N.D. Cent. Code § 41-09-02

(9-102) Definitions and index of definitions

Redline — December 1, 2021 → current.View current text →

Current — January 1, 2022

As of December 1, 2021

(1) In this chapter: “Accession” means goods that are physically united with other goods in such a manner that the identity of the original goods is not lost.

(2) “Account”, except as used in “account for”, means: A right to payment of a monetary obligation, regardless of whether earned by performance: For property that has been or is to be sold, leased, licensed, assigned, or otherwise disposed of;

(3) For services rendered or to be rendered;

(4) For a policy of insurance issued or to be issued;

(5) For a secondary obligation incurred or to be incurred;

(6) For energy provided or to be provided;

(7) For the use or hire of a vessel under a charter or other contract;

(8) Arising out of the use of a credit or charge card or information contained on or for use with the card; or

(9) As winnings in a lottery or other game of chance operated or sponsored by a state, governmental unit of a state, or person licensed or authorized to operate the game by a state or governmental unit of a state.

(10) The term includes a health care insurance receivable. The term does not include: Right to payment evidenced by chattel paper or an instrument;

(11) Commercial tort claim;

(12) Deposit account;

(13) Investment property;

(14) Letter-of-credit right or letters of credit;

(15) Right to payment for any money or fund advanced or sold, other than a right arising out of the use of a credit or charge card or information contained on or for use with the card; or

(16) Certificate of deposit.

(17) “Account debtor” means a person obligated on an account, chattel paper, or general intangible. The term does not include a person obligated to pay a negotiable instrument, even if the instrument constitutes part of chattel paper.

(18) “Accounting”, except as used in “accounting for”, means a record: Authenticated by a secured party;

(19) Indicating the aggregate unpaid secured obligations as of a date not more than thirty-five days earlier or thirty-five days later than the date of the record; and

(20) Identifying the components of the obligations in reasonable detail.

(21) “Agricultural lien” means an interest in farm products: That secures payment or performance of an obligation for: Goods or services furnished in connection with a debtor’s farming operation or in connection with processing, production, or entrustment of the farm products; or

(22) Rent on real property leased by a debtor in connection with the debtor’s farming operation;

(23) That is created by statute in favor of a person that: Furnished goods or services in connection with processing, production, or entrustment of the farm product or in the ordinary course of that person’s business furnished goods or services to a debtor in connection with a debtor’s farming operation; or

(24) Leased real property to a debtor in connection with the debtor’s farming operation; and

(25) Of which the effectiveness does not depend on the person’s possession of the personal property.

(26) “As-extracted collateral” means: Oil, gas, or other mineral that is subject to a security interest that: Is created by a debtor having an interest in the mineral before extraction; and

(27) Attaches to the mineral as extracted; or

(28) Accounts arising out of the sale at the wellhead or minehead of oil, gas, or other mineral in which the debtor had an interest before extraction.

(29) “Authenticate” means: To sign; or

(30) With present intent to adopt or accept a record, to attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic sound, symbol, or process.

(31) “Bank” means an organization engaged in the business of banking. The term includes a savings bank, savings and loan association, credit union, and trust company.

(32) “Cash proceeds” means proceeds that are money, checks, deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, or the like.

(33) “Certificate of deposit” means a bank record of a sum of money which has been received by the bank and a promise made by the bank to repay the sum of money. The term does not include a deposit account. A certificate of deposit may be negotiable, non-negotiable, nontransferable, certificated, or uncertificated.

(34) “Certificate of title” means a certificate of title with respect to which a statute provides for the security interest in question to be indicated on the certificate as a condition or result of the security interest’s obtaining priority over the rights of a lien creditor with respect to the collateral. The term includes another record maintained as an alternative to a certificate of title by the governmental unit that issues certificates of title if a statute permits the security interest in question to be indicated on the record as a condition or result of the security interest’s obtaining priority over the rights of a lien creditor with respect to the collateral.

(35) “Certificated certificate of deposit” means a certificate of deposit that is represented by a certificate.

(36) “Chattel paper” means a record or records that evidence both a monetary obligation and a security interest in specific goods, a security interest in specific goods and software used in the goods, a security interest in specific goods and license of software used in the goods, a lease of specific goods, or a lease of specific goods and license of software used in the goods. In this subdivision, “monetary obligation” means a monetary obligation secured by the goods or owed under a lease of the goods and includes a monetary obligation with respect to software used in the goods. The term does not include charters or other contracts involving the use or hire of a vessel or records that evidence a right to payment arising out of the use of a credit or charge card or information contained on or for use with the card. If a transaction is evidenced by records that include an instrument or series of instruments, the group of records taken together constitutes chattel paper.

(37) “Collateral” means the property subject to a security interest or agricultural lien. The term includes: Proceeds to which a security interest attaches;

(38) Accounts, chattel paper, payment intangibles, and promissory notes that have been sold; and

(39) Goods that are the subject of a consignment.

(40) “Commercial tort claim” means a claim arising in tort with respect to which: The claimant is an organization; or

(41) The claimant is an individual and the claim: Arose in the course of the claimant’s business or profession; and

(42) Does not include damages arising out of personal injury to or the death of an individual.

(43) “Commodity account” means an account maintained by a commodity intermediary in which a commodity contract is carried for a commodity customer.

(44) “Commodity contract” means a commodity futures contract, an option on a commodity futures contract, a commodity option, or another contract if the contract or option is: Traded on or subject to the rules of a board of trade that has been designated as a contract market for such a contract pursuant to federal commodities laws; or

(45) Traded on a foreign commodity board of trade, exchange, or market and is carried on the books of a commodity intermediary for a commodity customer.

(46) “Commodity customer” means a person for which a commodity intermediary carries a commodity contract on the intermediary’s books.

(47) “Commodity intermediary” means a person that: Is registered as a futures commission merchant under federal commodities law; or

(48) In the ordinary course of the person’s business provides clearance or settlement services for a board of trade that has been designated as a contract market pursuant to federal commodities law.

(49) “Communicate” means: To send a written or other tangible record;

(50) To transmit a record by any means agreed upon by the persons sending and receiving the record; or

(51) In the case of transmission of a record to or by a filing office, to transmit a record by any means prescribed by filing-office rule.

(52) “Consignee” means a merchant to which goods are delivered in a consignment.

(53) “Consignment” means a transaction, regardless of form, in which a person delivers goods to a merchant for the purpose of sale and: The merchant: Deals in goods of that kind under a name other than the name of the person making delivery;

(54) Is not an auctioneer; and

(55) Is not generally known by its creditors to be substantially engaged in selling the goods of others;

(56) With respect to each delivery, the aggregate value of the goods is one thousand dollars or more at the time of delivery;

(57) The goods are not consumer goods immediately before delivery; and

(58) The transaction does not create a security interest that secures an obligation.

(59) “Consignor” means a person that delivers goods to a consignee in a consignment.

(60) “Consumer debtor” means a debtor in a consumer transaction.

(61) “Consumer goods” means goods that are used or bought for use primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.

(62) “Consumer-goods transaction” means a consumer transaction in which: An individual incurs an obligation primarily for personal, family, or household purposes; and

(63) A security interest in consumer goods secures the obligation.

(64) The collateral is held or acquired primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. The term includes consumer-goods transactions. Crops produced on trees, vines, and bushes; and

(65) Aquatic goods produced in aquacultural operations;

(66) Products of crops or livestock in their unmanufactured states.

(67) “General intangible” means any personal property, including things in action, other than accounts, certificates of deposit, chattel paper, commercial tort claims, deposit accounts, documents, goods, instruments, investment property, letter-of-credit rights, letters of credit, money, and oil, gas, or other minerals before extraction. The term includes payment intangibles and software.

(68) Reserved.

(69) “Goods” means all things that are movable when a security interest attaches. The term includes: Fixtures;

(70) Standing timber that is to be cut and removed under a conveyance or contract for sale;

(71) The unborn young of animals;

(72) Crops grown, growing, or to be grown, even if the crops are produced on trees, vines, or bushes; and

(73) Manufactured homes.

(74) The term also includes a computer program embedded in goods and any supporting information provided in connection with a transaction relating to the program if: The program is associated with the goods in such a manner that the program is customarily considered part of the goods; or

(75) By becoming the owner of the goods, a person acquires a right to use the program in connection with the goods.

(76) The term does not include a computer program embedded in goods that consist solely of the medium in which the program is embedded. The term also does not include accounts, certificates of deposit, chattel paper, commercial tort claims, deposit accounts, documents, general intangibles, instruments, investment property, letter-of-credit rights, letters of credit, money, or oil, gas, or other minerals before extraction.

(77) “Governmental unit” means a subdivision, agency, department, county, parish, municipality, or other unit of the government of the United States, a state, or a foreign country. The term includes an organization having a separate corporate existence if the organization is eligible to issue debt on which interest is exempt from income taxation under the laws of the United States.

(78) “Health care insurance receivable” means an interest in or claim under a policy of insurance which is a right to payment of a monetary obligation for health care goods or services provided or to be provided.

(79) “Instrument” means a negotiable instrument or any other writing that evidences a right to the payment of a monetary obligation, is not itself a security agreement or lease, and is of a type that in ordinary course of business is transferred by delivery with any necessary indorsement or assignment. The term does not include: Certificates of deposit;

(80) Investment property;

(81) Letters of credit; or

(82) Writings that evidence a right to payment arising out of the use of a credit or charge card or information contained on or for use with the card.

(83) “Inventory” means goods, other than farm products, that: Are leased by a person as lessor;

(84) Are held by a person for sale or lease or to be furnished under a contract of service;

(85) Are furnished by a person under a contract of service; or

(86) Consist of raw materials, work in process, or materials used or consumed in a business.

(87) “Investment property” means a security, whether certificated or uncertificated, security entitlement, securities account, commodity contract, or commodity account.

(88) “Jurisdiction of organization”, with respect to a registered organization, means the jurisdiction under whose law the organization is organized. A creditor that has acquired a lien on the property involved by attachment, levy, or the like;

(89) An assignee for benefit of creditors from the time of assignment;

(90) A trustee in bankruptcy from the date of the filing of the petition; or

(91) A receiver in equity from the time of appointment.

(92) An individual who is related by blood or marriage to an individual described in paragraph 1, 2, 3, or 4 and shares the same home with the individual.

(93) A person that holds a security interest arising under section 41-02-46, section 41-02-53, subsection 3 of section 41-02-90, subsection 5 of section 41-02.1-56, section 41-04-22, or section 41-05-18.

(94) “Control” as provided under section 41-07-06 and the following definitions in other chapters apply to this chapter: “Applicant”. Section 41-05-02.

(95) “Beneficiary”. Section 41-05-02.

(96) “Broker”. Section 41-08-02.

(97) “Certificated security”. Section 41-08-02.

(98) “Check”. Section 41-03-04.

(99) “Clearing corporation”. Section 41-08-02.

(100) “Contract for sale”. Section 41-02-06.

(101) “Customer”. Section 41-04-04.

(102) “Entitlement holder”. Section 41-08-02.

(103) “Financial asset”. Section 41-08-02.

(104) “Holder in due course”. Section 41-03-28.

(105) “Issuer” (with respect to a letter of credit or letter-of-credit right). Section 41-05-02.

(106) “Issuer” (with respect to a security). Section 41-08-17.

(107) “Issuer” (with respect to documents of title). Section 41-07-02.

(108) “Lease”. Section 41-02.1-03.

(109) “Lease agreement”. Section 41-02.1-03.

(110) “Lease contract”. Section 41-02.1-03.

(111) “Leasehold interest”. Section 41-02.1-03.

(112) “Lessee”. Section 41-02.1-03.

(113) “Lessee in ordinary course of business”. Section 41-02.1-03.

(114) “Lessor”. Section 41-02.1-03.

(115) “Lessor’s residual interest”. Section 41-02.1-03.

(116) “Letter of credit”. Section 41-05-02.

(117) “Merchant”. Section 41-02-04.

(118) “Negotiable instrument”. Section 41-03-04.

(119) “Nominated person”. Section 41-05-02.

(120) Chapter 41-01 contains general definitions and principles of construction and interpretation applicable throughout this chapter.

(120) Chapter 41-01 contains general definitions and principles of construction and interpretation applicable throughout this chapter. “Debtor”; “Obligor”; “Secondary Obligor.” Determining whether a person was a “debtor” under former Section 9-105(1)(d) required a close examination of the context in which the term was used. To reduce the need for this examination, this Article redefines “debtor” and adds new defined terms, “secondary obligor” and “obligor.” In the context of Part 6 (default and enforcement), these definitions distinguish among three classes of persons: (i) those persons who may have a stake in the proper enforcement of a security interest by virtue of their non-lien property interest (typically, an ownership interest) in the collateral, (ii) those persons who may have a stake in the proper enforcement of the security interest because of their obligation to pay the secured debt, and (iii) those persons who have an obligation to pay the secured debt but have no stake in the proper enforcement of the security interest. Persons in the first class are debtors. Persons in the second class are secondary obligors if any portion of the obligation is secondary or if the obligor has a right of recourse against the debtor or another obligor with respect to an obligation secured by collateral. One must consult the law of suretyship to determine whether an obligation is secondary. The Restatement (3d), Suretyship and Guaranty § 1 (1996), contains a useful explanation of the concept. Obligors in the third class are neither debtors nor secondary obligors. With one exception (Section 9-616, as it relates to a consumer obligor), the rights and duties provided by Part 6 affect non-debtor obligors only if they are “secondary obligors.”

(121) “Secured Party.” The secured party is the person in whose favor the security interest has been created, as determined by reference to the security agreement. This definition controls, among other things, which person has the duties and potential liability that Part 6 imposes upon a secured party. The definition of “secured party” also includes a “consignor,” a person to which accounts, chattel paper, payment intangibles, or promissory notes have been sold, and the holder of an agricultural lien.

(122) Other Parties. A “consumer obligor” is defined as the obligor in a consumer transaction. Definitions of “new debtor” and “original debtor” are used in the special rules found in Sections 9-326 and 9-508.

(123) “General Intangible”; “Payment Intangible.” “General intangible” is the residual category of personal property, including things in action, that is not included in the other defined types of collateral. Examples are various categories of intellectual property and the right to payment of a loan of funds that is not evidenced by chattel paper or an instrument. As used in the definition of “general intangible,” “things in action” includes rights that arise under a license of intellectual property, including the right to exploit the intellectual property without liability for infringement. The definition has been revised to exclude commercial tort claims, deposit accounts, and letter-of-credit rights. Each of the three is a separate type of collateral. One important consequence of this exclusion is that tortfeasors (commercial tort claims), banks (deposit accounts), and persons obligated on letters of credit (letter-of-credit rights) are not “account debtors” having the rights and obligations set forth in Sections 9-404, 9-405, and 9-406. In particular, tortfeasors, banks, and persons obligated on letters of credit are not obligated to pay an assignee (secured party) upon receipt of the notification described in Section 9-404(a). See Comment 5.h. Another important consequence relates to the adequacy of the description in the security agreement. See Section 9-108.

(124) “Letter-of-Credit Right.” The term “letter-of-credit right” embraces the rights to payment and performance under a letter of credit (defined in Section 5-102). However, it does not include a beneficiary’s right to demand payment or performance. Transfer of those rights to a transferee beneficiary is governed by Article 5. See Sections 9-107, Comment 4, and 9-329, Comments 3 and 4.

(125) “Supporting Obligation.” This new term covers the most common types of credit enhancements-suretyship obligations (including guarantees) and letter-of-credit rights that support one of the types of collateral specified in the definition. As explained in Comment 2.a., suretyship law determines whether an obligation is “secondary” for purposes of this definition. Section 9-109 generally excludes from this Article transfers of interests in insurance policies. However, the regulation of a secondary obligation as an insurance product does not necessarily mean that it is a “policy of insurance” for purposes of the exclusion in Section 9-109. Thus, this Article may cover a secondary obligation (as a supporting obligation), even if the obligation is issued by a regulated insurance company and the obligation is subject to regulation as an “insurance” product.

(126) “Commercial Tort Claim.” This term is new. A tort claim may serve as original collateral under this Article only if it is a “commercial tort claim.” See Section 9-109(d). Although security interests in commercial tort claims are within its scope, this Article does not override other applicable law restricting the assignability of a tort claim. See Section 9-401. A security interest in a tort claim also may exist under this Article if the claim is proceeds of other collateral.

(127) “Account Debtor.” An “account debtor” is a person obligated on an account, chattel paper, or general intangible. The account debtor’s obligation often is a monetary obligation; however, this is not always the case. For example, if a franchisee uses its rights under a franchise agreement (a general intangible) as collateral, then the franchisor is an “account debtor.” As a general matter, Article 3, and not Article 9, governs obligations on negotiable instruments. Accordingly, the definition of “account debtor” excludes obligors on negotiable instruments constituting part of chattel paper. The principal effect of this change from the definition in former Article 9 is that the rules in Sections 9-403, 9-404, 9-405, and 9-406, dealing with the rights of an assignee and duties of an account debtor, do not apply to an assignment of chattel paper in which the obligation to pay is evidenced by a negotiable instrument. (Section 9-406(d), however, does apply to promissory notes, including negotiable promissory notes.) Rather, the assignee’s rights are governed by Article 3. Similarly, the duties of an obligor on a nonnegotiable instrument are governed by non-Article 9 law unless the nonnegotiable instrument is a part of chattel paper, in which case the obligor is an account debtor.

(128) Receivables Under Government Entitlement Programs. This Article does not contain a defined term that encompasses specifically rights to payment or performance under the many and varied government entitlement programs. Depending on the nature of a right under a program, it could be an account, a payment intangible, a general intangible other than a payment intangible, or another type of collateral. The right also might be proceeds of collateral (e.g., crops).

aa. “Consumer obligor” means an obligor who is an individual and who incurred the obligation as part of a transaction entered into primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.

bb. “Consumer transaction” means a transaction in which:

(1) An individual incurs an obligation primarily for personal, family, or household purposes;

(2) A security interest secures the obligation; and

cc. “Continuation statement” means an amendment of a financing statement which:

(1) Identifies, by its file number, the initial financing statement to which it relates; and

(2) Indicates that it is a continuation statement for, or that it is filed to continue the effectiveness of, the identified financing statement.

dd. “Debtor” means:

(1) A person having an interest, other than a security interest or other lien, in the collateral, regardless of whether the person is an obligor;

(2) A seller of accounts, chattel paper, payment intangibles, or promissory notes; or

(3) A consignee.

ee. “Deposit account” means a demand, time, savings, passbook, or similar account maintained with a bank. The term does not include investment property or an account evidenced by a certificate of deposit or an instrument.

ff. “Document” means a document of title or a receipt of the type described in subsection 2 of section 41-07-07.

gg. “Electronic chattel paper” means chattel paper evidenced by a record consisting of information stored in an electronic medium.

hh. “Encumbrance” means a right, other than an ownership interest, in real property. The term includes mortgages and other liens on real property.

ii. “Equipment” means goods other than inventory, farm products, or consumer goods.

jj. “Farm products” means goods, other than standing timber, subject to a lien created under chapter 35-17, 35-30, or 35-31, or with respect to which the debtor is engaged in a farming operation and which are:

(1) Crops grown, growing, or to be grown, including:

(2) Livestock, born or unborn, including aquatic goods produced in aquacultural operations;

(3) Supplies used or produced in a farming operation; or

kk. “Farming operation” means raising, cultivating, propagating, fattening, grazing, or any other farming, livestock, or aquacultural operation.

ll. “File number” means the number assigned to an initial financing statement pursuant to subsection 1 of section 41-09-90.

mm. “Filing office” means an office designated in section 41-09-72 as the place to file a financing statement.

nn. “Filing-office rule” means a rule adopted under section 41-09-97.

oo. “Financing statement” means a record composed of an initial financing statement and any filed record relating to the initial financing statement.

pp. “Fixture filing” means the filing of a financing statement covering goods that are or are to become fixtures and satisfying subsections 1 and 2 of section 41-09-73. The term includes the filing of a financing statement covering goods of a transmitting utility which are or are to become fixtures.

qq. “Fixtures” means goods that have become so related to particular real property that an interest in them arises under real property law.

aaa. “Letter-of-credit right” means a right to payment or performance under a letter of credit, regardless of whether the beneficiary has demanded or is at the time entitled to demand payment or performance. The term does not include the right of a beneficiary to demand payment or performance under a letter of credit.

bbb. “Lien creditor” means:

ccc. “Manufactured home” means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, that, in the traveling mode, is eight body feet [2.44 meters] or more in width or forty body feet [12.19 meters] or more in length, or, when erected on site, is three hundred twenty square feet [29.73 square meters] or more, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein. The term includes any structure that meets all of the requirements of this subdivision except the size requirements and with respect to which the manufacturer voluntarily files a certification required by the United States secretary of housing and urban development and complies with the standards established under title 42 of the United States Code.

ddd. “Manufactured-home transaction” means a secured transaction:

(1) Which creates a purchase-money security interest in a manufactured home, other than a manufactured home held as inventory; or

(2) In which a manufactured home, other than a manufactured home held as inventory, is the primary collateral.

eee. “Mortgage” means a consensual interest in real property, including fixtures, that secures payment or performance of an obligation.

fff. “New debtor” means a person that becomes bound as debtor under subsection 4 of section 41-09-13 by a security agreement previously entered into by another person.

ggg. “New value” means:

(1) Money;

(2) Money’s worth in property, services, or new credit; or

(3) Release by a transferee of an interest in property previously transferred to the transferee.

The term does not include an obligation substituted for another obligation.

hhh. “Noncash proceeds” means proceeds other than cash proceeds.

iii. “Nonnegotiable certificate of deposit” means a bank record that contains an acknowledgment that a sum of money has been received by the issuer and a promise by the issuer to repay the sum of money other than a deposit account or negotiable instrument.

jjj. “Nontransferable certificate of deposit” means a non-negotiable certificate of deposit which may be transferred only on the books of the issuer, with the consent of the issuer, or subject to other restrictions or considerations of the issuer on transfer. The term does not include a deposit account.

kkk. “Obligor” means a person that, with respect to an obligation secured by a security interest in or an agricultural lien on the collateral:

(1) Owes payment or other performance of the obligation;

(2) Has provided property other than the collateral to secure payment or other performance of the obligation; or

(3) Is otherwise accountable in whole or in part for payment or other performance of the obligation.

The term does not include issuers or nominated persons under a letter of credit.

lll. “Original debtor”, except as used in subsection 3 of section 41-09-30, means a person that, as debtor, entered into a security agreement to which a new debtor has become bound under subsection 4 of section 41-09-13.

mmm. “Payment intangible” means a general intangible under which the account debtor’s principal obligation is a monetary obligation.

nnn. “Person related to”, with respect to an individual, means:

(1) The spouse of the individual;

(2) A brother, brother-in-law, sister, or sister-in-law of the individual;

(3) An ancestor or lineal descendant of the individual or the individual’s spouse; or

(4) Any other relative, by blood or marriage, of the individual or the individual’s spouse who shares the same home with the individual.

ooo. “Person related to”, with respect to an organization, means:

(1) A person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the organization;

(2) An officer or director of, or a person performing similar functions with respect to, the organization;

(3) An officer or director of, or a person performing similar functions with respect to, a person described in paragraph 1;

(4) The spouse of an individual described in paragraph 1, 2, or 3; or

ppp. “Proceeds”, except as used in subsection 2 of section 41-09-106, means the following property:

(1) Whatever is acquired upon the sale, lease, license, exchange, or other disposition of collateral;

(2) Whatever is collected on, or distributed on account of, collateral;

(3) Rights arising out of collateral;

(4) To the extent of the value of collateral, claims arising out of the loss, nonconformity, or interference with the use of, defects or infringement of rights in, or damage to, the collateral; or

(5) To the extent of the value of collateral and to the extent payable to the debtor or the secured party, insurance payable by reason of the loss or nonconformity of, defects or infringement of rights in, or damage to, the collateral.

qqq. “Promissory note” means an instrument that evidences a promise to pay a monetary obligation, does not evidence an order to pay, and does not contain an acknowledgment by a bank that the bank has received for deposit a sum of money or funds.

rrr. “Proposal” means a record authenticated by a secured party which includes the terms on which the secured party is willing to accept collateral in full or partial satisfaction of the obligation it secures under sections 41-09-115 through 41-09-117.

sss. “Public organic record” means a record that is available to the public for inspection and which is:

(1) A record consisting of the record initially filed with or issued by a state or the United States to form or organize an organization and any record filed with or issued by the state or the United States which amends or restates the initial record;

(2) An organic record of a business trust consisting of the record initially filed with a state and any record filed with the state which amends or restates the initial record, if a statute of the state governing business trusts requires that the record be filed with the state; or

(3) A record consisting of legislation enacted by the legislature of a state or the congress of the United States which forms or organizes an organization, any record amending the legislation, and any record filed with or issued by the state or United States which amends or restates the name of the organization.

ttt. “Pursuant to commitment”, with respect to an advance made or other value given by a secured party, means pursuant to the secured party’s obligation, regardless of whether a subsequent event of default or other event not within the secured party’s control has relieved or may relieve the secured party from the secured party’s obligation.

uuu. “Record”, except as used in “for record”, “of record”, “record or legal title”, and “record owner”, means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or which is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.

vvv. “Registered organization” means an organization formed or organized solely under the law of a single state or the United States by the filing of a public organic record with, the issuance of a public organic record by, or the enactment of legislation by the state or United States. The term includes a business trust that is formed or organized under the law of a single state if a statute of the state governing business trusts requires that the business trust’s organic record be filed with the state.

www. “Secondary obligor” means an obligor to the extent that:

(1) The obligor’s obligation is secondary; or

(2) The obligor has a right of recourse with respect to an obligation secured by collateral against the debtor, another obligor, or property of either.

xxx. “Secured party” means:

(1) A person in whose favor a security interest is created or provided for under a security agreement, regardless of whether any obligation to be secured is outstanding;

(2) A person that holds an agricultural lien;

(3) A consignor;

(4) A person to which accounts, chattel paper, payment intangibles, or promissory notes have been sold;

(5) A trustee, indenture trustee, agent, collateral agent, or other representative in whose favor a security interest or agricultural lien is created or provided for; or

yyy. “Security agreement” means an agreement that creates or provides for a security interest.

zzz. “Send”, in connection with a record or notification, means:

(1) To deposit in the mail, deliver for transmission, or transmit by any other usual means of communication, with postage or cost of transmission provided for, addressed to any address reasonable under the circumstances; or

(2) To cause the record or notification to be received within the time that it would have been received if properly sent under paragraph 1.

aaaa. “Software” means a computer program and any supporting information provided in connection with a transaction relating to the program. The term does not include a computer program that is included in the definition of goods.

bbbb. “State” means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

cccc. “Supporting obligation” means a letter-of-credit right or secondary obligation that supports the payment or performance of an account, chattel paper, a document, a general intangible, an instrument, or investment property.

dddd. “Tangible chattel paper” means chattel paper evidenced by a record or records consisting of information that is inscribed on a tangible medium.

eeee. “Termination statement” means an amendment of a financing statement which:

(1) Identifies, by the amendment’s file number, the initial financing statement to which it relates; and

(2) Indicates either that the amendment is a termination statement or that the identified financing statement is no longer effective.

ffff. “Transmitting utility” means a person primarily engaged in the business of:

(1) Operating a railroad, subway, street railway, or trolley bus;

(2) Transmitting communications electrically, electromagnetically, or by light;

(3) Transmitting goods by pipeline or sewer; or

(4) Transmitting or producing and transmitting electricity, steam, gas, or water.

gggg. “Uncertificated certificate of deposit” means an obligation of a bank to repay a sum of money that it has received which is not represented by a certificate, but only by an entry on the books of the bank and any documentation given to the customer by the bank. The term does not include a deposit account.

aa. “Note”. Section 41-03-04.

bb. “Proceeds of a letter of credit”. Section 41-05-14.

cc. “Prove”. Section 41-03-03.

dd. “Sale”. Section 41-02-06.

ee. “Securities account”. Section 41-08-41.

ff. “Securities intermediary”. Section 41-08-02.

gg. “Security”. Section 41-08-02.

hh. “Security certificate”. Section 41-08-02.

ii. “Security entitlement”. Section 41-08-02.

jj. “Uncertificated security”. Section 41-08-02.

Official source: North Dakota Legislative Branch. Reproduced from public-domain North Dakota statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.