RCW 60.10.030 Notice and sale—Priorities—Sale procedure—Surplus—Deficiency—Obligation of lienholder.

(1) A lien foreclosure authorized by RCW 60.10.020 may be summarily foreclosed by notice and sale as provided herein. The lienholder may sell, or otherwise dispose of the collateral in its then condition or following any commercially reasonable preparation or processing. The proceeds of disposition shall be applied in the order following to

(a) the reasonable expenses of retaking, holding, preparing for sale, selling and the like and, to the extent provided for in the agreement and not prohibited by law, the reasonable attorneys' fees and legal expenses incurred by the secured party;

(b) the satisfaction of indebtedness secured by the lien under which the disposition is made;

(c) the satisfaction of indebtedness secured by any subordinate security interest in the collateral if written notification of demand therefor is received before distribution of the proceeds is completed. If requested by the lienholder, the holder of a subordinate security interest must seasonably furnish reasonable proof of his or her interest, and unless that is done, the lienholder need not comply with that demand.

(2) The lienholder must account to the lien debtor for any surplus, and, unless otherwise agreed, the lien debtor is not liable for any deficiency.

(3) Disposition of the collateral may be by public or private proceedings and may be made by way of one or more contracts. Sale or other disposition may be as a unit or in parcels and at any time and place and on any terms but every aspect of the disposition including the method, manner, time, place and terms must be commercially reasonable which shall be construed as provided in RCW 60.10.070. Unless collateral is perishable or threatens to decline speedily in value or is of a type customarily sold on a recognized market, reasonable notification of the time and place of any public sale or reasonable notification of the time after which any private sale or other intended disposition is to be made shall be sent by the lienholder to the lien debtor, by first-class mail, and registered or certified mail, and except in the case of consumer goods to any other person who has a security interest in the collateral and who has duly filed a financing statement indexed in the name of the lien debtor in this state or who is known by the lienholder to have a security interest in the collateral. The lienholder may buy at any public sale and if the collateral is of a type customarily sold in a recognized market or is of a type which is the subject of widely distributed standard price quotations he or she may buy at private sale. Before accepting any bid or offer for purchase, the lienholder shall inform the bidder or purchaser of the existence of any prior lien or security interest in the collateral, and the identity of the holder of the prior lien or security interest. If the lienholder does not know this information, he or she shall advise the prospective purchaser of that.

[ 2006 c 283 § 3; 1969 c 82 § 4.]

NOTES:

Effective date—2006 c 283: See note following RCW 60.08.080.