U.C.C. § 9-334 — Priority of Security Interests in Fixtures and Crops

Editorial note. A security interest in fixtures may be perfected by an ordinary Article 9 filing (with priority under § 9-334(c)) or by a fixture filing in the real-property records (with priority under § 9-334(d)–(h)). A PMSI in fixtures perfected by fixture filing within the statutory grace period primes a prior-recorded real-property mortgage (§ 9-334(d)).

Editorial note. Section 9-334 is the fixture-priority engine of American secured finance. It resolves the recurrent tension between Article 9's chattel filing system and the real-property recording system without displacing the state-law definition of 'fixture.'

Editorial note. Fixture-priority litigation is common in commercial-real-estate insolvency. The character of the goods (fixture vs. chattel) is a matter of state real-property law; the priority once fixture status is established is governed by § 9-334.

Editorial note. See U.C.C. §§ 9-102(a)(41) ('fixture' defined); 9-501 (filing office); 2-107 (goods to be severed from realty); Restatement (Third) of Property: Mortgages § 4.6 (fixtures).

Editorial note. A fixture financer must file a fixture filing in the real-property records to obtain § 9-334(d) super-priority. An ordinary Article 9 filing perfects the interest against many claimants but does not prime a prior-recorded real-property mortgage.