57401-57414
FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE
SECTION 57401-57414
57401. (a) The definitions in this section govern the construction of this chapter. (b) "Feed or materials" means commercial feed, grain, forage, feed ingredients, mineral feed, drugs, animal health products, customer-formula feed, any mixture or preparation for feeding animals, any of the constituent nutrients of an animal ration, or any other food which is used for the feeding of dairy cattle. (c) "Proceeds" means funds derived from the sale of milk or milk products which are payable to the lien debtor by the possessor of the funds, except for any of the following: (1) Deductions for taxes, fees, and assessments. (2) Funds due or owing milk processing cooperative associations organized and operating pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 54001). (3) Funds retained by the cooperative association. (4) Deductions made pursuant to a court order. (5) Deductions due or owing the buyer of the milk for hauling services provided by the buyer pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 62096 and deductions due or owing the buyer for the testing of milk for purposes of payment pursuant to Section 34231. (d) "Raising or maintaining of dairy cattle" means feeding, pasturing, caring for, and managing dairy cattle kept or raised for use or profit. (e) "Reasonable or agreed charges" means the agreed price, if any, for the feed and materials sold to the lien debtor, at the lien debtor's request. If there is no agreed price or a method for determining price which is agreed upon, "reasonable or agreed charges" means the reasonable value of the feed or materials as of the date of delivery. 57402. A person who provides feed or materials to aid the raising or maintaining of dairy cattle has a lien upon the proceeds of the milk or milk products produced from the dairy cattle, for the reasonable or agreed charges for the feed or materials provided and for the costs of enforcing the lien. However, the amount of charges secured by the lien cannot exceed an amount equal to the reasonable or agreed charges for feed or material provided within a 45-day period, and only two providers of feed or materials shall have an enforceable lien at any time according to the priority set forth in Section 57406. 57403. (a) The lien created pursuant to this chapter attaches to proceeds. (b) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the notice of claim of lien shall remain in effect, and no new notice of claim of lien shall be required in order to maintain the lien, as long as the person who provides feed or materials either (1) remains unpaid for amounts secured by the lien, or (2) continues to provide feed or materials on a regular basis to the lien debtor. For purposes of this section, providing feed or materials shall not be deemed to be made on a regular basis if a period of more than 30 days elapses between deliveries. 57405. The lien created by this chapter shall be perfected and shall be effective upon the filing of a notice of claim of lien with the Secretary of State pursuant to all the provisions of this section. (a) The person who provides feed or materials may, at any time, file in the manner and at the place set forth in this section, the notice of claim of lien. (b) The notice of claim of lien shall, at a minimum, set forth all of the following information: (1) The name and address of the lien claimant. (2) The name and address of the lien debtor. (3) The location of the dairy to which the feed and materials were provided. (4) That the lien claimant has a dairy cattle supply lien pursuant to Section 57402. (c) The notice of claim of lien shall be signed by the lien claimant or by a person authorized to sign documents of a similar kind on behalf of the claimant. (d) The notice of claim of lien shall be filed on a form which is the standard form of original financing statement prescribed by the Secretary of State pursuant to Section 9521 of the Commercial Code. The standard form shall be completed with the following changes: (1) The lien claimant may be identified either as lien claimant or as secured party. (2) The form shall be signed by the lien claimant and need not be signed by the debtor. (3) In the space for the description of the collateral there shall instead be entered the statement substantially as set forth in paragraphs (3) and (4) of subdivision (b). (e) The notice of claim of lien shall be filed, indexed, and marked in the office of the Secretary of State in the same manner as a financing statement is filed, indexed, and marked pursuant to Section 9519 of the Commercial Code. (f) The lien claimant shall provide written notice of the claim of lien to the lien debtor within 10 days of the date of the filing with the office of the Secretary of State. (g) For the purpose of the Secretary of State's index pursuant to Sections 9515, 9516, and 9522 of the Commercial Code and for the purpose of the issuance of a certificate pursuant to Section 9519 or 9528 of the Commercial Code, the Secretary of State shall identify a notice pursuant to this section as a financing statement. 57406. (a) The lien created by this chapter shall have priority in accordance with the time the notice of claim of lien is filed. (b) The lien created by this chapter shall have the same priority as a security interest perfected by the filing of a financing statement as of the date the notice of claim of lien was filed. 57407. Except to the extent specifically set forth in this chapter, the lien created by this chapter shall be subject to Division 9 (commencing with Section 9101) of the Commercial Code. 57408. A member of the public may obtain a certificate identifying whether there is a lien on file and any notice of claim of lien naming a particular debtor, and if so, giving the date and time of filing of each notice, and the names and addresses of each lienholder therein. The fee for the certificate is the same as the fee for a certificate issued pursuant to Section 9525 of the Commercial Code. 57409. A member of the public may obtain a copy of any notice of claim of lien filed pursuant to this chapter, including notices affecting the notices. The fee for these copies shall be the same as that prescribed in Section 9525 of the Commercial Code. 57410. The Secretary of State may adopt any regulations necessary to carry out his or her duties pursuant to this chapter, including prescribing necessary forms. 57411. A lien created pursuant to this chapter is assignable or transferable by the holder of the lien, with full rights of enforcement. A lienholder's statement of assignment or transfer shall be filed with the Secretary of State in the same manner as a secured party's statement of assignment or transfer as prescribed in Section 9514 of the Commercial Code. 57412. The lien claimant shall provide written notice to secured creditors at least 30 days prior to enforcing a claim of lien. For the purposes of this section, "secured creditors" means those creditors having a perfected security interest in dairy cattle, milk, milk products, or the proceeds thereof, as of the date the notice of claim of lien is filed with the Secretary of State. 57413. The lien claimant shall foreclose on a lien created by this chapter only in an action to recover the reasonable or agreed charges for feed and materials delivered. The final judgment shall be enforced pursuant to Title 9 (commencing with Section 680.010) of the Code of Civil Procedure. 57414. (a) When a lien claimant receives payment for amounts secured by the lien and the lien claimant has not been providing feed or materials for a period of 30 consecutive days, the lien claimant shall, on written demand by the debtor, send the debtor a statement that he or she no longer claims a security interest under the statement, which shall be identified by date, names of parties thereto, and file number. If the affected lienholder of record fails to send such a termination statement within 10 days after proper demand therefor, he or she shall be liable to the debtor for all actual damages suffered by the debtor by reason of this failure, and, if the failure is in bad faith, for a penalty of one hundred dollars ($100). (b) The filing officer shall mark each termination statement with the date and time of filing and shall index the statement under the name of the debtor and under the file number of the original lien. If the filing officer has a microfilm or other photographic record of the lien and related filings, he or she may remove the originals from the files at any time after receipt of the termination statement and destroy them, or if he or she does not have the record, he or she may remove them from those files at any time after one year after receipt of the termination statement and destroy them.