Authority Projects - About the UCC

REASONS TO REJECT UNDER REVISED ARTICLE 9

The following is a list of the only reasons a Clerk of Superior Court may reject a UCC document:

	Reject if: 1. The communication methods or medium are not authorized by the filing office. For example, document is faxed for filing but office does not provide fax filing or unapproved form submitted. 2. Less than the amount of the required filing fee is tendered. If the fee is correct or more than the required fee, the document will be accepted. 3. The initial financing statement does not have or has an undecipherable debtor name. The initial financing statement must have a debtor name and it must be readable. 4. The last name of the debtor is not clearly denoted on the financing statement. The filing officer must be able to distinguish between the debtor�s last name and first name (individuals). 5. The initial financing statement or an amendment (that provides a name of a debtor which was not previously provided) fails to provide a mailing address for the debtor or show whether the debtor is an individual or an organization, and if an organization, fails to provide: type of organization, and/or state of organization. Organizational identification number is also recommended. Every initial financing statement or amendment must list the debtor address and clearly distinguish between the debtor as an organization or the debtor as an individual. Revised Article 9 requires the above three items of information for the debtor if the debtor is a registered organization. The organizational identification number is not the taxpayer identification number. 6. The initial financing statement or an amendment that adds a secured party of record does not provide the secured party name and mailing address. 7. An assignment reflected in the original financing statement or an amendment of assignment does not have or has an undecipherable assignee name and address. An amendment to assign the interest, whether partial or full, must have an assignee�s name and address and both must be readable. 8. An amendment fails to identify the initial financing statement to which it refers by file number; it identifies more than one initial financing statement; or it is presented to accomplish more than one action, such as amendment and continuation. If the initial financing statement file number indicated on an amendment form matches with a valid file number on the system of the filing office, the amendment will be filed, whether or not other information (such as debtor and secured party name and address) match exactly. In the event that a file number error is made by the filer and a different initial financing statement is so affected, Revised Article 9 provides for sustained legal effectiveness of the so affected financing statement. 9. An amendment to continue the initial financing statement is filed too early, before the allowable six-month window If an amendment to continue is filed too early the filing officer will reject the amendment to continue. 10. An amendment is filed to which the original financing statement has lapsed. If the original financing statement has lapsed, the clerk�s office will reject any amendment filed subsequent to lapse. However it should be noted that termination before lapse does not expunge the record. Therefore, if an amendment to assign were filed after a termination statement, but the original had not yet lapsed, the amendment would be accepted, filed and linked with the original financing statement. A situation such as this, however, does not mean that the amendment to assign is legally sufficient. 11. The financing statement or amendment does not have a sufficient legal description where the transaction is related to real estate. Offices that maintain real estate records must be provided with enough information legally describing the real estate so the record for the property can be located.

Under Revised Article 9, the office of the Clerk of Superior Court is not responsible for legal sufficiency of the information the filer presents for filing. For example, a clerk may not reject an initial financing statement if the collateral is missing. This is not to say that a clerk cannot advise a filer that something important is missing. Article 9 does not take away communications between filer and filing office. However, the clerk may not reject if the collateral is missing.

Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority
1875 Century Blvd, Suite 100, Atlanta, GA 30345
Telephone: (404)327-9058 -- Fax: (404)327-7877