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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>378364</law_id><section_number>8.9A-108</section_number><catch_line>Sufficiency of description</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2026/" slug="2026" current="TRUE" last_updated="2026-08-02">2026</edition><referred_to_by><reference>8.9A-504</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="30" identifier="8.9A">Commercial Code &#x2014; Secured Transactions</unit><unit label="part" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="1">General Provisions</unit><unit label="subpart" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="1">Short Title, Definitions and General Concepts</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="a"><p><span class="prefix-number">a.</span> Sufficiency of description. Except as otherwise provided in subsections (c), (d), and (e), a description of personal or real property is sufficient, whether or not it is specific, if it reasonably identifies what is described. <a id="paragraph-1412025" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.9A-108/#a"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="b"><p><span class="prefix-number">b.</span> Examples of reasonable identification. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (d), a description of <span class="dictionary">collateral</span> reasonably identifies the <span class="dictionary">collateral</span> if it identifies the <span class="dictionary">collateral</span> by: <a id="paragraph-1412026" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.9A-108/#b"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="b1" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">1.</span> specific listing; <a id="paragraph-1412027" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.9A-108/#b1"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="b2" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">2.</span> category; <a id="paragraph-1412028" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.9A-108/#b2"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="b3" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">3.</span> except as otherwise provided in subsection (e), a type of <span class="dictionary">collateral</span> defined in the Uniform Commercial Code; <a id="paragraph-1412029" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.9A-108/#b3"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="b4" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">4.</span> quantity; <a id="paragraph-1412030" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.9A-108/#b4"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="b5" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">5.</span> computational or allocational formula or procedure; or <a id="paragraph-1412031" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.9A-108/#b5"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="b6" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">6.</span> except as otherwise provided in subsection (c), any other method, if the identity of the <span class="dictionary">collateral</span> is objectively determinable. <a id="paragraph-1412032" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.9A-108/#b6"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="c"><p><span class="prefix-number">c.</span> Supergeneric description not sufficient. A description of <span class="dictionary">collateral</span> as &#x201C;all the debtor&#x2019;s <span class="dictionary">assets</span>&#x201D; or &#x201C;all the debtor&#x2019;s personal property&#x201D; or using words of similar import does not reasonably identify the <span class="dictionary">collateral</span>. <a id="paragraph-1412033" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.9A-108/#c"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="d"><p><span class="prefix-number">d.</span> Investment property. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (e), a description of a security entitlement, securities account, or commodity account is sufficient if it describes: <a id="paragraph-1412034" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.9A-108/#d"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="d1" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">1.</span> the <span class="dictionary">collateral</span> by those terms or as investment property; or <a id="paragraph-1412035" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.9A-108/#d1"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="d2" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">2.</span> the underlying financial asset or commodity <span class="dictionary">contract</span>. <a id="paragraph-1412036" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.9A-108/#d2"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="e"><p><span class="prefix-number">e.</span> When description by type insufficient. A description only by type of <span class="dictionary">collateral</span> defined in the Uniform Commercial Code is an insufficient description of: <a id="paragraph-1412037" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.9A-108/#e"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="e1" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">1.</span> a commercial <span class="dictionary">tort</span> claim; or <a id="paragraph-1412038" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.9A-108/#e1"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="e2" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">2.</span> in a consumer transaction, consumer goods, a security entitlement, a securities account, or a commodity account. <a id="paragraph-1412039" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.9A-108/#e2"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>1964, c. 219, &#xA7; 8.9-110; 1996, c. 216, &#xA7; 8.9-115; 2000, c. 1007.</history><metadata><court_decisions><item key="0"><name>In Re the Holladay House, Inc.</name><case_number>07-34887</case_number><citation>387 B.R. 689</citation><date>2008-03-14</date><url>https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1926443/in-re-the-holladay-house-inc/</url><abstract> .&#x202F;.&#x202F;. 387 B.R. 689 (2008) .&#x202F;.&#x202F;. </abstract><court_html>United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Virginia</court_html></item></court_decisions></metadata></law>
