BULK SALE

1. A sale, or a series of sales, of more than half of a seller's inventory, as measured by value, when that is not in the ordinary course of a seller's business (UCC § 6-102(c)). Such a sale may well be fraudulent, especially if the sale is to a related corporation without a commensurate assumption of debt. A bulk sale of goods may not constitute a fraudulent conveyance if made at arm's length and in good faith, but it may still be fraudulent if made with the intention of avoiding creditor's claims, especially when such a sale is not carried out in a way that would not be normal for the business of a debtor. A sale of a large part of a debtor's inventory may be acceptable if notice of the sale is given to all creditors, has been published in a general circulation paper or filed with the appropriate government department, or the sale is carried out through an orderly public auction, and plans for the sale are submitted to all known creditors. After such a sale the funds for the sale should be held for a reasonable period of time to enable creditors to make claims against the money. Bulk sale laws based on Article 6 of the Uniform Commercial Code have been adopted by most states. Such laws also prohibit a sale of assets at below fair market value in a 'sweetheart sale' by which the seller continues to maintain control over the use or will benefit from a future disposition of the assets. As a rule, the 'bulk sale' laws do not apply to real estate assets, unless the primary use of the realty is to support a business or equipment is sold with real property. Sometimes called a 'bulk transfer'.
2. The sale of a pool of loans. In particular, the sale of a portfolio of mortgage loans in exchange for mortgage-backed securities. See also mortgage-backed obligation (MBO)/mortgage-backed security (MBS).
3. The sale of a large number of properties in bulk, especially by a bank or other lender as a means of reducing its holdings of corporate-owned or foreclosed properties. Such bulk sales are common at the time of a financial crisis, as at the time of the Savings and Loan Crisis in the late 1980's and early 1990's and the Subprime Mortgage Crisis in the late 2000's.

Terms in bold are defined elsewhere in the Encyclopedia.
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