Mark Wolfson on Florida's UCC Filing System – 'A concern, not a disaster'

Foley & Lardner LLP partner Mark Wolfson published the article, “The Florida UCC Filing System—a Concern, Not a Disaster: A Response to Professor Lynn M. LoPucki,” in the Florida Law Review.

Wolfson, in his reply to a critique of Florida’s Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filing system, acknowledges the valid concerns raised but argues that he does not see “the current failings of Florida’s existing filing and search system for the recording of personal property liens as a ‘disaster.'”

“Still, until the current Florida UCC filing and search system…is upgraded and can return more precise results, many unsophisticated buyers and lenders may continue to be harmed financially, and perhaps their counsel could suffer adverse consequences until it is too late in the commercial transaction process to correct an error that exists,” Wolfson continues, noting that the Florida Department of State is already in the processing of making improvements to its UCC filing and search system.

Wolfson approves of some of the “bold solutions” to remedy some of the concerns with the system raised in the earlier critique, however, he underscored that certain elements may not “mesh with the current private vendor arrangement” that state is currently tied to.

“Nevertheless, the Professor’s recommendation to implement his “quick fix” approach by fine-tuning the existing “Compact Search” search function for business entities, which I endorse, will go a long way to both preventing another 1994 Beach Boulevard decision and protecting the expectations of parties to secured financing transactions with a Florida-located business entity debtor,” Wolfson concludes.