100 R.I. Code R. 100-RICR-30-00-1.13

Current through December 3, 2024

Section 100-RICR-30-00-1.13 - Acceptance and Refusal of Documents

A. Duty to File. A UCC record is filed at the time provided in § 1.6 of this Part; provided that the filing is not rejected pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 6A-9-516(b) and § 1.13(B) of this Part. The filing officer shall promptly assign a file number to the UCC record and index it in the UCC information management system.

B. Grounds for Refusal of UCC Record. The following grounds are the sole grounds for the filing office's refusal to accept a UCC record for filing:

1. Debtor Name and Address. An initial financing statement or an amendment that purports to add the name of a debtor not previously provided shall be refused if the record fails to legibly indicate:

a. whether each named debtor (or each added debtor in the case of an amendment) is an individual or an organization;

b. a name and street address for each debtor; or

c. if the debtor is an individual, the surname field.

d. If the record contains more than one debtor name or street address and some names or street addresses are missing or illegible, the filing officer shall index the legible name and street address pairings, and provide a notice to the filer containing the file number of the record, identification of the debtor name(s) that was (were) indexed, and a statement that debtors with illegible or missing names or street addresses were not indexed.

2. Secured Party Name and Address. An initial financing statement, an amendment that purports to add a secured party of record, or an assignment, shall be refused if the record fails to legibly indicate:

a. whether each secured party or assignee is an individual or an organization; or

b. a secured party or assignee name and street address for each secured party or assignee;

c. If the document contains more than one secured party (or assignee) name or street address and some names or street addresses are missing or illegible, the filing office shall index the legible name and street address pairings and provide notice to the filer containing the file number of the document, identification of the secured party or assignee names that were indexed, and a statement that secured parties with illegible or missing names or street addresses were not indexed.

3. Lack of Identification of Initial Financing Statement. A UCC record other than an initial financing statement shall be refused if the document does not provide a file number of a financing statement in the UCC information management system that has not lapsed and to which it relates.

4. Lack of Identification of UCC Amendment. A UCC record that purports to amend the party information included in a financing statement must indicate whether the amendment affects either the debtor or the secured party of record and whether the amendment changes the name and/or street address, deletes a name or adds a name, in box 5 of the form authorized in R.I. Gen. Laws § 6A-9-521(b).

5. Timeliness of Continuation. A continuation shall be refused if it is not received during the six-month period concluding on the day upon which the related financing statement would lapse.

a. First Day Permitted. The first day on which a continuation may be filed is the date of the month corresponding to the date upon which the financing statement would lapse, six months preceding the month in which the financing statement would lapse. If there is no such corresponding date during the sixth month preceding the month in which the financing statement would lapse, the first day on which a continuation may be filed is the last day of the sixth month preceding the month in which the financing statement would lapse, although filing by certain means may not be possible on such date if the filing office is not open on such date.

b. Last Day Permitted. The last day on which a continuation may be filed is the date upon which the financing statement lapses.

6. Multiple Actions on an Amendment Not Allowed. Each individual financing statement and amendment form shall include only one filing action.

7. Means or Manner of Communication. UCC records communicated to the filing office by a means of communication or in a manner not authorized, decipherable by, or legible to the filing officer shall be refused.

8. Fee. A document shall be refused if the document is accompanied by less than the full filing fee, in accordance with § 1.8 of this Part.

C. Grounds Not Warranting Refusal. The following are examples of defects that do not constitute grounds for refusal to accept a record. They are not a comprehensive enumeration of defects outside the scope of permitted grounds for refusal to accept a UCC record for filing.

1. Errors. The UCC record contains or appears to contain a misspelling or other apparently erroneous information.

2. Incorrect Names.

a. The UCC record appears to identify a debtor incorrectly.

b. The UCC record appears to identify a secured party or a secured party of record incorrectly.

3. Extraneous Information. The UCC record contains additional or extraneous information of any kind.

4. Collateral Description. The UCC record incorrectly identifies collateral, or appears to contain no such description.

5. Excessive Fee. The record is accompanied by funds in excess of the full filing fee.

6. Multiple Terminations or Continuations. The filing office will accept more than one termination or continuation on the same filing unless there is a reason for rejection as provided in R.I. Gen. Laws § 6A-9-516(b). The filing office does not make a determination of the effectiveness of any filing.

D. Procedure upon Refusal.

1. Paper Records. If the filing office finds grounds under R.I. Gen. Laws § 6A-9-516(b) or § 1.13(B) of this Part to refuse acceptance of a UCC record, the filing office shall return the record to the filer and return the filing fee if paid by separate check. The filing office shall send a notice that contains the date and time the record would have been filed had it been accepted for filing (unless such date and time are stamped on the record), and a brief description of the reason for refusal to accept the record. The notice shall be sent to a secured party or the filer no later than the second business day after the filing office receives the record.

2. Electronic Records. The filing is reviewed to determine whether it will be accepted or rejected. The procedure for acknowledgment is the same as provided for paper transactions. If the filing is rejected, the filing office shall send an email notice that contains the date and time the record would have been filed had it been accepted for filing (unless such date and time are stamped on the record), and a brief description of the reason for refusal to accept the record. The notice shall be sent to a secured party or the filer no later than the second business day after the filing office receives the record.

E. Acknowledgment. The filing officer will provide to a filer an image of the UCC record showing the file number assigned to it and the date and time of filing. Such acknowledgment will be sent by email.

F. Notification of Defects. Nothing in § 1.13(E) of this Part prevents a filing officer from communicating to a filer that the filing officer noticed apparent potential defects in a UCC record, whether or not it was filed or refused for filing. However, the filing office is under no obligation to do so and may not, in fact, have the resources to do so or to identify such defects. The responsibility for the legal effectiveness of filing rests with filers and remitters. The filing office bears no responsibility for such effectiveness.

G. Refusal Errors. If a filer demonstrates to the satisfaction of the filing office that a UCC record that was refused for filing should not have been refused pursuant R.I. Gen. Laws § 6A-9-516(b) and § 1.13(B) of this Part, the filing office will file the UCC record as provided in § 1.6 of this Part with the filing date and time the UCC record was originally tendered for filing. A filing officer statement will be placed in the UCC information management system on the date the corrective action was taken. The filing officer statement must provide the date of the correction and explain the nature of the corrective action taken. The record shall be preserved for so long as the record of the initial financing statement is preserved in the UCC information management system.

100 R.I. Code R. 100-RICR-30-00-1.13

Adopted effective 1/1/2019