Section 9615 - Application of proceeds of disposition; liability for deficiency and right to surplus(a) A secured party shall apply or pay over for application the cash proceeds of disposition under Section 9610 in the following order to each of the following:(1) The reasonable expenses of retaking, holding, preparing for disposition, processing, and disposing, and, to the extent provided for by agreement and not prohibited by law, reasonable attorney's fees and legal expenses incurred by the secured party.(2) The satisfaction of obligations secured by the security interest or agricultural lien under which the disposition is made.(3) The satisfaction of obligations secured by any subordinate security interest in or other subordinate lien on the collateral and to the satisfaction of any subordinate attachment lien or execution lien pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 701.040 of the Code of Civil Procedure if both of the following conditions are satisfied: (A) The secured party receives from the holder of the subordinate security interest or other lien a signed demand for proceeds or notice of the levy of attachment or execution before distribution of the proceeds is completed.(B) In a case in which a consignor has an interest in the collateral, the subordinate security interest or other lien is senior to the interest of the consignor.(4) A secured party that is a consignor of the collateral if the secured party receives from the consignor a signed demand for proceeds before distribution of the proceeds is completed.(b) If requested by a secured party, a holder of a subordinate security interest or other lien shall furnish reasonable proof of the interest or lien within a reasonable time. Unless the holder does so, the secured party need not comply with the holder's demand under paragraph (3) of subdivision (a).(c) A secured party need not apply or pay over for application noncash proceeds of disposition under Section 9610 unless the failure to do so would be commercially unreasonable. A secured party that applies or pays over for application noncash proceeds shall do so in a commercially reasonable manner.(d) If the security interest under which a disposition is made secures payment or performance of an obligation, after making the payments and applications required by subdivision (a) and permitted by subdivision (c), both of the following apply:(1) Unless paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) requires the secured party to apply or pay over cash proceeds to a consignor, the secured party shall account to and pay a debtor for any surplus except as provided in Section 701.040 of the Code of Civil Procedure.(2) Subject to subdivision (b) of Section 9626, the obligor is liable for any deficiency.(e)(1) If the underlying transaction is a sale of accounts, chattel paper, payment intangibles, or promissory notes, both of the following apply:(A) The debtor is not entitled to any surplus.(B) The obligor is not liable for any deficiency.(2) Subdivision (b) of Section 701.040 of the Code of Civil Procedure relating to the payment of proceeds and the liability of the secured party applies only if the security agreement provides that the debtor is entitled to any surplus.(f) The surplus or deficiency following a disposition is calculated based on the amount of proceeds that would have been realized in a disposition complying with this chapter to a transferee other than the secured party, a person related to the secured party, or a secondary obligor if both of the following apply:(1) The transferee in the disposition is the secured party, a person related to the secured party, or a secondary obligor.(2) The amount of proceeds of the disposition is significantly below the range of proceeds that a complying disposition to a person other than the secured party, a person related to the secured party, or a secondary obligor would have brought.(g) The following rules apply with respect to a secured party that receives cash proceeds of a disposition in good faith and without knowledge that the receipt violates the rights of the holder of a security interest or other lien that is not subordinate to the security interest or agricultural lien under which the disposition is made: (1) The secured party takes the cash proceeds free of the security interest or other lien.(2) The secured party is not obligated to apply the proceeds of the disposition to the satisfaction of obligations secured by the security interest or other lien.(3) The secured party is not obligated to account to or pay the holder of the security interest or other lien for any surplus.Amended by Stats 2023 ch 210 (SB 95),s 67, eff. 1/1/2024.Amended by Stats 2000 ch 1003 (SB 2002), s 45, eff. 1/1/01, operative 7/1/01.Added October 10, 1999 (Bill Number: SB 45) (Chapter 991).