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 after one hundred eighty days from the date that the lien is perfected the warehouse operator’s license has not ceased by revocation, cancellation, or expiration. 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.

92 Acts, ch 1239, §71; 2000 Acts, ch 1149, §164, 187; 2009 Acts, ch 41, §263; 2012 Acts, ch 1095, §105

Referred to in §203D.5A