(a) Sufficiency of description.  Except as otherwise provided in subsections (c), (d), and (e), a description of personal or real property is sufficient, whether or not it is specific, if it reasonably identifies what is described.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 6A-9-108

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
  • Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. Source: OCC

(b) Examples of reasonable identification.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection (d), a description of collateral reasonably identifies the collateral if it identifies the collateral by:

(1)  specific listing;

(2)  category;

(3)  except as otherwise provided in subsection (e), a type of collateral defined in the Uniform Commercial Code;

(4)  quantity;

(5)  computational or allocational formula or procedure; or

(6)  except as otherwise provided in subsection (c), any other method, if the identity of the collateral is objectively determinable.

(c) Supergeneric description not sufficient.  A description of collateral as “all the debtor’s assets” or “all the debtor’s personal property” or using words of similar import does not reasonably identify the collateral.

(d) Investment property.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection (e), a description of a security entitlement, securities account, or commodity account is sufficient if it describes:

(1)  the collateral by those terms or as investment property; or

(2)  the underlying financial asset or commodity contract.

(e) When description by type insufficient.  A description only by type of collateral defined in the Uniform Commercial Code is an insufficient description of:

(1)  a commercial tort claim; or

(2)  in a consumer transaction, consumer goods, a security entitlement, a securities account, or a commodity account.

History of Section.
P.L. 2000, ch. 182, § 6; P.L. 2000, ch. 420, § 6.