2023 Minnesota Statutes

336.9-516 WHAT CONSTITUTES FILING; EFFECTIVENESS OF FILING.

(a) What constitutes filing. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), communication of a record to a filing office and tender of the filing fee or acceptance of the record by the filing office constitutes filing.

(b) Refusal to accept record; filing does not occur. Filing does not occur with respect to a record that a filing office refuses to accept because:

(1) the record is not communicated by a method or medium of communication authorized by the filing office. For purposes of filing office authorization, transmission of records using the Extensible Markup Language (XML) format is authorized by the filing office after the later of July 1, 2007, or the determination of the secretary of state that the central filing system is capable of receiving and processing these records;

(2) an amount equal to or greater than the applicable filing fee is not tendered;

(3) the filing office is unable to index the record because:

(A) in the case of an initial financing statement, the record does not provide a name for the debtor;

(B) in the case of an amendment or information statement, the record:

(i) does not identify the initial financing statement as required by section 336.9-512 or 336.9-518, as applicable; or

(ii) identifies an initial financing statement whose effectiveness has lapsed under section 336.9-515;

(C) in the case of an initial financing statement that provides the name of a debtor identified as an individual or an amendment that provides a name of a debtor identified as an individual which was not previously provided in the financing statement to which the record relates, the record does not identify the debtor's surname; or

(D) in the case of a record filed or recorded in the filing office described in section 336.9-501 (a)(1), the record does not provide a sufficient description of the real property to which it relates;

(4) in the case of an initial financing statement or an amendment that adds a secured party of record, the record does not provide a name and mailing address for the secured party of record;

(5) in the case of an initial financing statement or an amendment that provides a name of a debtor which was not previously provided in the financing statement to which the amendment relates, the record does not:

(A) provide a mailing address for the debtor; or

(B) indicate whether the name provided as the name of the debtor is the name of an individual or an organization;

(6) in the case of an assignment reflected in an initial financing statement under section 336.9-514 (a) or an amendment filed under section 336.9-514 (b), the record does not provide a name and mailing address for the assignee;

(7) in the case of a continuation statement, the record is not filed within the six-month period prescribed by section 336.9-515 (d); or

(8) in the case of an initial financing statement or an amendment that provides a name of a debtor not previously provided in the financing statement to which the amendment relates, the office reasonably believes the record was communicated or caused to be communicated (i) with the intent to harass or defraud the person identified as the debtor, or (ii) for another unlawful purpose. The office has no duty to form a belief as to whether a record was communicated or caused to be communicated with the intent to harass or defraud the person identified as the debtor or for another unlawful purpose, and has no duty to investigate or ascertain facts relevant to whether the intent or purpose was present. The secretary of state is not required to return an image of a filing rejected under this clause.

(c) Rules applicable to subsection (b). For purposes of subsection (b):

(1) a record does not provide information if the filing office is unable to read or decipher the information; and

(2) a record that does not indicate that it is an amendment or identify an initial financing statement to which it relates, as required by section 336.9-512, 336.9-514, or 336.9-518, is an initial financing statement.

(d) Refusal to accept record; record effective as filed record. A record that is communicated to the filing office with tender of the filing fee, but which the filing office refuses to accept for a reason other than one set forth in subsection (b), is effective as a filed record except as against a purchaser of the collateral which gives value in reasonable reliance upon the absence of the record from the files.

(e) Effectiveness of record; purchaser in good faith. A record that the filing office initially refuses to accept under subsection (b)(8) but later accepts after receiving additional information is effective as if the office had not initially refused to accept the record, except as against a purchaser of the collateral that gives value in reasonable reliance upon the absence of the record from the files.

History:

2000 c 399 art 1 s 87; 2007 c 148 art 2 s 61; 2011 c 31 art 1 s 14,16; 2022 c 96 s 3