Acknowledgment Copy – The document is returned to the customer after it has been filed. Customers will not receive an acknowledgment unless they complete box “B” of the form even if they send a self addressed envelope. The acknowledgment copy provides evidence as to who filed the document and what information was contained in the filing.

Acknowledgment Letter – A letter is sent with each filed document stating how the document is entered into the filing officer’s index system. The filing party should examine this information carefully to make sure the names, addresses and lapse information were entered correctly.

Addendum – Both the UCC financing Statement and UCC financing statement amendment forms include an addendum if additional information is necessary. Filers may attach additional information to the filing, but only information provided in the appropriate fields of the financing statement, amendment or addendum will be indexed.

Administrative Rules – Kansas law requires the Secretary of State’s Office to develop and maintain administrative rules to implement the law. They can be found in the Kansas Administrative Regulations beginning with K.A.R. 7-17-1.

Agister’s Lien – A person who leases his land for pasturing has a lien upon all livestock pasturing on the land for the payment of rent. The person files notice of the lien with the Register of Deeds. The lien may be executed by selling the livestock at a public sale after filing notice of the lien. K.S.A. 58-222.

Agricultural Input Lien – State law provides an agricultural supplier a security interest in the product created by the input from the supplier. The supplier’s interest takes priority over a lender’s (bank) security interest. The policy behind this law is to encourage suppliers to extend credit for supplies necessary for the buyer to plant crops, and in the case of livestock, raise livestock. (Livestock production input supplier means the supplier that provides feed or labor and not merely grazing land. Confinement feeders or landowners, i.e. pasture lands, are covered by statutory liens in K.S.A 58-207 and K.S.A. 58-220.)

Amendment – The term amendment is a broad term meaning all filings that affect the initial financing statement. Besides an amendment to information on the financing statement, the term includes termination, continuation, assignment, and release.

Article Nine – The uniform commercial code (UCC) is a body of law created by the uniform law commission to govern commercial transactions. The law is divided into chapters called “articles.” Article 9 is the chapter covering secured transactions. All US states have adopted this article, but most states have amended the article in some fashion, so the law is not completely uniform from state to state.

Assignee – The secured party that is given all or part of the rights to collateral in a financing statement by an assignment.

Assignment – A secured party may give all or part of the rights to the collateral in a financing statement to another secured party. As an example, a bank might sell a loan to another bank.

Assignor – The secured party that assigned all or part of its rights to a financing statement in an assignment.

Auto Loan – In Kansas, a car purchased by an individual is not subject to article nine filings. Cars that are held by a business may be considered inventory and would be subject to UCC requirements.

Bailee/Bailor – The Uniform Commercial Code covers business relationships in addition to Debtor/Secured Party. The UCC 1 financing statement form allows filing parties to designate alternate relationships, such as bailee/bailor, in box 5.

Bailee’s Lien – A bailee is defined by Kansas statute as a forwarding merchant, warehouse keeper, state, express or railway company, hotelkeeper, carrier or other bailee. A bailee has a lien upon goods in the possession of the bailee and may sell the goods at public auction to execute on the lien. Notice of the sale must be given, either by sending written notice to the owner, publishing the notice, or posting the notice. Copies of the notice and proof of the publication must be filed with the county clerk’s office. See K.S.A. 58-208 et seq.

Bankruptcy – Federal law allows a debtor to be released of the obligation to repay certain debts. The Secretary of State’s Office does not file bankruptcies in the UCC filing system. Bankruptcies are recorded with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Bogus Filings – The UCC filing system is often used by anti- government / anti-tax groups as a method to harm public officials or other individuals, or to perpetuate fraud. Filing offices generally see two types of filings:

1. Listing a public official as the debtor. This is often an attempt to harm the person’s credit.
2. Listing an individual as both the debtor and the secured party or designating the person as a transmitting utility. This is a convoluted, nonsensical attempt to defraud the government.

Because the filing officer’s duties are strictly ministerial, bogus documents are accepted and filed. In some cases the filing office might alert either the Kansas Bureau of Investigation or other agencies of the filing.

A debtor who feels they have been harmed by an unauthorized filing should consult the Expedited Determination of Validity of Lien Act. See K.S.A. 58-4301.

Car Loan – See Auto Loan in the above section.

Central Filing System – See Food Security Act below.

Check Digit – A check digit (CD) is a number mathematically derived from the values of digits or characters, which identifies a record. It uses a numbering method that is designed to automatically catch common errors in numbers such as transposition or substitution errors.

A typical single digit check number scheme can be up to 90% effective in catching erroneous filing numbers. The following computations would be used for a given filing number:

Filing number: 98-123456

Step 1 – Assign weights to each digit and multiply each digit by its assigned weight.

9 8 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
9 16 1 4 3 8 5 12

Step 2 – Total the values derived in step 1

9 + 16 + 1 + 4 + 3 + 8 + 5 + 12 = 58

Step 3 – Divide the sum in step 2 by 10 and use the remainder as the check digit (Visual Basic Mod function returns the remainder, i.e., “58 mod 10”)

58 / 10 = 5 with 8 remainder
Check Digit = 8

Step 4 – Append the check digit to the filing number

98-123456-8

Cleaning Establishment Lien – A person who cleans, presses or repairs garments, clothing or household goods has a lien on the goods for payment of the work done. The lien may be executed by selling the goods after giving notice to the owner. See K.S.A. 58-222.

Collateral – The property subject to the security interest. If the debtor defaults on the loan, the collateral is the property that the debtor has agreed to turn over to the secured party. The secured party will sell the property and hopefully recover the balance of the loan amount.

The presence of collateral is what differentiates a secured loan from an unsecured loan. An example of an unsecured loan would be the use of a credit card.

Consignee/Consignor – The Uniform Commercial Code covers business relationships in addition to Debtor/Secured Party. The UCC 1 financing statement form allows filing parties to designate an alternative relationship, such as consignee/consignor, in box 5.

Continuation – An amendment that continues the effectiveness of a financing statement for an additional five years. Continuations may only be filed in the six months prior to the filings lapse date.

Copy Request – A person may request a search report with or without copies. An information search request lists the file date, file number, debtor and secured party. A copy request is a search that lists the above information and is accompanied by copies of the actual filings that contain collateral information.

Correction Statement – A document that is filed by a party who believes that a record on file is inaccurate or was wrongfully filed.

This filing has no legal effect. The form should not be confused with an amendment which does legally affect the record.

This should not be confused with a filing officer correction statement.

Creditor – The individual or organization that extends credit and is owed money.

DBA – See Trade Name.

Debtor – The person or organization who owes payment to the secured party.

Debtor Name – The UCC requires filers to provide the correct debtor name. The requirements are spelled out in K.S.A. 84-9-503.

If the debtor is a registered organization, the financing statement must provide the name of the debtor exactly as it is on file with the Secretary of State’s Office.

If the debtor is a decedent’s estate, the financing statement must provide the name of the decedent and indicate that the debtor is an estate.

If the debtor is a trust or a trustee acting with respect to property held the financing statement must provide the name specified for the trust in its organic documents or, if no name is specified, provides the name of the settlor and additional information sufficient to distinguish the debtor from other trusts having one or more of the same settlors; and the financing statement must indicate, in the debtor’s name or otherwise, that the debtor is a trust or is a trustee acting with respect to property held in trust; and

If the debtors are married debtors jointly engaged in business and it is unclear whether a partnership exists, the financing statement may be filed in the names of the individual debtors;

If the debtor does not have a name, the financing statement must provide the names of the partners, members, associates, or other persons comprising the debtor.

Doing Business As – See Trade Name.

Employer Identification Number (EIN) – See Social Security Number.

Electronic Filing – A method of filing that allows an individual to file financing statements from the person’s own computer via electronic access to the state database.

Expedited Determination of Validity of Lien – Any person who believes that a filed document purporting to create a lien or claim against the person’s real or personal property is fraudulent may complete and file with the district court of the county in which such lien or claim has been filed, or with the district court of the county in which the property or the rights appertaining thereto is situated, a motion for judicial review. The motion must be supported by an affidavit setting forth a concise statement of the facts upon which the claim for relief is based. The court may rule on the motion in an ex parte hearing. See K.S.A. 58-4301.

Fees –

• Paper filings – $20 plus $1 for each page after 10
• Electronic filings – $8 except Terminations which are $5
• Searches performed by our office – $20 plus copy fees
• Electronic searches – $10 plus copy fees
• Copy fees – $1 per page
• Fax fee – $2 for 1st page, $1 for each additional

Filing Officer Correction – An amendment filed by the filing officer when the filing officer makes an error in filing a document. The form describes the inaccuracy or mistake on the part of the filing officer and the administrative action taken as a result of the inaccuracy or mistake. The document is considered filed on the date the correction was made. This should not be confused with Correction Statement.

Fixture - Goods that have become so related to particular real property that a reasonable person would assume they were part of the property. Examples of fixtures might include a ceiling fan, furnace, etc.

Food Security Act - Federal law providing that a buyer in the ordinary course buying farm products from a person engaged in farming operations takes free of a security interest even if it is perfected and even if the buyer knows of the existence of the security agreement, unless the buyer has received written notice of the security interest within a year before the sale. The buyer can avoid the security interest by paying the obligation owed to the secured party as described in the notice. See 7 U.S.C. 1631.

The federal act has two methods of notifying the buyer; prenotification and central filing. Kansas uses prenotification.

• Prenotification: Lender is responsible for notifying potential buyers that a lender has a security interest in the farm product. The buyer must pay the obligation owed to the lender before taking the product. Kansas follows this method.
• Central filing system: Lender files an EFS (effective financing statement) with the Secretary of State. The list is distributed regularly to buyers who are registered with the Secretary of State. Lender takes priority over the buyer, unless the buyer pays the lender the obligation as listed on the EFS.

Nothing is filed with our office.

Formerly Known As – The former name of a secured party or debtor.

Forms – Upon adoption of Revised Article Nine, the Kansas Secretary of State adopted the use of the national financing statement and amendment forms, which are contained in statutory law. These can be found on the UCC Filing Information page.

Information Request – A search report that lists the file date, file number, debtor, and secured party.

In-Lieu Filings – When revised article 9 took effect July 1, 2001 it changed the location where some financing statements are filed. Financing statements covering all goods except fixtures, timber and mineral interests are now filed with the Secretary of State. The place of filing also changed from the location of the collateral to the location of the debtor.

To continue the effectiveness of a financing statement that must be filed with our office under the new law but filed somewhere else under the old law, the secured party must file an “in-lieu filing.” (so called because the financing statement is filed “in lieu” of a continuation statement). The secured party must file a new UCC 1 financing statement form that includes a reference to the old filing with a statement that the old filing continues to be effective under the new law. This information is placed in the collateral box (Box 4).

The language should read essentially, “This pre-effective document is filed pursuant to K.S.A. 84-9-706 and remains effective.” The original document was filed in __________ (example: Shawnee County Register of Deeds).

Original financing statement number _______ Dated _________
Continuation file number _________ Dated ________
A description of the collateral must also be included.

Internal Revenue Service Filings - Some tax liens and other federal lien notices are filed with either the Secretary of State or the Register of Deeds. See K.S.A. 79-2613 and K.S.A. 79-2614 for place of filing.

IRS – See Internal Revenue Service Filings.

Jurisdiction of Organization – The 2-character U.S. Postal identification of the state of organization if the organization is one in the United States (e.g., CA, KS, FL).

Lapse Date – The date the effectiveness of the financing statement expires. A filed financing statement is effective for a period of five years from the date of filing, but the effectiveness of the financing statement lapses upon the expiration of the five year period unless a continuation statement is filed prior to the lapse.

Lessee/Lessor – The Uniform Commercial Code covers other business relationships in addition to Debtor/Secured Party, such as lessee/lessor. The UCC 1 financing statement form allows filing parties to designate that relationship in box 5. Livestock Feed/Care Lien. A person providing care for livestock has a lien on the livestock for the costs of feed and care. The person may execute on the lien by selling the livestock. See K.S.A. 58-207.

Manufactured Home Transaction – A secured transaction:

1. That creates a purchase-money security interest in a manufactured home, other than a manufactured home held as inventory; or
2. In which a manufactured home, other than a manufactured home held as inventory, is the primary collateral.
3. These filings lapse in 30 years.

Mortgage Filings – A notice of consensual interest in real property, including fixtures, that secures payment or performance of an obligation.

Name Change (Debtor) - An amendment that is filed changing the debtor name to something other than what was filed on the initial financing statement.

Name Change (Secured Party) - An amendment that is filed changing the secured party name to something other than what was filed on the initial financing statement.

Native American Filings – Tribes and reservations are sovereign nations so they do not fall under the jurisdiction of state laws. Some tribes, such as those in South Dakota and Washington, have enacted compacts allowing the state to act as the filing office on behalf of the tribe. The Navajo Nation and about ten other tribes have their own filing office. Other tribes do not recognize secured transactions at all.

Organization Type – “Organization” means an entity having a legal identity separate from its owner such as a corporation, partnership or similar business entity.

Perfection – A creditor “perfects” its security interest by filing notice with a public filing office, usually the Secretary of State’s Office. The notice alerts other creditors that the filer claims an interest in the collateral described in the notice.

PMSI – See Purchase Money Security Agreement.

Pre-notification – See Food Security Act

Public Finance Transaction – A secured transaction in connection with which:

1. Debt securities are issued;
2. All or a portion of the securities issued have an initial stated maturity of at least 20 years; and
3. The debtor, obligor, secured party, account debtor or other person obligated on collateral, assignor or assignee of a secured obligation, or assignor or assignee of a security interest is a state or a governmental unit of a state.
4. These filings lapse in 30 years.

Purchase Money Security Agreement (PMSI) – A security interest that is created when a buyer is loaned money to purchase a specific item with the agreement that the item serves as collateral for the lender in the event of default or bankruptcy.

Registered Organization – An organization granted a separate legal existence from its owners and registered with a state filing office. Examples include corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships.

Registered Organization ID Number – The number assigned by the filing office that files and/or registers business entities, most often the Secretary of State. The ID number is required when listing a business entity as a debtor on the financing statement. If the filing office does not assign organizational ID numbers, the box in item 1g indicating “none” should be checked.

Release – Release was a type of amendment under the old article nine. Its function was to delete specific collateral without terminating the entire document. Under the current law, a secured party would use an amendment to delete collateral.

Repairman’s Lien – A person repairing or working on personal property has a lien on the personal property for the costs of the work. The lien may be claimed by possession of the personal goods or filing a statement with the Register of Deeds. A description of the goods is required, but a legal description is not required. The lien is enforced pursuant to the foreclosure provisions of the UCC. See K.S.A. 58-201 and K.S.A. 58-202.

Revised Article Nine – A revision of the uniform commercial code by the uniform law commission to amend the section relating to secured transactions. Revised Article 9 was effective July 1, 2001 and was adopted by all states. Most states, however, further amended the article in some manner so the law is not completely uniform from state to state.

Search – See Information and or Copy Request.

Secured Loan – A loan that is secured by property that can be taken by the lender in the event of bankruptcy or foreclosure.

Secured Party –

• A person in whose favor a security interest is created or provided for under a security agreement, whether or not any obligation to be secured is outstanding;
• A person that holds an agricultural lien;
• A consignor;
• A person to whom accounts, chattel paper, payment intangibles, or promissory notes have been sold;
• A trustee, indenture trustee, agent, collateral agent, or other representative in whose favor a security interest or agricultural lien is created or provided for; or
• A person that holds a security interest arising under K.S.A. 84-2-401, K.S.A. 84-2-505, K.S.A. 84-2-711(3), K.S.A. 84-2a-508(5), K.S.A. 84-4-210 and K.S.A. 84-5-118.

Security Agreement – A contract that creates or provides for a secured interest in property outlined in the agreement. The UCC filing (financing statement) is notice that a legal contract exists. The security agreement spells out details of the transaction such as the dollar amount borrowed, the payment schedule, and a detailed collateral listing.

Security Interest – A lender or creditor obtains a security interest by requiring the debtor to sign a contract (security agreement) agreeing to forgo certain property (collateral) to the lender/creditor if the debtor defaults on the loan. The lender/creditor need not perfect the security interest in order to enforce the security interest against a debtor, although perfection may be necessary to obtain priority over other creditors.

Seeding/Bailing Lien – A person who operates a broomcorn seeder/baler or hay baler has a lien on the broomcorn or hay. The person follows the same filing procedure for threshing liens; filing a statement with the Register of Deeds, which must include a legal description of the land upon which the crops were produced. See K.S.A. 58-218 and K.S.A. 58-219.

Seller/Buyer – The Uniform Commercial Code covers business relationships in addition to Debtor/Secured Party. The UCC 1 financing statement form allows filing parties to designate an alternative relationship, such as Seller/Buyer, in box 5.

Social Security Number – The financing statement provides a space for TAX ID#, SSN or EIN. Kansas law does not require such information and therefore filers may leave it blank on the form.

SSN – See Social Security Number.

Tax ID Number – Social Security Number.

Termination – A type of amendment the secured party files to terminate the effectiveness of the financing statement.

Thresher’s Lien – A person threshing, harvesting or husking crops has a lien on the crops for payment of his services. The person files a statement with the Register of Deeds, which must include a legal description of the land upon which the crops were produced. See K.S.A. 58-203 and K.S.A. 58-204.

Trade Name – A trade name is sometimes referred to as a “DBA”or “Doing Business As.” A trade name is an alternative name used by a business, other than the legal name. For example, a corporation may have a legal name of “Sachs, Inc.” but advertise under the name “Sachs Socks Store.” A UCC filing must use the correct legal name; a filing that provides only the debtor’s trade name does not sufficiently provide the name of the debtor per K.S.A. 84-9-503(c).

Transmitting Utility – Any person primarily engaged in railroad, street railway or trolley bus business, the electric or electronics communications transmission business, the transmission of goods by pipeline, or the transmission or the production and transmission of electricity, steam, gas or water, or the provision of sewer services.

Transmitting utilities are filed in the UCC filing system. Filing parties must use the addendum form and check the appropriate box in section 18.

Unsecured Loan – A loan based solely on the borrower’s promise to repay. An unsecured lender has no guarantee of recovering any funds or property in the event of bankruptcy. Unsecured credit generally comes with a higher interest rate because of this increased risk. An example of an unsecured loan is a credit card.

UCC – Uniform Commercial Code is a law which covers virtually all business transactions and is divided into several chapters or “articles” with article 9 governing secured transactions.

UCCC – Uniform Consumer Credit Code.