203C.12A - LIEN ON WAREHOUSE OPERATOR ASSETS.
203C.12A LIEN ON WAREHOUSE OPERATOR ASSETS.
1. A statutory lien is imposed on all warehouse operator assets
in favor of depositors possessing warehouse receipts covering grain
stored by the warehouse operator and depositors with written evidence
of ownership other than warehouse receipts disclosing a storage
obligation of a warehouse operator.
2. "Warehouse operator assets" includes proceeds received or
due a warehouse operator upon the sale, including exchange,
collection, or other disposition, of grain sold by the warehouse
operator. As used in this section, "proceeds" means noncash and
cash proceeds as defined in section 554.9102. "Warehouse operator
assets" also includes storage payments received or due to a
warehouse operator, grain owned by the warehouse operator, and any
other funds or property of the warehouse operator which can be
directly traced as being from the sale of grain by the warehouse
operator, or which were utilized in the business operation of the
warehouse operator. A court, upon petition by an affected party, may
order that claimed warehouse operator assets are not warehouse
operator assets as defined in this section. The burden of proof
shall be upon the petitioner to establish that the assets are not
warehouse operator assets as defined in this section.
3. The lien shall arise at the commencement of the storage
obligation, and shall terminate when the liability of the warehouse
operator to the depositor has been discharged. The lien of all
depositors is hereby assigned to the Iowa grain indemnity fund board,
on behalf of the grain depositors and sellers indemnity fund.
4. To perfect the lien, the Iowa grain indemnity fund board must
file a lien statement with the office of the secretary of state. The
lien statement is valid only if filed on or after the date of
suspension but not later than sixty days after the incurrence date as
provided in section 203D.6. The lien statement shall disclose the
name of the warehouse operator, the address of the warehouse
operator's principal place of business, a description of identifiable
warehouse operator assets, and the amount of the lien. The lien
amount shall be the board's estimate of the final cost of reimbursing
the grain depositors and sellers indemnity fund for the payment of
claims made against the fund resulting from the breach of the
warehouse operator's obligations. The board shall correct the amount
not later than one hundred eighty days following the incurrence date.
A court, upon petition by an affected person, may correct the amount.
The board shall have the burden of proving that the amount is an
accurate estimate.
5. The Iowa grain indemnity fund board shall upon written demand
of the warehouse operator file a termination statement with the
secretary of state, if the license of the warehouse operator is not
revoked, terminated, or canceled after one hundred eighty days from
the date that the lien is perfected. Upon filing the termination
statement, the lien becomes unperfected. The board shall also
deliver a copy of the termination statement to the warehouse
operator.
6. The secretary of state shall note the filing of a lien
statement under this section in a manner provided by chapter 554, the
uniform commercial code. The secretary shall note the filing of a
termination statement with the lien statement.
7. A lien statement filed under this section shall be a security
interest perfected under chapter 554 and subject to the same priority
as provided under section 554.9322.
8. In the event the department is appointed as a receiver under
section 203C.3, assets under the authority of the receiver are free
from this statutory lien. However, if there are receivership assets
in excess of those necessary to fully reimburse depositors, the
perfected lien will attach to those excess assets.
9. a. The Iowa grain indemnity fund board may enforce the
lien in the manner provided in chapter 554, article 9, part 6, for
the enforcement of security interests. If, upon enforcement of the
lien, the lien amount is satisfied in full without exhaustion of the
warehouse operator assets, the remaining assets shall be returned to
the warehouse operator or, if there are competing claims to those
remaining assets by other creditors, those assets shall be placed in
the custody of the district court and the known creditors impleaded.
b. For purposes of enforcement of the lien, the board is
deemed to be the secured party and the warehouse operator is deemed
to be the debtor, and each has the respective rights and duties of a
secured party and a debtor as provided in chapter 554, article 9,
part 6. If a right or duty under chapter 554, article 9, part 6, is
contingent upon the existence of express language in a security
agreement, or may be waived by express language in a security
agreement, the requisite language is deemed not to exist for purposes
of enforcement of the lien created by this section.
10. Actions relating to this section shall be brought in the
district court in the county in which the warehouse operator's
primary place of business is located or in Polk county. Section History: Recent Form
92 Acts, ch 1239, §71; 2000 Acts, ch 1149, §164, 187; 2009 Acts,
ch 41, §263
Referred to in § 203D.5A