30-9A-334. Priority of security interests in fixtures and crops. (1) A security interest under this chapter may be created in goods that are fixtures or may continue in goods that become fixtures. A security interest does not exist under this chapter in ordinary building materials incorporated into an improvement on land.

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Terms Used In Montana Code 30-9A-334

  • Consumer goods: means goods that are used or bought for use primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. See Montana Code 30-9A-102
  • Debtor: means :

    (i)a person having a property interest, other than a security interest or other lien, in the collateral, whether or not the person is an obligor;

    (ii)a seller of accounts, chattel paper, payment intangibles, or promissory notes; or

    (iii)a consignee. See Montana Code 30-9A-102

  • Encumbrance: means a right, other than an ownership interest, in real property. See Montana Code 30-9A-102
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Fixture filing: means the filing of a financing statement covering goods that are or are to become fixtures and satisfying the requirements of 30-9A-502(1) and (2). See Montana Code 30-9A-102
  • Fixtures: means goods that have become so related to particular real property that an interest in them arises under real property law. See Montana Code 30-9A-102
  • Goods: means all things that are movable when a security interest attaches. See Montana Code 30-9A-102
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Manufactured home: means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, that in the traveling mode is 8 body feet or more in width or 40 body feet or more in length or that when erected on site is 320 or more square feet and that is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein. See Montana Code 30-9A-102
  • Manufactured-home transaction: means a secured transaction:

    (i)that creates a purchase-money security interest in a manufactured home, other than a manufactured home held as inventory; or

    (ii)in which a manufactured home, other than a manufactured home held as inventory, is the primary collateral. See Montana Code 30-9A-102

  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Mortgage: means a consensual interest in real property, including fixtures, that is created by a mortgage, trust deed, or similar transaction. See Montana Code 30-9A-102
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • Real property: means lands, tenements, hereditaments, and possessory title to public lands. See Montana Code 1-1-205
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.

(2)This chapter does not prevent creation of an encumbrance upon fixtures under real property law.

(3)In cases not governed by subsections (4) through (8), a security interest in fixtures is subordinate to a conflicting interest of an encumbrancer or owner of the related real property that is not the debtor.

(4)Except as otherwise provided in subsection (8), a perfected security interest in fixtures has priority over a conflicting interest of an encumbrancer or owner of the real property if the debtor has an interest of record in or is in possession of the real property and:

(a)the security interest is a purchase-money security interest;

(b)the interest of the encumbrancer or owner arises before the goods become fixtures; and

(c)the security interest is perfected by a fixture filing before the goods become fixtures or within 20 days thereafter.

(5)A perfected security interest in fixtures has priority over a conflicting interest of an encumbrancer or owner of the real property if:

(a)the debtor has an interest of record in the real property or is in possession of the real property and the security interest:

(i)is perfected by a fixture filing before the interest of the encumbrancer or owner is of record; and

(ii)the security interest has priority over any conflicting interest of a predecessor in title of the encumbrancer or owner;

(b)before the goods become fixtures, the security interest is perfected by any method permitted by this chapter and the fixtures are readily removable:

(i)factory or office machines;

(ii)equipment that is not primarily used or leased for use in the operation of the real property; or

(iii)replacements of domestic appliances that are consumer goods;

(c)the conflicting interest is a lien on the real property obtained by legal or equitable proceedings after the security interest was perfected by any method permitted by this chapter; or

(d)the security interest is:

(i)created in a manufactured home in a manufactured-home transaction; and

(ii)perfected pursuant to a statute described in 30-9A-311(1)(b).

(6)A security interest in fixtures, whether or not perfected, has priority over a conflicting interest of an encumbrancer or owner of the real property if:

(a)the encumbrancer or owner has, in an authenticated record, consented to the security interest or disclaimed an interest in the goods as fixtures; or

(b)the debtor has a right to remove the goods as against the encumbrancer or owner.

(7)The priority of the security interest under subsection (6) continues for a reasonable time if the debtor’s right to remove the goods as against the encumbrancer or owner terminates.

(8)A mortgage is a “construction mortgage” to the extent that it secures an obligation incurred for the construction of an improvement on land, including the acquisition cost of the land, if the recorded record so indicates. Except as otherwise provided in subsections (5) and (6), a security interest in fixtures is subordinate to a construction mortgage recorded before the goods become fixtures if the goods become fixtures before the completion of the construction. A mortgage has this priority to the same extent as a construction mortgage to the extent that it is given to refinance a construction mortgage.

(9)A perfected security interest in crops growing on real property has priority over a conflicting interest of an encumbrancer or owner of the real property if the debtor has an interest of record in or is in possession of the real property.

(10)Subsection (9) prevails over any inconsistent provisions of Title 71, chapter 3, parts 8 and 9.