How to Give Notice About Collateral

Wilson v. Capital Partners Financial Group, No. 05-20-00704-CV (July 5, 2022) (mem. op.), addressed the UCC’s requirements for a secured creditor giving notice about the disposition of collateral, in the context of an email among the parties (all citations omitted):

1. “The first element is to describe the debtor and the secured party. We conclude that the e-mail satisfies this element. The e-mail mentions Capital Partners and gives information from which Capital Partners’ status as a secured party could be inferred.”
2. So far so good. But then things changed. “The second element requires the secured party to describe the collateral that is the subject of the intended disposition. In general, a description of personal property is sufficient, whether or not it is specific, if it reasonably identifies what is described. … In the e-mail, Austin states a plan to liquidate what he variously referred to as ‘what is at the facility’ and ‘the items.’ These descriptions are insufficient.”
3. “BTH and Capital Partners fare no better on the third element, which requires the secured party to state the method of intended disposition. To satisfy this element, we have required the notification of disposition to state, at a minimum, whether the disposition will be through a public or private sale.”
4. “The fourth element requires the notification to state ‘that the debtor is entitled to an accounting of the unpaid indebtedness and state[] the charge, if any, for an accounting.’ The e-mail makes no mention of appellants’ right to an accounting, and it does not satisfy this element.”
5. “The fifth element requires the notification to state ‘the time and place of a public disposition or the time after which any other disposition is to be made.’ …  While the e-mail gives dates for the repossession, it offers no information concerning when the sale might occur. Therefore, it fails to satisfy the fifth and final element.”