Creditors seeking enforceable security interests in their debtors’ collateral must attach their security interests under U.C.C Article 9, ideally by means of a well-drafted security agreement. Professor of Law Margit Livingston discusses the concept and In re Rowe, 369 B.R. 73 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2007). Professor Livingston writes:

     The Rowe decision seemingly has revived a long-standing question as to whether the debtor must use specific “granting” language in some document to satisfy the writing requirement for attachment. At one end of the spectrum, a few courts have required creditors to produce some sort of writing that indicates that the debtor agreed to “grant” a security interest in particular collateral to the creditor…. At the other end of the spectrum, some courts have allowed even a bare-bones financing statement to stand as a security agreement, provided there was at least some parol evidence supporting the debtor’s intent to create a security interest.