2015 Mississippi Code
Title 75 - REGULATION OF TRADE, COMMERCE AND INVESTMENTS
Chapter 9 - UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE--SECURED TRANSACTIONS
Part 5 - FILING
Subpart 1 - FILING OFFICE; CONTENTS AND EFFECTIVENESS OF FINANCING STATEMENT
§ 75-9-5011 - Fraudulent or false filings; review of record presented for filing; refusal or termination of record; applicability

(a) No person shall cause to be communicated to the filing office for filing a false record the person knows or reasonably should know:

(1) Is filed with the intent to harass or defraud the person identified as debtor in the record or any other person;

(2) Is not authorized or permitted under Sections 75-9-509, 75-9-708 or 75-9-808 of this article; or

(3) Is not related to a valid existing or potential commercial or financial transaction, an existing agricultural or other lien, or a judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction.

(b) The Secretary of State may initiate a review of a record presented for filing or a filed record if:

(1) The Secretary of State receives an information statement filed by the debtor with the Secretary of State under Section 75-9-518 alleging the record was communicated to the filing office in violation of subsection (a); or

(2) The Secretary of State has reason to believe, from information contained in the record or obtained from the person that communicated the record to the filing office, that the record was communicated to the filing office in violation of subsection (a).

(c) Upon initiating the review, the Secretary of State shall communicate to the secured party of record on the record to which the review relates and to the person that communicated the record to the filing, if different and known to the office, a request for additional documentation supporting the effectiveness of the record. The Secretary of State may terminate the record effective thirty (30) days after the first request for additional documentation is sent if it has a reasonable basis for concluding that the record was communicated to the filing office in violation of subsection (a). The Secretary of State may give heightened scrutiny to a record when:

(1) The record asserts a claim against a current or former employee or officer of a federal, state, county, or other local governmental unit that relates to the performance of the officer's or employee's public duties, and for which the filer does not hold a properly executed security agreement or judgment from a court of competent jurisdiction;

(2) The record indicates that the debtor and the secured party are substantially the same;

(3) The debtor is a transmitting utility; or

(4) The transaction to which the record relates is a public-finance transaction.

(d) The Secretary of State shall not return any fee paid for filing a record refused or terminated under this section.

(e) The Secretary of State shall promptly communicate to the secured party of record a notice of the refusal or termination of a record under subsection (c). A secured party of record that believes in good faith the record was not communicated to the filing office in violation of subsection (a) may commence an action in the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi, to require the Secretary of State to accept or reinstate the record.

(f) A record ordered by the court to be accepted or reinstated is effective as a filed record from the initial filing date except as against a purchaser of the collateral which gives value in reasonable reliance on the absence of the record from the files.

(g) Neither the filing office nor any of its employees shall incur liability for the termination or failure to terminate a record under this section or for the refusal to accept a record for filing in the lawful performance of the duties of the office or employee.

(h) This section does not apply to a record communicated to the filing office by a regulated financial institution or by a representative of a regulated financial institution except that the Secretary of State may request from the secured party of record on the record or from the person that communicated the record to the filing office, if different and known to the office, additional documentation supporting that the record was communicated to the filing office by a regulated financial institution or by a representative of a regulated financial institution. "Regulated financial institution" means a financial institution subject to regulatory oversight or examination by a state or federal agency, including, but not limited to, any bank, commercial finance lender or insurer, consumer loan broker, credit union, debt management service provider, finance company, industrial loan company, insurance premium finance company, investment company, investment fund, mortgage service provider, savings association, small loan company, and trust company.

(i) This section applies to records communicated to the filing office for filing before July 1, 2013, if the communication constitutes a violation of subsection (a).