Location of filing

     In a system of constructive public notice, the filer and the searcher know where to look when the collateral is real property because the real property never moves.  In contrast, security interests in personal property pose distinct problems not raised for liens on real property because personal property is either moveable or intangible.  With respect to security interests in personal property, how are filer and searcher to know where the public communication should occur?   With respect to tangible personal property, should filing occur where the property is located at a specific time?  What time?  What if the personal property is moved after the filing?  Out of the county?  Out of the state?  Or should filing occur where the debtor is located, especially with respect to intangible personal property?  How should we define location?  What if the debtor's location changes after the filing?  Out of the county?  Out of the state? 

     Article 9 answers these questions.  But because Article 9 is state law, a secured party who wishes or needs to file a financing statement to perfect a security interest, or a searcher trying to determine whether or not a financing statement has previously been filed, must first first determine which state's Article 9 to consult.  This choice of law question is answered by U.C.C. 9-301 through U.C.C. 9-307.  In Problem.Location of filing and lapse we pose some specific choice of law questions. 

     If resolution of the choice of law question leads, for example, to the law of California, the secured party, or the searcher, as the case may be, should consult that portion of California's Article 9 that instructs where in California to file a financing statement.  This instruction will come from California's version of U.C.C. 9-501.  Because California has adopted the uniform version of Revised Article 9, the instruction will be: (1) file in the office for the filing of mortgages if the collateral is as-extracted collateral or timber to be cut; (2) to perfect a security interest in goods that are or are to become fixtures, file either a fixture filing in the office for the filing of mortgages or file a financing statement in the Office of the California Secretary of State, or both; and, (3) in all other cases, file in the Office of the California Secretary of State.  The identification of a central state filing office as the exclusive place to file a financing statement within a state (except for fixture filings, or filings covering as-extracted collateral or timber to be cut) displaces provisions under former Article 9 that required some filings to be made in a local office.  See Official Comment 2 to U.C.C. 9-501.   However, U.C.C. 9-501 may be especially prone to non-uniform amendment, including amendments preserving some local filing.  Be certain to consult the state's version of Article 9 rather than the Uniform version.