Fraudulent Lien Filing is Illegal

Idaho State SealFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: January 19, 2016
Contact: Office of the Secretary of State
Phone: (208) 334-2300

Boise, Idaho — The Idaho Secretary of State’s office is responsible for filing UCC Financing Statements. This type of “lien” simply makes public notice that a financial agreement is in place. These filings benefit Idaho’s business community, and the general public, by allowing for better-informed lending decisions. Unfortunately, some misguided individuals are attempting to file fraudulent financing statements with the Secretary of State, often with the intent to do harm to, or to seek retribution on, an individual or business.

Secretary of State Lawerence Denney would like to remind the public that fraudulent lien filings are illegal, and can be punishable by heavy fines and/or jail time. Idaho’s legal and business communities take fraudulent filings seriously, and have prosecuted several cases in recent months. The Secretary of State’s office is under no obligation to accept a fraudulent lien, and reports any attempted filings (and completed filings when they are discovered) to affected parties and to law enforcement.

For information on UCC filing in Idaho, visit sos.idaho.gov.

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ABOUT LAWERENCE DENNEY

Lawerence Denney has served the people of Idaho since 1990. His public service began as a representative in District 13 and, following redistricting, then became a representative in District 9 until 2014. During this time, Denney served two terms as Majority Leader and three terms as Speaker of the House before successfully running for state office as Idaho’s Secretary of State. He is currently in his first term as Secretary of State.

System Upgrade In Progress

Campaign Finance, Lobbyist Reporting, and Online Voter Tools are expected to be offline from April 9th at 5:00 p.m. MDT, through April 12th at 8:00 a.m. MDT to complete a system upgrade.

Per Idaho Code 67-6607, campaign finance is reported monthly during a campaign’s election year. The deadline for the March report falls on Saturday, April 10th. Due to the interruption caused by this upgrade, political treasurers will be allowed to file the March report until 11:59 p.m. MDT on Monday, April 12th.

While we do our best to ensure compliance with all deadlines in statute, the timing of this release is critical to ensure minimal (or no) impact to the May election cycle. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.