Request By:
Ms. Dora N. Henry, Clerk
Estill County Clerk's Office
Irvine, Kentucky 40336Attention: Carolyn Baber
Deputy Clerk
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By William S. Riley, Assistant Attorney General
In your recent letter to Mr. Charles W. Runyan in the Attorney General's office, it is stated that on January 25, 1979, International Harvester filed a lien against George Cox which was noted on his license receipt for a 1967 International truck. The assignee at the time of filing was Columbus Regional Finance Sales Office. On August 8, 1979, there was received in your office for filing from International Harvester a UCC-3 form marked Assignment - To Correct the Assignee of Secured Party: International Harvester Credit Corporation. The form was returned for the license receipt so that a notation could be made and also for the debtor's signature. On August 29, 1979, the UCC-3 form was returned with a letter advising that the notation need not be made on the license receipt or the debtor's signature.
The question is whether the form can be filed without notation being made on the license receipt or the debtor's signature.
KRS 186.045 requires that financing statements relating to vehicles required to be registered in Kentucky by the county clerk shall be filed in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the debtor resides or, if the debtor is a nonresident, in the office of the county clerk in which the vehicle is principally operated. Whenever a financing statement is required by KRS Chapter 355 relating to any vehicle which is registered in Kentucky for use on the highways, the clerk shall note the information on the owner's copy of the certificate of registration issued for the current registration period. The clerk shall also note such information on the clerk's copy of the certificate of registration and ownership or transfer receipt maintained in his office in numerical order. Whenever a perfected security interest is assigned, the assignor shall give a statement of assignment to the assignee and at the same time deliver a copy to the debtor. The copy must be presented to the county clerk who marks the same as provided in subsection (2) of KRS 355.9-405 and attaches it to the original statement.
In General Motors Acceptance Corporation v. Hodge, Ky., 485 S.W.2d 894 (1972) the Supreme Court of Kentucky (the Court of Appeals) held that failure of a county court clerk to note an automobile finance company's lien on the registration who sold an automobile to the plaintiff rendered the lien unenforceable against defendant who purchased the automobile without notice of the lien.
In order for the International Harvester Credit Corporation to have an enforceable lien against the vehicle it must be noted on the motor vehicle registration receipt of record in your office.