The secretary of state shall adopt and publish rules to implement Sections 55-9-501 through 55-9-526 NMSA 1978. The filing-office rules must be:

(a) consistent with Chapter 55, Article 9 NMSA 1978; and

(b) adopted and published in accordance with the State Rules Act [Chapter 14, Article 4, NMSA 1978].

History: 1978 Comp., § 55-9-526, enacted by Laws 2001, ch. 139, § 97.

OFFICIAL COMMENTS

UCC Official Comments by ALI & the NCCUSL. Reproduced with permission of the PEB for the UCC. All rights reserved.

1. Source. New; subsection (b) derived in part from the Uniform Consumer Credit Code (1974).

2. Rules Required. Operating a filing office is a complicated business, requiring many more rules and procedures than this article can usefully provide. Subsection (a) requires the adoption of rules to carry out the provisions of article 9. The filing-office rules must be consistent with the provisions of the statute and adopted in accordance with local procedures. The publication requirement informs secured parties about filing office practices, aids secured parties in evaluating filing-related risks and costs, and promotes regularity of application within the filing office.

3. Importance of Uniformity. In today's national economy, uniformity of the policies and practices of the filing offices will reduce the costs of secured transactions substantially. The International Association of Corporate Administrators (IACA), referred to in subsection (b), is an organization whose membership includes filing officers from every state. These individuals are responsible for the proper functioning of the article 9 filing system and have worked diligently to develop model filing-office rules, with a view toward efficiency and uniformity.

Although uniformity is an important desideratum, subsection (a) affords considerable flexibility in the adoption of filing-office rules. Each state may adopt a version of subsection (a) that reflects the desired relationship between the statewide filing office described in section 9-501(a)(2) and the local filing offices described in section 9-501(a)(1) and that takes into account the practices of its filing offices. Subsection (a) need not designate a single official or agency to adopt rules applicable to all filing offices, and the rules applicable to the statewide filing office need not be identical to those applicable to the local filing office. For example, subsection (a) might provide for the statewide filing office to adopt filing-office rules, and, if not prohibited by other law, the filing office might adopt one set of rules for itself and another for local offices. Or, subsection (a) might designate one official or agency to adopt rules for the statewide filing office and another to adopt rules for local filing offices.

Effective dates. — Laws 2001, ch. 139, § 155 makes the act effective July 1, 2001.