Official Comment

1. Source. Subsection (a) [Maine cite subsection (1)]: former Section 9-403(1); the remainder is new.

2. What Constitutes Filing. Subsection (a) [Maine cite subsection (1)] deals generically with what constitutes filing of a record, including an initial financing statement and amendments of all kinds (e.g., assignments, termination statements, and continuation statements). It follows former Section 9-403(1), under which either acceptance of a record by the filing office or presentation of the record and tender of the filing fee constitutes filing.

3. Effectiveness of Rejected Record. Subsection (b) [Maine cite subsection (2)] provides an exclusive list of grounds upon which the filing office may reject a record. See Section 9- 520(a)[Maine cite section 9-1520, subsection (1)]. Although some of these grounds would also be grounds for rendering a filed record ineffective (e.g., an initial financing statement does not provide a name for the debtor), many others would not be (e.g., an initial financing statement does not provide a mailing address for the debtor or secured party of record). Neither this section nor Section 9-520 [Maine cite section 9-1520] requires or authorizes the filing office to determine, or even consider, the accuracy of information provided in a record. For example, the State A filing office may not reject under subsection (b)(5)(C) [Maine cite subsection (2), paragraph (e), subparagraph (iii)] an initial financing statement indicating that the debtor is a State A corporation and providing a three-digit organizational identification number, even if all State A organizational identification numbers contain at least five digits and two letters.

A financing statement or other record that is communicated to the filing office but which the filing office refuses to accept provides no public notice, regardless of the reason for the rejection. However, this section distinguishes between records that the filing office rightfully rejects and those that it wrongfully rejects. A filer is able to prevent a rightful rejection by complying with the requirements of subsection (b) [Maine cite subsection (2)]. No purpose is served by giving effect to records that justifiably never find their way into the system, and subsection (b) [Maine cite subsection (2)] so provides.