D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 9, § 513
These regulations are to document filing procedures for Uniform Commercial Code filings pursuant to D.C. Law 13-201 effective immediately.
A financing statement to perfect a security interest shall be filed with the Recorder of Deeds, Located at 515 D Street, NW, Washington, DC 20002.
In addition to the promulgation of these rules, the Recorder of Deeds shall disseminate information on its location, mailing address, telephone numbers at the Office of Tax and Revenue Internet site. The filing office offers on-line information at the agency's web site. Additionally, electronic filing of UCC documents is available.
Although the Recorder of Deeds maintains regular office hours (8:30am-4:00pm), it receives transmissions electronically 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, except for scheduled maintenance and unscheduled interruptions of service. Electronic communications may be retrieved and processed periodically (but no less often than once each day the filing office is open for business) on a batch basis.
UCC documents may be tendered for filing at the Recorder of Deeds-located at 515 D Street, NW, Washington, DC 20002.
9 DCMR § 336.2(b) sets basic fees for filing and indexing initial financing statements and other related documents for both, paper or electronic filings. These documents include, but are not limited to:
Security Agreements (chattels)
Financing Statements
Continuation Statements
Termination Statements
Assignment of Financing Statements
Partial Release of Financing Statements
Release of Financing Statements
Statements of Release
Amendments, re-recordings and corrections to security, financing, continuation, termination, assignments, and release statements
513.7 Method of Payments-Filing fees and fees for public records services may be paid by the following methods:
Filing parties shall provide the recording office agent with the card number, expiration date of the card, the name of the card issuer, the name of the person or entity to whom the card was issued and the billing address for the card. Payments will not be deemed tendered until the issuer or its agent has confirmed to the recording office or its agent that payment will be forth coming.
513.8 The Duties and Responsibilities of the Recording Office with respect to the administration of the UCC are ministerial - In accepting for filing or refusing to file a UCC document pursuant to these rules, the filing office does not determine the legal sufficiency or insufficiency of a document; Determine whether or not a security interest in collateral exists; Determine that information in the document is correct or incorrect, in whole or in part.
513.9 Grounds for Refusal of UCC Documents - The grounds for refusal by the filing office are set forth in Revised UCC Section 28: 9-516(b).
513.10 Time Limit - The recording office shall determine whether criteria exist to refuse acceptance of any UCC Article 9 document recording not later than the second business day after the date the document would have been filed had it been accepted for filing and shall index a UCC document not so refused within the same time period.
513.11 Procedure Upon Refusal - If the recording office finds grounds under the rules to refuse acceptance of a UCC document, the filing office shall return the document to the filing party. The recording office shall send a notice that contains the date and time the document would have been filed had it been accepted for filing and a brief description of the reason for refusal to accept the document under the rules. The notice shall be sent to a secured party or the filing party no later than the second (2nd) business day after the determination to refuse acceptance of the document. A refund may be delivered with the notice or under separate cover.
513.12 Recorder of Deeds Discretion - The Recorder of Deeds shall have the discretionary authority to refuse to file a document which is determined to be in non-compliance under
513.13 UCC Information Management System - The recording office uses an automated information management system to store, index, and retrieve information relating to financing statements. The information management system includes an index of the names of debtors and secured parties. The rules in this subsection describe the UCC information management system.
513.14 Primary Data Elements - The primary elements used in the UCC information system are the following:
(a) Each initial financing statement is identified by its file number. Identification of the initial financing statement is applied to written UCC documents or otherwise permanently associated with the record maintained for UCC documents in the UCC information management system.
A record is created in the information management system for each initial financing statement and all information comprising such record is maintained in such system. A UCC record other than an initial financing statement is identified by a unique acknowledgment number assigned by the recording office. In the information system, records of all UCC documents other than initial financing statements are linked to the record of their related initial financing statement.
(b) Type of document - The type of document from which data is transferred is identified in the information management system from information supplied by the remitter.
(c) Filing date and time - The filing date and time of UCC documents are stored in the information management system.
(d) Identification of parties - The names of debtors and secured parties are transferred from UCC documents to the information management system using one or more data entry or transmittal techniques.
(e) Status of financing statement - In the information management system, each financing statement has a status of active unless designated terminated or lapsed.
(f) Page count - The total number of pages in a UCC record is maintained in the information management system.
513.15 Individual Debtors - For the purpose of this rule "individual" means a human being, or a decedent in the case of a debtor that is such decedent's estate. This rule applies to the name of a debtor or a secured party on a UCC document who is an individual.
(a) Individual name fields - The names of individuals are stored in fields that include only names of individuals, and not the names of organizations. Separate data entry fields are established for first, middle and last names. The filing officer assumes no responsibility for the accurate designation of the components of a name but will accurately enter the data in accordance with the filer's designation.
(b) Titles and prefixes - Title and Prefixes, such as "Doctors", "Reverend," "Mr.," and "Mrs.," should not be entered in the UCC information system.
(c) Title and suffixes after names - Title, suffixes or indications of status such as "M.D." and "Esquire" and "Senior, Junior, III, ect." Shall not be entered in the UCC information management system.
(d) Truncation Individual names - Personal names fields in the UCC database are fixed in length. Filers should provide full names on their UCC documents. A name that exceeds the fixed length is indexed as presented to the recording office up to 50 characters - the maximum length of the data entry field, and the filing
party should check each name field after filing to assure that it is indexed properly.
513.16 Organization Debtors - This subsection applies to the name of an organizational debtor or a secured party on a UCC document.
513.17 Processing and Data Entry Procedures - This section contains a description of the indexing procedure and correspondence procedures followed by the recording office prior to archiving a UCC document or returning the UCC document to the filing party.
513.18 Initial Financing Statement - A new record is opened in the UCC information management system for each initial financing statement that bears the file number of the financing statement and the date and time of filing
(b) The record is indexed according to the name of the debtor(s) and is maintained for public inspection.
(c) A lapse date is established for the financing statement, unless the initial financing statement indicates it is filed against a transmitting utility, and the lapse date is maintained as part of the record.
513.19 Amendment - A record that bears the acknowledgment number for the amendment and the date and time of filing is created for the amendment.
(a) The record of the amendment is associated with the record of the related initial financing statement in a manner that causes the amendment to be retrievable each time a record of the financing statement is retrieved.
(b) The name of the debtor and the name and address of each secured party are entered into the UCC information management system in the record of the financing statement. Each such additional debtor name is added to the searchable index and is not removed from the information management system of the recording office even after the financing statement lapses. An amendment that changes a debtor's name is cross-indexed in the UCC information management system so that a search under either the debtor's old name or debtor's new name will reveal the initial financing statement and such related UCC records. If the amendment is a continuation, a new lapse date is established for the financing statement and maintained as part of its record.
513.20 Termination statement - A termination statement shall cause the recording office to designate the financing statement as terminated.
SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 46 DCR 8264 (October 15, 1999); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 48 DCR 10046 (November 2, 2001).