Deadlock: Consumer transactions under revised Article 9

The treatment of consumer transactions in Revised Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) is a political compromise, frankly described as such at the 1998 annual meetings of the 2 sponsoring organizations, the American Law Institute and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. Most of the new sections referring to consumers serve only to maintain current law for consumer transactions while Revised Article 9 improves the legal position of secured creditors in various ways in commercial lending transactions. As part of the compromise, creditor representatives promised to provide active backing for Revised Article 9 and consumer advocates promised not to oppose it in the state legislatures. The implementation of the consumer compromise is explained. The implications for the future of the UCC drafting process of the deadlock on consumer issues in the Revised Article 9 project are explored.