In re EDM Corp.
United States Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel
431 B.R. 459 2010
EDM Corporation (debtor), officially named "EDM Corporation" in the public record but also doing business as "EDM Equipment," filed for bankruptcy with competing creditor liens in dispute; Hastings State Bank (creditor) had the earliest-created lien and earliest-filed financing statement, but listed the debtor as "EDM Corporation d/b/a EDM Equipment" rather than simply "EDM Corporation." Other creditors argued this rendered Hastings's financing statement seriously misleading and unperfected; the bankruptcy court agreed, and EDM appealed.
Whether a financing statement that lists a debtor's name with an added "d/b/a" designation, rather than exactly as the name appears in the jurisdiction's public records, is sufficient to perfect the filing creditor's lien.