California · Commercial Code

COM §9320: (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (e), a buyer in ordinary course of business takes free of a security interest created by the buyer’s seller, even if the security interest is perfected

What this law says, in plain English

A buyer purchasing goods in the normal course of business receives the goods free from security interests the seller created, even if those interests were properly recorded.

Read the full statutory text
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (e), a buyer in ordinary course of business takes free of a security interest created by the buyer’s seller, even if the security interest is perfected and the buyer knows of its existence. (b) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (e), a buyer of goods from a person who used or bought the goods for use primarily for personal, family, or household purposes takes free of a security interest, even if perfected, if all of the following conditions are satisfied: (1) The buyer buys without knowledge of the security interest. (2) The buyer buys for value. (3) The buyer buys primarily for the buyer’s personal, family, or household purposes. (4) The buyer buys before the filing of a financing statement covering the goods. (c) To the extent that it affects the priority of a security interest over a buyer of goods under subdivision (b), the period of effectiveness of a filing made in the jurisdiction in which the seller is located is governed by subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 9316. (d) A buyer in ordinary course of business buying oil, gas, or other minerals at the wellhead or minehead or after extraction takes free of an interest arising out of an encumbrance. (e) Subdivisions (a) and (b) do not affect a security interest in goods in the possession of the secured party under Section 9313.

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