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Santa Clara University School of Law Professor Neustadter Professor Mertens [E-book] [Prior Exams] [Discussion] Course Description 4 units. Graded. Secured debt (i.e. debt for which the creditor has collateral) is an integral part of commercial, real estate, family, insolvency, consumer, and other areas of law practice. Repayment of debt may be secured by real property, personal property, fixtures, or a combination of both, and the security may exist by virtue of statute, judicial process, or consent of the parties. This course focuses primarily on key issues relating to the creation and documentation ofconsensualsecured debt, the rights of the secured party and debtor upon the debtor's default, resolution of priority disputes between multiple parties with an interest in the same collateral, and the rights of the secured party and debtor in the event of the debtor's bankruptcy. Typically, these issues are addressed in distinct courses: Real Property Secured Transactions (real property collateral in consensual transactions); Commercial Law I (personal property and fixture collateral in consensual transactions); and Debtors' and Creditors' Rights (security through the judicial process, and bankruptcy). The integration of these topics in one course offers students a more complete and penetrating view of the law of secured debt, facilitates an understanding of mixed collateral transactions, and brings the potential of bankruptcy from sideshow to the mainstream of thinking about the meaning of secured debt. You are not eligible to register for the course if you have previously received credit for Commercial Transactions I (Course 256) or Real Property Secured Transactions (Course 284). If you receive credit for Secured Debt you may not thereafter register for either Course 256 or Course 284. Required Course Materials Materials for the course are Mertens and Neustadter, Secured Debt (Version 4.2). If you are a student in the class, you may download the materials to your computer without charge by following the instructions on Professor Neustadter's electronic reserve page for Secured Debt. Contact Professor Neustadter or Professor Mertens for a password that will allow you to download the materials. The materials should be navigated and viewed with a browser (Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer). Some sample forms have not yet been incorporated in the electronic course materials and will be distributed separately for the cost of duplication. Alternatively, or in addition, you may purchase a hard copy of the book from the Campus Bookstore. Supplementary reference material Supplementary reference material will be placed on two hour reserve in the Law Library under Professor Neustadter's name. We recommend that you see what is available early in the semester. White & Summers, Uniform Commercial Code: Secured Transactions (5th Ed. West Group), a paperback hornbook, is also available for purchase from the Campus Bookstore. California Mortgage and Deed of Trust Practice (3rd Ed.), two volumes, published by the California Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB), is on two hour reserve in the library. We are investigating whether CEB is willing to make the text available to you at a student discount from the $179.00 list price for the two volume set. Assignments Reading assignments will be announced in class and thereafter posted as an announcement on Professor Neustadter's electronic reserve page for Secured Debt. From time to time we will also post other materials or news on that electronic reserve page. The sequence of assignments will generally follow the California Template in the electronic course materials. You should consider any assignment of a section of the Uniform Commercial Code to automatically include an assignment to read the Official Comments for the assigned section and you should pursue appropriate cross references from any sections assigned. Course requirements 1. Class Attendance and Participation We expect regular class attendance and consistent preparation of assignments in anticipation of class discussion. If you are not prepared for class discussion because of illness or for other appropriate reasons, please note your name on a piece of paper and give it to one of us prior to the start of class. We reserve the right to adjust your final course grade downward for excessive absenteeism or frequent lack of preparation. 2. Electronic enabled discussion We encourage you to participate in electronic enabled discussion of class topics through the Secured Debt Conference available through the Discussion link on Professor Neustadter's web site. Use this conference to post or respond to questions or ideas for the benefit of the entire class. You may post anonymously. We may also post questions and comments. 3. Examination There will be an ungraded self-administered quiz midway through the semester, the answers to which we will discuss in class. There will be a final examination at the end of the semester. It will be "limited open book," allowing you reference during the examination to the electronic and hard copy versions of the teaching materials, to any other materials distributed in class or electronically, and to any materials (such as notes and outlines, including those embedded in software) that you have prepared yourself or in cooperation with others in the class. You may answer the examination in writing, or through use of your own laptop computer or a desk top computer in the Law Library without the restrictions imposed by exam taking software. Office hours To be announced. |
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