Okla. Stat. tit. 12A § 1-9-518

Current through Laws 2024, c. 453.

Section 1-9-518 - Claim concerning inaccurate or wrongfully filed record

(a) A person may file in the filing office an information statement with respect to a record indexed there under the person's name if the person believes that the record is inaccurate or was wrongfully filed.

(b) An information statement under subsection (a) of this section must:

(1) identify the record to which it relates by:

(A) the file number of the initial financing statement to which the record relates; and

(B) if the information statement relates to a record filed or recorded in a filing office described in paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of Section 1-9-501 of this title, the file number, the date that the initial financing statement was filed or recorded, and the information specified in subsection (b) of Section 1-9-502 of this title;

(2) indicate that it is an information statement; and

(3) provide the basis for the person's belief that the record is inaccurate and indicate the manner in which the person believes the record should be amended to cure any inaccuracy or provide the basis for the person's belief that the record was wrongfully filed.

(c) A person may file in the filing office an information statement with respect to a record filed there if the person is a secured party of record with respect to the financing statement to which the record relates and believes that the person that filed the record was not entitled to do so under subsection (d) of Section 1-9-509 of this title.

(d) An information statement under subsection (c) of this section must:

(1) identify the record to which it relates by:

(A) the file number assigned to the initial financing statement to which the record relates; and

(B) if the statement relates to a record filed or recorded in a filing office described in paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of Section 1-9-501 of this title, the date that the initial financing statement was filed or recorded and the information specified in subsection (b) of Section 1-9-502 of this title;

(2) indicate that it is an information statement; and

(3) provide the basis for the person's belief that the person that filed the record was not entitled to do so under subsection (d) of Section 1-9-509 of this title.

(e) The filing of an information statement does not affect the effectiveness of an initial financing statement or other filed record.

Okla. Stat. tit. 12A, § 1-9-518

Amended by Laws 2015 , c. 374, s. 14, eff. 11/1/2015.

Added by Laws 2000 , SB 1519, c. 371, § 96, eff. 7/1/2001.

Oklahoma Code Comment

Section 9-518 allows a debtor to file a correction statement if he or she believes that a filed record is either inaccurate or wrongfully filed. This section gives the debtor a non-judicial means of venting a disagreement with the secured party concerning a filed record.

A correction statement is basically a "letter of complaint," with no necessary legal impact on other filed records. But it is not necessarily a "toothless" remedy: A well-grounded complaint in a correction statement, by its visibility on the public records, may be a stimulus to appropriate corrective action. A filing office search will automatically disclose not only the disputed record filed by the secured party, but also any related correction statement filed by the debtor, and the searcher can form his or her own conclusions and inquire further as the matters disclosed there may warrant. In accordance with section 9-518(a), a correction statement should be filed by a debtor in the same office where an allegedly erroneous record is on file. It may seem anomalous that a correction statement can be filed, even after June 30, 2001, in a filing office that is not the correct place for filing amendments under revised Article 9. As discussed in the Oklahoma Comment to section 9-512, in situations where revised Article 9 changes the correct filing office with respect to a debtor or the collateral, any type of amendment filed after June 30, 2001, must be filed in the newly correct filing office, even though the financing statement is on file in a formerly correct filing office. On further analysis, the rule for correction statements is not logically in conflict with the rule for amendments, because a correction statement does not actually amend, "correct," or change anything in any record already on file.

The term "correction statement" may sound like more than it is. A debtor looking for a remedy may feel vindicated by filing something called a "correction." Conversely, a secured party may feel anxiety that a debtor could file a "correction statement" without even contacting that secured party. In reality, a correction statement is just the debtor's unproven claim concerning certain matters. "Claim" is the first word in the title of section 9-518 .

If a filed record is completely erroneous, or if full repayment of a debt has eliminated any reason for a financing statement to remain on file, section 9- 513 provides a much stronger remedy, allowing the debtor first to demand that the secured party file a termination statement, and then, if the secured party wrongfully fails to act after demand, allowing the debtor to file a termination statement. A debtor probably will not use section 9-518 except in situations where section 9-513 is inapplicable because (1) the secured party's filed record is at least partly accurate, and (2) at least some debt remains outstanding.

For example, a debtor might assert in a correction statement that the secured party is not honoring its verbal agreement to release certain categories of the debtor's collateral as the loan is reduced to certain levels. In this situation, a debtor could obtain release of part of his or her collateral by proving his or her assertions to a judge; but filing a correction statement gives no affirmative relief, other than the satisfaction of reciting on the public record the circumstances relating to the secured party.