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Santa Clara University School of Law E-book Prior Exams Discussion Threads 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 of consensual secured 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 4.0). If you are a student in the class, you may download the materials to the hard drive of your computer without charge by pursuing the E-Books link from the home page of Professor Neustadter's web site. 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). Hard copy of the electronic course materials is available, upon request, for the cost of duplication. Some sample forms have not yet been incorporated in the electronic course materials and will be distributed separately for the cost of duplication. 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. California Mortgage and Deed of Trust Practice, published by the California Continuing Education of the Bar (C.E.B.) is available for $66.00 (half its normal price) from the Campus Store. Do not purchase this book until after the first class meeting, during which Professor Mertens will discuss the advisability of purchasing the book. Assignments Reading assignments will be announced in class and thereafter posted as an announcement on the Heafy E-Res page for Secured Debt (the page is listed under Professor Neustadter's name). From time to time we will also post other materials or news on this E-Res 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. Foreclosure Sales As a condition to receiving credit for the course, you must attend a non-judicial real property foreclosure sale and submit a short written summary of the sale (with only your student identification number) to one of us. Sales are held on the Market Street side of the Santa Clara County Superior Court located at 191 N. 1st Street, San Jose. The best times are Fridays at 11:00 a.m. and Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m. or 2:00 p.m. Alternatively, you may attend such a sale in another county. Foreclosure companies can generally tell you when and where such sales are commonly held. We encourage you to submit your summary as an attachment to e-mail. 3. Discussion Threads We encourage you to participate in 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. 4. 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 the Examinator exam taking software. |
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