IN RE: ALPHATECH SYSTEMS, INC., Debtor. TEXTRON FINANCIAL CORP., Plaintiff-Appellant, versus UNITED FINANCIAL GROUP, INC., Defendant-Appellee., 317 F.3d 1267

Summary

The sole issue on appeal was whether the creditor had a properly perfected purchase-money security interest in the equipment, and thus had priority to the other party's perfected security interest under Fla. Stat. Ann. § 679.312(5)(a), (4). It was clear from the undisputed facts that the creditor perfected its security interest 43 days after delivery of the equipment, not within 15 days as required under Fla. Stat. Ann. § 679.312(4). The creditor's argument that the debtor did not become a debtor under § 679.312(4) until the debtor signed an agreement with the creditor, and that thus the 15-day time period did not begin until that time, failed; under the creditor's reasoning, a purchase-money security interest creditor could gain priority over a prior perfected security interest at any time after delivery of the collateral, so long as the financing was agreed to within the 15 days prior to the filing of the UCC-1 financing statement. The debtor was a debtor no later than the date on ...