Request By:
F. Chris Gorman, Esquire
Assistant County Attorney
Jefferson County
Suite 1210 Citizens Plaza
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
On behalf of the Jefferson County Clerk you have requested an Opinion of the Attorney General on the portion of KRS 355.9-402 (1) which reads as follows:
"If at the time the financing statement required by this section is filed there is an indebtedness of $200 or more, that fact shall be stated."
You state that it has long been the policy of the County Clerk's office in instances where the lien amount is greater than $200 to state the fact as follows:
"$200.00 +."
Your question is whether the "$200 +" statement is sufficient or whether it is required under the statute to state the exact amount of the indebtedness.
It is the opinion of this office that the exact amount of indebtedness does not have to be stated on the financing statement. KRS 446.080(4) provides in part as follows:
"All words and phrases shall be construed according to the common and approved usage of language. . . ."
According to the wording of this statute all that is required is that when the indebtedness is $200 or more, that fact shall be stated.
This office has not rendered any prior opinion on this question.