1. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), whether a notification is sent within a reasonable time is a question of fact.
2. (b) In a transaction other than a consumer transaction, a notification of disposition sent after default and 10 days or more before the earliest time of disposition set forth in the notification is sent within a reasonable time before the disposition.

Uniform Commercial Code Comment

3. Timeliness of Notification: Safe Harbor. The 10-day notice period in subsection (b) is intended to be a “safe harbor” and not a minimum requirement. To qualify for the “safe harbor” the notification must be sent after default. A notification also must be sent in a commercially reasonable manner. See Section 9-611(b) (“reasonable authenticated notification”). These requirements prevent a secured party from taking advantage of the “safe harbor” by, for example, giving the debtor a notification at the time of the original extension of credit or sending the notice by surface mail to a debtor overseas.

2. Reasonable Notification. Section 9-611(b) requires the secured party to send a “reasonable authenticated notification.” Under that section, as under former Section 9-504(3), one aspect of a reasonable notification is its timeliness. This generally means that the notification must be sent at a reasonable time in advance of the date of a public disposition or the date after which a private disposition is to be made. A notification that is sent so near to the disposition date that a notified person could not be expected to act on or take account of the notification would be unreasonable.

1. Source. New.

History

Oct. 26, 2000, D.C. Law 13-201, § 101, 47 DCR 7576