---
title: O.C.G.A. § 11-9-313. When possession by or delivery to secured party perfects security interest without filing.
collection: code
id: 11-9-313
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 11-9-313 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/11-9-313
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source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t11-(v9)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=df925151_0#page=111
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: COMMERCIAL CODE / SECURED TRANSACTIONS / PERFECTION AND PRIORITY / Perfection
---

# O.C.G.A. § 11-9-313. When possession by or delivery to secured party perfects security interest without filing.

(a) Perfection by possession or delivery. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, a secured party may perfect a security interest in goods, instruments, negotiable tangible documents, or tangible money by taking possession of the collateral. A secured party may perfect a security interest in certificated securities by taking delivery of the certificated securities under Code Section 11-8-301.

(b) Goods covered by certificate of title. With respect to goods covered by a certificate of title issued by this state, a secured party may perfect a security interest in the goods by taking possession of the goods only in the circumstances described in subsection (d) of Code Section 11-9-316.

(c) Collateral in possession of person other than debtor. With respect to collateral other than certificated securities and goods covered by a document, a secured party takes possession of collateral in the possession of a person other than the debtor, the secured party, or a lessee of the collateral from the debtor in the ordinary course of the debtor’s business, when:

(1) The person in possession signs a record acknowledging that it holds possession of the collateral for the secured party’s benefit; or

(2) The person takes possession of the collateral after having signed a record acknowledging that it will hold possession of the collateral for the secured party’s benefit.

(d) Time of perfection by possession; continuation of perfection. If perfection of a security interest depends upon possession of the collateral by a secured party, perfection occurs not earlier than the time the secured party takes possession and continues only while the secured party retains possession.

(e) Time of perfection by delivery; continuation of perfection. A security interest in a certificated security in registered form is perfected by delivery when delivery of the certificated security occurs under Code Section 11-8-301 and remains perfected by delivery until the debtor obtains possession of the security certificate.

(f) Acknowledgment not required. A person in possession of collateral is not required to acknowledge that it holds possession for a secured party’s benefit.

(g) Effectiveness of acknowledgment; no duties or confirmation. If a person acknowledges that it holds possession for the secured party’s benefit:

(1) The acknowledgment is effective under subsection (c) of this Code section or subsection (a) of Code Section 11-8-301, even if the acknowledgment violates the rights of a debtor; and

(2) Unless the person otherwise agrees or law other than this article otherwise provides, the person does not owe any duty to the secured party and is not required to confirm the acknowledgment to another person.

(h) Secured party’s delivery to person other than debtor. A secured party having possession of collateral does not relinquish possession by delivering the collateral to a person other than the debtor or a lessee of the collateral from the debtor in the ordinary course of the debtor’s business if the person was instructed before the delivery or is instructed contemporaneously with the delivery:

(1) To hold possession of the collateral for the secured party’s benefit; or

(2) To redeliver the collateral to the secured party.

(i) Effect of delivery under subsection (h) of this Code section; no duties or confirmation. A secured party does not relinquish possession, even if a delivery under subsection (h) of this Code section violates the rights of a debtor. A person to which collateral is delivered under subsection (h) of this Code section does not owe any duty to the secured party and is not required to confirm the delivery to another person unless the person otherwise agrees or law other than this article otherwise provides.

## History

Code 1981, § 11-9-313, enacted by Ga. L. 2001, p. 362, § 1; Ga. L. 2010, p. 481, § 2-26/HB 451; Ga. L. 2024, p. 817, § 5-58/HB 1240, effective July 1, 2024.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2024, p. 817, § 1-1/HB 1240, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Uniform Commercial Code Modernization Act of 2024.’”

Ga. L. 2024, p. 817, § 1-2/HB 1240, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “Nothing in this Act shall be construed to support, endorse, create, or implement a national digital currency.”

## Amendments

The 2024 amendment, effective July 1, 2024, in the first sentence of subsection (a), deleted “tangible negotiable documents,” preceding “goods”, inserted “negotiable tangible documents, or tangible”, and deleted “, or tangible chattel paper” following “money”; substituted “signs” for “authenticates” at the beginning of paragraph (c)(1); in paragraph (c)(2), substituted “signed” for “authenticated” and inserted “the” near the end; and substituted “not” for “no” near the middle of subsection (d).