Small Formalities, Big Consequences in Secured Credit Law - An Update

To what extent does secured credit law protect creditors from the consequences of mistaken actions made on their behalf? I wrote about this issue in March 2013. As discussed in that post, the bankruptcy court issued both a decision on the merits and a certification for a direct appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.

The 2nd Circuit has now certified the following question to the Delaware Supreme Court: 

Under UCC Article 9, as adopted into Delaware law by Del. Code Ann. tit. 6, art. 9, for a UCC-3 termination statement to effectively extinguish the perfected nature of a UCC-1 financing statement, is it enough that the secured lender review and knowingly approve for filing a UCC-3 purporting to extinguish the perfected security interest, or must the secured lender intend to terminate the particular security interest that is listed on the UCC-3? 

The 2nd Circuit decision is here.  (The date of oral argument on the cover page should say March 2014, not March 2013). 

File folder photo courtesy of Shutterstock