---
title: O.C.G.A. § 11-9-608. Application of proceeds of collection or enforcement; liability for deficiency and right to surplus.
collection: code
id: 11-9-608
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 11-9-608 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/11-9-608
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/11-9-608.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/11-9-608/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t11-(v9)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=df925151_0#page=140
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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version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: COMMERCIAL CODE / SECURED TRANSACTIONS / DEFAULT / Default and Enforcement of Security Interest
---

# O.C.G.A. § 11-9-608. Application of proceeds of collection or enforcement; liability for deficiency and right to surplus.

(a) Application of proceeds, surplus, and deficiency if obligation secured. If a security interest or agricultural lien secures payment or performance of an obligation, the following rules apply:

(1) A secured party shall apply or pay over for application the cash proceeds of collection or enforcement under Code Section 11-9-607 in the following order to:

(A) The reasonable expenses of collection and enforcement 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;

(B) The satisfaction of obligations secured by the security interest or agricultural lien under which the collection or enforcement is made; and

(C) The satisfaction of obligations secured by any subordinate security interest in or other lien on the collateral subject to the security interest or agricultural lien under which the collection or enforcement is made if the secured party receives a signed demand for proceeds before distribution of the proceeds is completed;

(2) 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 complies, the secured party need not comply with the holder’s demand under subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of this subsection;

(3) A secured party need not apply or pay over for application noncash proceeds of collection and enforcement under Code Section 11-9-607 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; and

(4) A secured party shall account to and pay a debtor for any surplus, and the obligor is liable for any deficiency.

(b) No surplus or deficiency in sales of certain rights to payment. If the underlying transaction is a sale of accounts, chattel paper, payment intangibles, or promissory notes, the debtor is not entitled to any surplus, and the obligor is not liable for any deficiency.

## History

Code 1981, § 11-9-608, enacted by Ga. L. 2001, p. 362, § 1; Ga. L. 2024, p. 817, § 6-1/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, substituted “a signed” for “an authenticated” at the end of subparagraph (a)(1)(C).