In re: EDM Corporation, doing business as EDM Equipment, doing business as NOVI, LLC, Debtor; Hastings State Bank, Plaintiff - Appellant v. Thomas D. Stalnaker, Chapter 7 Trustee of EDM Corporation; Scott Street Enterprises; TierOne Bank, Defendants - Appellees, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Defendant, Huntington National Bank, Defendant - Appellee, City of Wood River, Nebraska; Vactor Manufacturing, Inc., Defendants; TierOne Bank, Third Party Plaintiff, v. IBM Credit, LLC; Wells Fargo Equipment Finance, Inc.; Federal Signal Corporation, E-One, Inc.; Elgin Weeper Company, Third Party Defendants, 431 B.R. 459

Summary

Plaintiff creditor bank, which made various loans to the debtor over several years, filed a financing statement listing the proper corporate name of the debtor, but added d/b/a language, stating: "EDM Corporation d/b/a EDM Equipment." The Nebraska Secretary of State's U.C.C. records, using the office's standard search logic, did not reveal the financing statement under a search in the debtor's name. The defendant creditor bank advanced the purchase money for the ambulance in question, and recorded its own financing statement, that properly named the debtor "EDM Corporation." Because the appellate panel agreed that defendant creditor bank was entitled to the proceeds of the ambulance, and the debtor's landlord was the next party in priority. The addition of "d/b/a EDM Equipment" to the debtor's name field on the financing statement made the document seriously misleading as to the name of the debtor.