Oklahoma is one of the few states that have yet to enact the 2010 Amendments to UCC Article 9. The 2010 Amendments will likely not be in effect until July 1, 2014, if even then. However, the Oklahoma County Clerk’s office, the central filing office for the state, is accepting the new forms (Rev. 04/20/11) and has posted links to the new forms on the filing office web site.
Those who file UCC records must be forewarned that the new UCC forms may not be sufficient to comply with current Oklahoma UCC law. The new forms do not provide the indications required for debtor name sufficiency if the debtor is a decedent’s estate, trust or trustee acting with respect to property held in a trust. Moreover, there are no fields for the organization information still required by Oklahoma law when the financing statement provides an entity debtor name. The filing office must refuse to accept any record that does not provide this information for an organization debtor name; although it appears the filing office is currently disregarding this statutory requirement. Nevertheless, a financing statement that fails to provide the organization information may place the security interest at risk of subordination to another secured party.
Anyone filing a UCC record in Oklahoma must be careful not to use the new forms, despite the filing office’s willingness to accept them. Filers should use only forms that indicate a revision date before 04/20/11 at the bottom of the page. If you have questions or need more information, please contact Paul Hodnefield, Associate General Counsel, at phodnefi@cscinfo.com or 800-927-9801, ext. 62375.