We have revised our reference matrix of the state-by-state breakdown of the new Article 9 legislation, to account for the enactment of Rhode Island Senate Bill 520, Rhode Island House Bill 5573 and Connecticut House Bill 6274.
The Rhode Island legislation is uniform to the new model act* across the board, with “Alternative A” adopted for 9-503. Connecticut is also uniform, but no reference is made to forms in 9-521 and, more importantly, the state has adopted "Alternative B" for 9-503--making it one of only two states so far to do so (the other being Washington state).
Choice of Alternative B means that Connecticut will allow for a “safe harbor” in individual debtor names. If an individual debtor has a CT driver’s license, the financing statement is sufficient if it uses the name found therein. However, unlike Alternative A, it also allows for other individual names to be used, such as the surname and first personal name.
What does this mean in a practical sense? Well, searchers beware in Connecticut and Washington. Under Alternative B, a variety of debtor names will be sufficient, so searchers will need to conduct a more expansive search to ensure that all possible name variations are uncovered.
Download the revised matrix here. To view the status of each bill on the state legislature website, click on the hyperlink embedded in the Bill #. To get a better understanding of what is addressed in each section of the code, click on the hyperlinks in the code section titles in the matrix header row. (For example, clicking on "9-503: Name of Debtor and Secured Party" in the header row of the matrix will take you to a previous blog post which describes the difference between Alt A and Alt B).
We will periodically keep you updated as the legislation continues to change, so check back into the blog frequently.
*For more information about the various provisions of the model act, visit the “Legislation and Judgments” category of this blog.
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