Opinion ID: 1135873
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Security Devices Affecting Farm Products

Text: Initially, the majority's discussion of the law of security interests as it relates to the instant case improperly interprets R.S. 9:4521. All Louisiana privileges, whether possessory or non-possessory, are subordinate to a perfected Chapter 9 security interest unless those privileges fall within one of the limited exceptions found within § 10:9-201 and in § 10:9-310. First Nat'l Bank of Boston v. Beckwith Machinery Co., 650 So.2d 1148, 1152 (La.1995). The standard priority ranking among perfected interests is according to the first in time to file or perfect. La.R.S. 10:9-312(5). La.R.S. 10:9-210 contains two exceptions: (1) where the legislature expressly provides for a different priority within the statute creating the lien, and (2) a possessory lien has priority over subsequently perfected security interests. [1] Id. at 1154. Coincidentally, the Court in Beckwith cites to La.R.S. 9:4521 for an example of the first exception. [2] Id. By its language, La.R.S. 9:4521 is a specific exception to the normal priority in ranking privileges and security interests as affecting unharvested crops. However, La.R.S. 9:4521 only involves security interests perfected under Chapter 22-A of the Louisiana Agriculture and Forestry Laws. R.S. 3:3651 et seq. The statute provides: ... provided that such privileges and security interests have been properly filed and maintained in accordance with the central registry provisions of R.S. 3:3651 et seq.: ... This proviso clearly applies to both the statutory privileges and the perfected security interests that the statute addresses. Thus, only security interests protected by a filing under R.S. 3651 et seq. or those perfected under Chapter 9 fall within the statute's exceptional ranking. The majority's determination that Bayou Pierre would not be a laborer under La. C.C. art. 3217 is an irrelevancy in this case. The only issue here is whether Bayou Pierre qualifies as a laborer under R.S. 9:4521. In using Article 3217 to insert for payment of his wages into R.S. 9:4521(1), the majority is mixing the proverbial apples and oranges. Although we must interpret laws pertaining to the same subject matter in reference to each other, R.S. 9:4521 and Article 3217 do not pertain to the same subject matter. R.S. 9:4521 deals exclusively with protected security interests perfected under either Chapter 9 of the Louisiana Commercial Laws or under Chapter 22-A of the Louisiana Agriculture and Forestry Laws. Conversely, the privileges of Article 3217 are not perfected security interests and are thus subordinate to the interests enumerated in R.S. 9:4521. Unlike R.S. 9:4521, Article 3217 does not contain the required express provision in order to make it an exception to the priorities of La.R.S. 10:9-312(5). Therefore, any privilege bestowed by Article 3217 would be subordinate to all perfected security interests.