409.710 Special transitional provision for maintaining and searching local filing office records.

(1) Definitions. In this section:

(a) “Former-ch.-409 records":

1. Means:

a. Financing statements and other records that have been filed in a local filing office before July 1, 2001, and that are, or upon processing and indexing will be, reflected in the index maintained, as of June 30, 2001, by the local filing office for financing statements and other records filed in the local filing office before July 1, 2001; and

b. The index as of June 30, 2001.

2. Does not include records presented to a local filing office for filing after June 30, 2001, whether or not the records relate to financing statements filed in the local filing office before July 1, 2001.

(b) “Local filing office" means a filing office, other than the department of financial institutions, that is designated as the proper place to file a financing statement under s. 409.401 (1), 1999 stats., with respect to a record that covers a type of collateral as to which the filing office is designated in that subsection as the proper place to file.

(2) Prohibition of filing after June 30, 2001. A local filing office shall not accept for filing a record presented after June 30, 2001, whether or not the record relates to a financing statement filed in the local filing office before July 1, 2001.

(3) Maintenance of records. Until July 1, 2008, each local filing office must maintain all former-ch.-409 records in accordance with ch. 409, 1999 stats. A former-ch.-409 record that is not reflected on the index maintained at June 30, 2001, by the local filing office must be processed and indexed, and reflected on the index as of June 30, 2001, as soon as practicable but in any event no later than July 30, 2001.

(4) Information requests. Until at least June 30, 2008, each local filing office must respond to requests for information with respect to former-ch.-409 records relating to a debtor and issue certificates, in accordance with ch. 409, 1999 stats. The fees charged for responding to requests for information relating to a debtor and issuing certificates with respect to former-ch.-409 records must be the fees in effect under ch. 409, 1999 stats., on June 30, 2001, unless a different fee is later set by the local filing office. However, the different fee must not exceed the amount set by filing-office rule for responding to a request for information relating to a debtor or for issuing a certificate. This subsection does not require that a fee be charged for remote access searching of the filing-office data base. The rule promulgated pursuant to this subsection need not specify a fee for remote access searching of the filing-office data base.

(5) Destruction of records. After June 30, 2008, each local filing office may remove and destroy, in accordance with any then-applicable record retention law of this state, all former-ch.-409 records, including the related index.

(6) Exclusion. This section does not apply, with respect to financing statements and other records, to a filing office in which mortgages or records of mortgages on real property are required to be filed or recorded, if:

(a) The collateral is timber to be cut or as-extracted collateral; or

(b) The record is or relates to a financing statement filed as a fixture filing and the collateral is goods that are or are to become fixtures.

History: 2001 a. 10.