that a secured party is not proceeding in accordance with this Article, a court may order or restrain collection, enforcement or disposition of collateral on appropriate terms and conditions.

     (2) Subject to subsections (3), (4) and (6), a person is liable for damages in the amount of any loss caused by a failure to comply with this Article. Loss caused by a failure to comply may include loss resulting from the debtor's inability to obtain, or increased costs of, alternative financing.

     (3) Except as otherwise provided in section 9-1628:

     (4) A debtor whose deficiency is eliminated under section 9-1626 may recover damages for the loss of any surplus. However, a debtor or secondary obligor whose deficiency is eliminated or reduced under Section 9-1626 may not otherwise recover under subsection (2) for noncompliance with the provisions of this part relating to collection, enforcement, disposition or acceptance.

     (5) In addition to any damages recoverable under subsection (2), the debtor, consumer obligor or person named as a debtor in a filed record, as applicable, may recover $500 in each case from a person that:

     (6) A debtor or consumer obligor may recover damages under subsection (2) and, in addition, $500 in each case from a person that, without reasonable cause, fails to comply with a request under section 9-1210. A recipient of a request under section 9-1210 that never claimed an interest in the collateral or obligations that are the subject of a request under that section has a reasonable excuse for failure to comply with the request within the meaning of this subsection.

     (7) If a secured party fails to comply with a request regarding a list of collateral or a statement of account under section 9-1210, the secured party may claim a security interest only as shown in the list or statement included in the request as against a person that is reasonably misled by the failure.

§9-1626. Action in which deficiency or surplus is in issue

     (1) In an action arising from a transaction, other than a consumer transaction, in which the amount of a deficiency or surplus is in issue, the following rules apply.

     (2) In an action arising from a consumer transaction in which the amount of a deficiency or surplus is in issue, the following rules apply.

§9-1627. Determination of whether conduct was commercially reasonable

     (1) The fact that a greater amount could have been obtained by a collection, enforcement, disposition or acceptance at a different time or in a different method from that selected by the secured party is not of itself sufficient to preclude the secured party from establishing that the collection, enforcement, disposition or acceptance was made in a commercially reasonable manner.

     (2) A disposition of collateral is made in a commercially reasonable manner if the disposition is made:

     (3) A collection, enforcement, disposition or acceptance is commercially reasonable if it has been approved:

     (4) Approval under subsection (3) need not be obtained, and lack of approval does not mean that the collection, enforcement, disposition or acceptance is not commercially reasonable.

§9-1628. Nonliability and limitation on liability of secured party; liability of secondary obligor

     (1) Unless a secured party knows that a person is a debtor or obligor, knows the identity of the person and knows how to communicate with the person:

     (2) A secured party is not liable because of its status as secured party:

     (3) A secured party is not liable to any person, and a person's liability for a deficiency is not affected because of any act or omission arising out of the secured party's reasonable belief that a transaction is not a consumer-goods transaction or a consumer transaction or that goods are not consumer goods, if the secured party's belief is based on its reasonable reliance on:

     (4) A secured party is not liable to any person under section 9-1625, subsection (3), paragraph (b) for its failure to comply with section 9-1616.

     (5) A secured party is not liable under section 9-1625, subsection (3), paragraph (b) more than once with respect to any one secured obligation.

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