Mis-Indexed Financing Statement Leads To Issues Of Priority And Liability Of The Secretary Of State

LexisNexis (July 6, 2017, 2:45 PM EDT) -- In a recent case from West Virginia, the secretary of state mis-indexed a financing statement filed by Creditor A, which created a priority dispute with Creditor B who filed later after doing a UCC search which did not reveal the mis-indexed financing statement. Both creditors then sought damages in negligence against the secretary of state, leading to issues of governmental immunity. The court ruled that Creditor A had priority over Creditor B because A had "filed" its financing statement irrespective of filing officer negligence.  Creditor B was allowed to pursue its tort claim against the secretary of state....