2023 Rhode Island General Laws › Title 6A - Uniform Commercial Code › Chapter 6A-9 - Secured Transactions › Part 5 - Filing › Subpart 1 - Filing Office; Contents and Effectiveness of Financing Statement › Section 6A-9-516. - What constitutes filing; effectiveness of filing.

§ 6A-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;
(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:
(i)
In the case of an initial financing statement, the record does not provide a name for the debtor;
(ii)
In the case of an amendment or information statement, the record:
(A)
Does not identify the initial financing statement as required by § 6A-9-512 or § 6A-9-518, as applicable; or
(B)
Identifies an initial financing statement whose effectiveness has lapsed under § 6A-9-515;
(iii)
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
(iv)
In the case of a record filed or recorded in the filing office described in § 6A-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:
(i)
Provide a mailing address for the debtor; or
(ii)
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 § 6A-9-514(a) or an amendment filed under § 6A-9-514(b), the record does not provide a name and mailing address for the assignee; or
(7)
In the case of a continuation statement, the record is not filed within the six-month period prescribed by § 6A-9-515(d).
(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 § 6A-9-512, 6A-9-514, or 6A-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.
History of Section.
P.L. 2000, ch. 182, § 6; P.L. 2000, ch. 420, § 6; P.L. 2011, ch. 173, § 2; P.L. 2011, ch. 192, § 2.