Title of Regulation: 5VAC5-30. Uniform Commercial Code Filing Rules (amending 5VAC5-30-20 through 5VAC5-30-70).

Statutory Authority: §§ 8.9A-526 and 12.1-13 of the Code of Virginia.

Public Hearing Information: A public hearing will be scheduled upon request.

Public Comment Deadline: May 23, 2011.

Agency Contact: Joel Peck, Clerk of the Commission, State Corporation Commission, 1300 East Main Street, P.O. Box 1197, Richmond, VA 23218, telephone (804) 371-9733, FAX (804) 371-9012, or email joel.peck@scc.virginia.gov.

Summary:

The proposed regulations amend the filing rules for Uniform Commercial Code financing statements in a number of ways. The amendments (i) facilitate the use of electronic commerce for increased customer service, (ii) authorize the Clerk of the Commission to act in accordance with law with regard to personal identifiable information, (iii) clarify certain provisions and make appropriate technical amendments, and (iv) delete obsolete definitions.

AT RICHMOND, APRIL 14, 2011

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, ex rel.

STATE CORPORATION COMMISSION

CASE NO. CLK-2011-00003

Ex Parte: In re: Uniform Commercial
Code Filing rules

ORDER TO TAKE NOTICE

Section 8.9A-526 of the Code of Virginia requires the State Corporation Commission ("Commission") to promulgate rules necessary to implement Title 8.9A of the Code of Virginia, Uniform Commercial Code - Secured Transactions. The existing rules are codified as 5 VAC 5-30 ("Chapter 30") of Title 5 of the Virginia Administrative Code. The Office of the Clerk of the Commission ("Clerk") has reported to the Commission that certain amendments to Chapter 30 are necessary and desirable to update the existing rules and to facilitate the use of electronic commerce for increased customer service.

NOW THE COMMISSION, based on information supplied by the Clerk, proposes to adopt a regulation revising Chapter 30.

Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED THAT:

(1) The proposed revised regulation, entitled "Uniform Commercial Code Filing Rules," is appended hereto and made a part of the record herein.

(2) Comments or requests for a hearing on the proposed regulation must be submitted in writing to Joel H. Peck, Clerk, State Corporation Commission, c/o Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, Virginia 23218, on or before May 23, 2011. Requests for hearing shall state why a hearing is necessary and why the issues cannot be adequately addressed in written comments. All correspondence shall contain a reference to Case No. CLK-2011-00003. Interested persons desiring to submit comments or request a hearing electronically may do so by following the instructions available at the Commission's website: http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case.

(3) This Order and the attached proposed regulation shall be posted on the Commission's website at http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case.

(4) The Commission's Division of Information Resources shall send a copy of this Order, including a copy of the attached proposed regulation, to the Virginia Registrar of Regulations for publication in the Virginia Register of Regulations.

AN ATTESTED COPY hereof shall be sent to the Clerk of the Commission, who shall forthwith mail a copy of this Order, including a copy of the proposed regulation, to interested parties as he may designate.

5VAC5-30-20. Definitions.

The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Active record" means a UCC record that has not reached the one-year anniversary of its lapse date.

"Amendment" means a UCC record that amends the information contained in a financing statement. Amendments also include (i) assignments and (ii) continuation and termination statements.

"Assignment" means an amendment that assigns all or a part of a secured party's power to authorize an amendment to a financing statement.

"Continuation statement" shall have the meaning prescribed by § 8.9A-102(a)(27) of the Code of Virginia.

"Correction statement" means a UCC record that indicates that a financing statement is inaccurate or wrongfully filed.

"File number" shall have the meaning prescribed by § 8.9A-519(b) 8.9A-102(a)(36) of the Code of Virginia.

"Filing office" means the Clerk's Office of the State Corporation Commission.

"Filing officer" means the Clerk of the State Corporation Commission.

"Filing officer statement" means a statement entered into the filing office's UCC information management system to correct describe the correction of an error or inaccuracy made by the filing office.

"Financing statement" shall have the meaning prescribed by § 8.9A-102(a)(39) of the Code of Virginia.

"Inactive record" means a UCC record that has reached the first anniversary of its lapse date.

"Individual" means a natural person, living or deceased.

"Initial financing statement" means a UCC record containing the information required to be in an initial financing statement and that causes the filing office to establish the initial record of existence of a financing statement.

"Organization" means a legal person that is not an individual.

"Personal identifiable information" shall have the meaning prescribed by § 12.1-19 B of the Code of Virginia.

"Remitter" means a person who tenders a UCC record to the filing officer for filing, whether the person is a filer or an agent of a filer responsible for tendering the record for filing. "Remitter" does not include a person responsible merely for the delivery of the record to the filing office, such as the postal service or a courier service but does include a service provider who acts as a filer's representative in the filing process.

"Secured party of record" shall have the meaning prescribed by § 8.9A-511 of the Code of Virginia.

"Termination statement" shall have the meaning prescribed by § 8.9A-102(a)(79) of the Code of Virginia.

"Through date" means the most recent date that all submissions for a specified day have been indexed in the UCC information management system.

"UCC" means the Uniform Commercial Code - Secured Transactions (§ 8.9A-101 et seq. of the Code of Virginia).

"UCC information management system" means the information management system used by the filing office to store, index, and retrieve information relating to financing statements.

"UCC record" means an initial financing statement, an amendment, and a correction or filing officer statement, and shall not be deemed to refer exclusively to paper or paper-based writings.

5VAC5-30-30. General filing and search requirements.

A. UCC records may be tendered for filing at the filing office as follows:

1. By personal delivery, at the filing office street address;

2. By courier delivery, at the filing office street address; or

3. By postal delivery, to the filing office mailing address; or

4. By electronic delivery method provided and authorized by the filing office.

B. The filing time for a UCC record delivered by any of the foregoing methods personal, courier, or postal delivery is the time the UCC record is date-and-time stamped by the filing office even though the UCC record may not yet have been accepted for filing and may be subsequently rejected. The filing time for a UCC record delivered by authorized electronic delivery method is the date and time the UCC information management system receives the record and determines that all the required elements of the transmission have been received in the required format.

C. UCC search requests may be delivered to the filing office by any of the methods by which UCC records may be delivered to the filing office personal, courier, or postal delivery.

5VAC5-30-40. Forms, fees, and payments.

A. Forms.

1. The filing office shall only accept forms for UCC records that conform to the requirements of this chapter.

2. The forms set forth in § 8.9A-521 of the Code of Virginia shall be accepted.

3. The forms approved by the International Association of Commercial Administrators as they appear on the filing office's website (http://www.scc.virginia.gov/division/clk/fee_ucc.htm) (http://www.scc.virginia.gov/division/clk/uccfile.aspx) shall be accepted.

4. The filing officer may approve other forms for acceptance, including additional forms promulgated approved by the International Association of Commercial Administrators.

B. Fees.

1. The fee for filing and indexing a UCC record communicated on paper is $20.

2. The fee for submitting a UCC search request communicated on paper is $7.00.

3. The fee for furnishing UCC search copies is $.50 for each page. The fee for affixing the seal of the commission to a certificate is $3.00.

C. Methods of payment. Filing fees and fees for services provided under this regulation chapter may be paid by the following methods:

1. Payment in cash shall be accepted if paid in person at the filing office.

2. Personal checks, cashier's checks and money orders made payable to the State Corporation Commission or Treasurer of Virginia shall be accepted for payment if drawn on a bank acceptable to the filing office or if the drawer is acceptable to the filing office.

3. Payment by credit card acceptable to the filing office or electronic check shall be accepted for the filing or submission of documents delivered by authorized electronic method.

D. Overpayment and underpayment policies.

1. The filing officer shall notify the remitter of the amount of any overpayment exceeding $24.99 and send the remitter the appropriate procedure and form for requesting a refund. The filing officer shall refund an overpayment of $24.99 or less only upon the written request of the remitter. A request for a refund shall be delivered to the filing office within 12 months from the date of payment.

2. Upon receipt of a UCC record with an insufficient filing fee, the filing officer shall return the record to the remitter with a notice stating the deficiency and shall may retain the filing fee.

E. Federal liens. A notice of lien, certificate and other notice affecting a federal tax lien or other federal lien presented to the filing office pursuant to the provisions of the Uniform Federal Lien Registration Act (§ 55-142.1 et seq. of the Code of Virginia) shall be treated as the most analogous UCC record unless the Uniform Federal Lien Registration Act or federal law provides otherwise.

Part II
Record Requirements

5VAC5-30-50. Acceptance and refusal of records; continuation statements.

A. The duties and responsibilities of the filing officer with respect to the administration of the UCC are ministerial. In accepting for filing or refusing to file a UCC record pursuant to this chapter, the filing officer does none of the following:

1. Determine the legal sufficiency or insufficiency of a record;

2. Determine that a security interest in collateral exists or does not exist;

3. Determine that information in the record is correct or incorrect, in whole or in part; or

4. Create a presumption that information in the record is correct or incorrect, in whole or in part.

B. The first day on which a continuation statement may be filed is the day of the month corresponding to the date upon which the related financing statement would lapse in the sixth month preceding the month in which the financing statement would lapse. If there is no such corresponding date, the first day on which a continuation statement may be filed is the last day of the sixth month preceding the month in which the financing statement would lapse. The last day on which a continuation statement may be filed is the date upon which the financing statement lapses. If the lapse date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or other day on which the filing office is not open, then the last day on which a continuation statement may be filed, if tendered for filing by personal, courier, or postal delivery, is the last day the filing office is open prior to the lapse date. An authorized electronic delivery method may be available to file a continuation statement on a Saturday, Sunday, or other day on which the filing office is not open. The relevant anniversary for a February 29 filing date shall be March 1 in the fifth or 30th year following the date of filing.

C. Except as provided in 5VAC5-30-40 D, if the filing officer finds grounds to refuse a UCC record, the filing officer shall return the record to the remitter and shall may retain the filing fee.

D. Nothing in this chapter shall prevent a the filing officer from communicating to a filer or a remitter 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 officer office is under no obligation to do so and may not, in fact, have the resources to identify potential defects. The responsibility for the legal effectiveness of filing rests with filers and remitters and the filing office bears no responsibility for such effectiveness.

E. The filing officer may act in accordance with § 12.1-19 B of the Code of Virginia with respect to submissions that contain personal identifiable information.

F. If a secured party or a remitter demonstrates to the satisfaction of the filing officer that a UCC record that was refused for filing should not have been refused, the filing officer shall file the UCC record as provided in this chapter with a filing date and time assigned when the record was originally tendered for filing. The filing officer shall also file a filing officer statement that states the effective date and time of filing, which shall be the date and time the UCC record was originally tendered for filing.

Part III
Record Filing and Searches

5VAC5-30-60. Filing and data entry procedures.

A. The filing office may correct errors made by its personnel in the UCC information management system at any time. If the correction occurs after the filing officer has issued a certification, the filing officer shall file a filing officer statement in the UCC information management system identifying the record to which it relates, the date of the correction, and explaining the nature of the corrective action taken. The record shall be preserved as long as the record of the initial financing statement is preserved in the UCC information management system.

B. An error by a filer or remitter is the responsibility of that person. It can be corrected by filing an amendment or it can be disclosed by filing a correction statement pursuant to § 8.9A-518 of the Code of Virginia. A correction statement shall be made only on a Statement of Claim form (Form UCC5).

C. 1. A UCC record tendered for filing shall designate whether a name is a name of an individual or an organization. If the name is that of an individual, the first, middle and last names and any suffix shall be given.

2. Organization names are entered into the UCC information management system exactly as set forth in the UCC record, even if it appears that multiple names are set forth in the record or if it appears that the name of an individual has been included in the field designated for an organization name.

3. The filing office will only accept forms that designate separate fields for individual and organization names and separate fields for first, middle, and last names and any suffix. Such forms diminish the possibility of filing office error and help assure that filers' expectations are met. However, the inclusion of names in an incorrect field or the failure to transmit names accurately to the filing office may cause a financing statement to be ineffective.

D. The filing officer shall take no action upon receipt of a notification, formal or informal, of a bankruptcy proceeding involving a debtor named included in the UCC information management system.

5VAC5-30-70. Search requests and reports.

A. The filing officer maintains for public inspection a searchable index for all UCC records. The index shall provide for the retrieval of all filed records by the name of the debtor and by the file number of the initial financing statement.

B. Search requests shall be made only on the National Information Request Form form (Form UCC11) and shall contain the following information include:

1. The name of the debtor to be searched, specifying whether the debtor is an individual or organization. A search request will be processed using the exact name provided by the requestor.

2. The name and address of the person to whom the search report is to be sent.

3. The Payment of the appropriate fee, which shall be enclosed, payable made by a method described herein set forth in this chapter.

C. Search requests may contain the following information include:

1. A request that copies of records found in the search be included with the search report, or and

2. Instructions on the mode of delivery desired, if other than by ordinary mail postal delivery, which request shall be honored followed if the requested desired mode is available acceptable to the filing office.

D. Search results are produced by the application of standardized search logic to the name presented to the filing officer. The following criteria apply to searches:

1. There is no limit to the number of matches that may be returned in response to the search request.

2. No distinction is made between upper and lower case letters.

3. Punctuation marks and accents are disregarded.

4. "Noise words" are limited to "an," "and," "for," "of," and "the." The word "the" always will be is disregarded and other. Other noise words appearing anywhere except at the beginning of an organization name will be are disregarded. Certain business words are modified to a standard abbreviation: company to "co," corporation to "corp," limited to "ltd," incorporated to "inc."

5. All spaces are disregarded.

6. After using the preceding criteria to modify the name to be searched, the search will reveal names of debtors that are contained in unlapsed or all initial financing statements in an alphabetical list.

E. Reports created in response to a search request shall include the following:

1. The date and time the report was generated.

2. Identification of the name searched.

3. The through date as of the date and time the report was generated.

4. For an organization, the name as it appears after application of the standardized search logic.

5. Identification of each unlapsed initial financing statement or all initial financing statements filed on or prior to the report date and time corresponding to the search criteria, by name of debtor, by identification file number, and by file date and file time.

4. 6. For each initial financing statement on the report, a listing of all related UCC records filed by the filing officer on or prior to the report date.

5. 7. Copies of all UCC records revealed by the search and requested by the requestor.

F. The filing office may provide access to the searchable index via the Internet that produces search results beyond exact name matches. Search results obtained via the Internet shall not constitute an official search and will not be certified by the filing office.