§ 28:9–525. Fees.

(a) The Mayor shall promulgate rules, in accordance with subchapter I of Chapter 5 of Title 2, setting fees for filing and indexing initial financing statements and for other services rendered under this part.

(b) The rules promulgated under subsection (a) shall set a basic fee for filing and indexing an initial filing statement in cases in which the record is communicated electronically or by another nonwritten medium authorized by filing-office rule. If the record is communicated in writing and consists of one or 2 pages, the fee shall be 2 times the basic fee. If the record is in writing and consists of more than 2 pages, the fee shall be 4 times the basic fee.

(d) This section does not require a fee with respect to a record of a mortgage which is effective as a financing statement filed as a fixture filing or as a financing statement covering as-extracted collateral or timber to be cut under § 28:9-502(c). However, the recording and satisfaction fees that otherwise would be applicable to the record of the mortgage apply.

(Oct. 26, 2000, D.C. Law 13-201, § 101, 47 DCR 7576.)

Uniform Commercial Code Comment

1. Source. Various sections of former Part 4.

2. Fees. This section contains all fee requirements for filing, indexing, and responding to requests for information. Uniformity in the fee structure (but not necessarily in the amount of fees) makes this Article easier for secured parties to use and reduces the likelihood that a filed record will be rejected for failure to pay at least the correct amount of the fee. See Section 9-516(b)(2).

The costs of processing electronic records are less than those with respect to written records. Accordingly, this section mandates a lower fee as an incentive to file electronically and imposes the additional charge (if any) for multiple debtors only with respect to written records. When written records are used, this Article encourages the use of the uniform forms in Section 9-521. The fee for filing these forms should be no greater than the fee for other written records.

To make the relevant information included in a filed record more accessible once the record is found, this section mandates a higher fee for longer written records than for shorter ones. Finally, recognizing that financing statements naming more than one debtor are most often filed against a husband and wife, any additional charge for multiple debtors applies to records filed with respect to more than two debtors, rather than with respect to more than one.