1. (a) For each record filed in a filing office, the filing office shall:

   1. (1) Assign a unique number to the filed record;
   2. (2) Create a record that bears the number assigned to the filed record and the date and time of filing;
   3. (3) Maintain the filed record for public inspection; and
   4. (4) Index the filed record in accordance with subsections (c), (d), and (e) of this section.

2. (b) A file number must include a digit that:

   1. (1) Is mathematically derived from or related to the other digits of the file number; and
   2. (2) Aids the filing office in determining whether a number communicated as the file number includes a single-digit or transpositional error.

3. (c) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (d) and (e), the filing office shall:

   1. (1) Index an initial financing statement according to the name of the debtor and index all filed records relating to the initial financing statement in a manner that associates with one another an initial financing statement and all filed records relating to the initial financing statement; and
   2. (2) Index a record that provides a name of a debtor which was not previously provided in the financing statement to which the record relates also according to the name that was not previously provided.

4. (d) If a financing statement is filed as a fixture filing or covers as-extracted collateral or timber to be cut, the filing office shall index it:

   1. (1) Under the names of the debtor and of each owner of record shown on the financing statement as if they were the mortgagors under a mortgage of the real property described; and
   2. (2) To the extent that the law of the District provides for indexing of records of mortgages under the name of the mortgagee, under the name of the secured party as if the secured party were the mortgagee thereunder, or, if indexing is by description, as if the financing statement were a record of a mortgage of the real property described.

5. (e) If a financing statement is filed as a fixture filing or covers as-extracted collateral or timber to be cut, the filing office shall index an assignment filed under § 28:9-514(a) or an amendment filed under § 28:9-514(b):

   1. (1) Under the name of the assignor as grantor; and
   2. (2) To the extent that the law of the District provides for indexing a record of the assignment of a mortgage under the name of the assignee, under the name of the assignee.

6. (f) The filing office shall maintain a capability:

   1. (1) To retrieve a record by the name of the debtor and by the file number assigned to the initial financing statement to which the record relates; and
   2. (2) To associate and retrieve with one another an initial financing statement and each filed record relating to the initial financing statement.
7. (g) The filing office may not remove a debtor’s name from the index until one year after the effectiveness of a financing statement naming the debtor lapses under § 28:9-515 with respect to all secured parties of record.
8. (h) The filing office shall perform the acts required by subsections (a) through (e) at the time and in the manner prescribed by filing-office rule, but not later than 2 business days after the filing office receives the record in question.

Uniform Commercial Code Comment

Compared to former Article 9, the rule in subsection (g) increases the amount of information available to those who search the public records. The rule also contemplates that searchers-not the filing office-will determine the significance and effectiveness of filed records.

6. Prohibition on Deleting Names from Index. This Article contemplates that the filing office will not delete the name of a debtor from the index until at least one year passes after the effectiveness of the financing statement lapses as to all secured parties of record. See subsection (g). This rule applies even if the filing office accepts an amendment purporting to delete or modify the name of a debtor or terminate the effectiveness of the financing statement. If an amendment provides a modified name for a debtor, the amended name should be added to the index, see subsection (c)(2), but the pre-amendment name should remain in the index.

5. Related Records. Subsections (c) and (f) are designed to ensure that an initial financing statement and all filed records relating to it are associated with one another, indexed under the name of the debtor, and retrieved together. To comply with subsection (f), a filing office (other than a real-property recording office in a State that enacts subsection (f), Alternative B) must be capable of retrieving records in each of two ways: by the name of the debtor and by the file number of the initial financing statement to which the record relates.

4. Time of Filing. Subsection (a)(2) and Section 9-523 refer to the “date and time” of filing. The statutory text does not contain any instructions to a filing office as to how the time of filing is to be determined. The method of determining or assigning a time of filing is an appropriate matter for filing-office rules to address.

3. File Number. Subsection (a)(1) requires the filing office to assign a unique number to each filed record. That number is the “file number” only if the record is an initial financing statement. See Section 9-102.

2. Filing Office’s Duties. Subsections (a) through (e) set forth the duties of the filing office with respect to filed records. Subsection (h), which is new, imposes a minimum standard of performance for those duties. Prompt indexing is crucial to the effectiveness of any filing system. An accepted but un-indexed record affords no public notice. Subsection (f) requires the filing office to maintain appropriate storage and retrieval facilities, and subsection (g) contains minimum requirements for the retention of records.

1. Source. Former Sections 9-403(4), (7), 9-405(2).

History

Oct. 26, 2000, D.C. Law 13-201, § 101, 47 DCR 7576

Section References

This section is referenced in § 28:9-102, § 28:9-109, § 28:9-513, and § 28:9-523.