Financing statements: mortgages.

Assembly Member Macedo's proposal to modify California's Commercial Code introduces new flexibility in how secured transaction documents identify individual debtors. The legislation amends existing requirements for mortgage records serving as financing statements, allowing them to list either a debtor's full individual name or their surname and first personal name - even when the debtor holds an unexpired driver's license or identification card from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The measure maintains current standards requiring financing statements to include the debtor's name, secured party information, and collateral description. For mortgage records to function as financing statements, they must still indicate covered goods or accounts, describe related real property, and undergo proper recording. The amendment focuses solely on expanding acceptable name formats rather than altering other elements of the filing process.

This change would create an alternative to the existing requirement that financing statements exactly match names as they appear on state-issued identification when recording mortgages as fixture filings or for as-extracted collateral and timber to be cut. The modification applies specifically to how mortgage records identify individual debtors while preserving all other criteria for these documents to serve as valid financing statements under the Uniform Commercial Code.