UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE (UCC)

Processing and maintaining UCC filings is one of several major functions of the  Oklahoma County Clerk. These filings are made by creditors to declare and evidence the interest of the creditor in the personal property and/or fixtures of a debtor used as collateral for a secured transaction (such as a loan). Currently, most UCC filings in the State of Oklahoma are filed with the Oklahoma County Clerk's Office, which serves as a centralized and exclusive filing locations for the State of Oklahoma.

Purpose of the UCC

Article 9 of the UCC introduced a new concept covering the range of transactions in which debts are secured by personal property. It superseded existing legislation dealing with such security devices as chattel mortgages, conditional sales, trust receipts, factors liens, and assignments of accounts receivable. The filing of a UCC-1, Financing Statement, eliminates the necessity of filing such security agreements and the confidential information, including amount, terms of payment, interest rates, etc. with respect to personal property or fixtures.

Filing a Financing Statement

The proper place to file a financing statement in order to perfect a security interest is the UCC Central Filing Office, located in the Offices of the Oklahoma County Clerk. Transmitting Utilities and EFS Forms are filed at the Secretary of State. In the case of goods which are to become fixtures, the filing must be done in the same office where a mortgage on the real estate would be filed. However, if the debtor is a consumer and the collateral is consumer goods or if the debtor is a farmer with farm products as collateral or accounts arising from the sale of farm products, the filing must occur in the Oklahoma County central filing office.

Administrative Policy

The administrative policy of the UCC central filing office of Oklahoma County is to accept all financing statements substantially complying with Oklahoma Statutes 2001 Title 12A § 1-9-501 through § 1-9-527 and accompanied by the proper filing fee.

Title 12A Oklahoma Statutes 2001 Section 9, Part 5, sets forth all duties of the filing officer and the fees to be charged for filings and information. It also set forth the provisions for obtaining information from the Oklahoma UCC central filing office. In addition, Part 5 of Article 9 indicates the proper place of filing, what constitutes a filing, the formal requisites of a financing statement, the duration of filing, the effect of lapsed filing, the assignment of security interests and the release of collateral.