§ 11-9-502. Contents of Financing Statement; Record of Mortgage as Fixture Filing or Financing Statement; Time of Filing Financing Statement

1. Sufficiency of financing statement.    Subject to subsection (b) of this Code section, a financing statement is sufficient only if it:
   1. Provides the name of the debtor;
   2. Provides the name of the secured party or a representative of the secured party;
   3. Indicates the collateral covered by the financing statement; and
   4. Where both (A) the collateral described consists only of consumer goods as defined in paragraph (24) of subsection (a) of Code Section 11-9-102 and (B) the secured obligation is originally $5,000.00 or less, gives the maturity date of the secured obligation or specifies that such obligation is not subject to a maturity date.
2. Real property related financing statements.    Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of Code Section 11-9-501, to be sufficient, a financing statement that covers as-extracted collateral, growing crops, or timber to be cut, or which is filed as a fixture filing and covers goods that are or are to become fixtures, must satisfy subsection (a) of this Code section and also:
   1. Indicate that it covers this type of collateral;
   2. Indicate that it is to be filed for record in the real property records;
   3. Provide a description of the real property to which the collateral is related sufficient to give constructive notice of a mortgage under the law of this state if the description were contained in a record of the mortgage of the real property; and
   4. If the debtor does not have an interest of record in the real property, provide the name of a record owner.
3. Record of mortgage as fixture filing or financing statement.    A record of a mortgage filed prior to January 1, 1995, which was effective as a fixture filing when recorded remains effective as a fixture filing, and a record of a mortgage recorded on or after July 1, 2013, is effective, from the date of recording, as a financing statement filed as a fixture filing or as a financing statement covering as-extracted collateral or timber to be cut only if:
   1. The record indicates the goods or accounts that it covers;
   2. The goods are or are to become fixtures related to the real property described in the record or the collateral is related to the real property described in the record and is as-extracted collateral or timber to be cut;
   3. The record satisfies the requirements for a financing statement in this Code section, but:
      1. The record need not indicate that it is to be filed in the real property records; and
      2. The record sufficiently provides the name of a debtor who is an individual if it provides the individual name of the debtor or the surname and first personal name of the debtor, even if the debtor is an individual to whom paragraph (4) of subsection (a) of Code Section 11-9-503 applies; and
   4. The record is duly recorded.
4. Filing before security agreement or attachment.    A financing statement may be filed before a security agreement is made or a security interest otherwise attaches.

History. Code 1981, § 11-9-502 , enacted by Ga. L. 2001, p. 362, § 1; Ga. L. 2002, p. 995, § 7; Ga. L. 2013, p. 690, § 10/SB 185.

Editor’s notes.

Ga. L. 2002, p. 995, § 8, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “This Act shall become effective July 1, 2002, and shall apply to a letter of credit that is issued on or after July 1, 2002. This Act does not apply to a transaction, event, obligation, or duty arising out of or associated with a letter of credit that was issued before July 1, 2002.”

Law reviews.

For article discussing Uniform Commercial Code provisions establishing a security interest in fixtures as a means of protecting sellers, see 16 Mercer L. Rev. 404 (1965).

For article discussing the Uniform Commercial Code provisions regarding the sufficiency of “The Description of Collateral in Security Agreements and Financing Statements,” see 28 Mercer L. Rev. 611 (1977).

For article, “The Revisions to Article IX of the Uniform Commercial Code,” see 15 Ga. St. B.J. 120 (1977).

For article, “Fixture Financing Under Georgia’s New Article 9,” see 16 Ga. St. B.J. 110 (1980).

For article, “H.B. 712: New Requirements for Financing Statements and Continuation Statements Filed in Georgia,” see 22 Ga. St. B.J. 6 (1985).

For article, “H.B. 1364: Revised Requirements for Financing Statements and Continuation Statements Filed in Georgia,” see 23 Ga. St. B.J. 50 (1986).

For annual survey of law of real property, see 38 Mercer L. Rev. 319 (1986).

For annual survey article on commercial law, see 50 Mercer L. Rev. 193 (1998).

For comment on United States v. Crittenden, 563, F.2d 678 (5th Cir. 1977), see 12 Ga. L. Rev. 692 (1977).