1. A statutory lien is imposed on all warehouse operator assets in favor of depositors possessing warehouse receipts covering grain stored by the warehouse operator and depositors with written evidence of ownership other than warehouse receipts disclosing a storage obligation of a warehouse operator.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 203C.12A

  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Board: means the Iowa grain indemnity fund board created in section 203D. See Iowa Code 203D.1
  • Department: means the department of agriculture and land stewardship. See Iowa Code 203C.1
  • Depositor: means any person who deposits an agricultural product in a warehouse for storage, handling, or shipment, or who is the owner or legal holder of an outstanding warehouse receipt, or who is lawfully entitled to possession of the agricultural product. See Iowa Code 203C.1
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Fund: means the grain depositors and sellers indemnity fund created in section 203D. See Iowa Code 203D.1
  • Grain: means the same as defined in section 203. See Iowa Code 203C.1
  • License: means a license issued under this chapter. See Iowa Code 203C.1
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Payment: means the actual payment or tender of payment by a grain dealer to a seller of the agreed purchase price, or in the case of disputes as to sales of grain, the undisputed portion of the purchase price without reduction for any separate claim of the grain dealer against the seller. See Iowa Code 203.8
  • Person: means the same as defined in section 4. See Iowa Code 203C.1
  • property: includes personal and real property. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Storage: means any grain or other agricultural products that have been received and have come under care, custody or control of a warehouse operator either for the depositor for which a contract of purchase has not been negotiated or for the warehouse operator operating the facility. See Iowa Code 203C.1
  • Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. Source: OCC
  • Warehouse: shall mean any building, structure, or other protected enclosure in this state used or usable for the storage of agricultural products. See Iowa Code 203C.1
  • Warehouse operator: means a person engaged in the business of operating or controlling a warehouse for the storing, shipping, handling or processing of agricultural products, but does not include an incidental warehouse operator. See Iowa Code 203C.1
 2. “Warehouse operator assets” includes proceeds received or due a warehouse operator upon the sale, including exchange, collection, or other disposition, of grain sold by the warehouse operator. As used in this section, “proceeds” means noncash and cash proceeds as defined in section 554.9102. “Warehouse operator assets” also includes storage payments received or due to a warehouse operator, grain owned by the warehouse operator, and any other funds or property of the warehouse operator which can be directly traced as being from the sale of grain by the warehouse operator, or which were utilized in the business operation of the warehouse operator. A court, upon petition by an affected party, may order that claimed warehouse operator assets are not warehouse operator assets as defined in this section. The burden of proof shall be upon the petitioner to establish that the assets are not warehouse operator assets as defined in this section.
 3. The lien shall arise at the commencement of the storage obligation, and shall terminate when the liability of the warehouse operator to the depositor has been discharged. The lien of all depositors is hereby assigned to the Iowa grain indemnity fund board, on behalf of the grain depositors and sellers indemnity fund.
 4. To perfect the lien, the Iowa grain indemnity fund board must file a lien statement with the office of the secretary of state. The lien statement is valid only if filed on or after the date of suspension but not later than sixty days after the incurrence date as provided in section 203D.6. The lien statement shall disclose the name of the warehouse operator, the address of the warehouse operator’s principal place of business, a description of identifiable warehouse operator assets, and the amount of the lien. The lien amount shall be the board’s estimate of the final cost of reimbursing the grain depositors and sellers indemnity fund for the payment of claims made against the fund resulting from the breach of the warehouse operator’s obligations. The board shall correct the amount not later than one hundred eighty days following the incurrence date. A court, upon petition by an affected person, may correct the amount. The board shall have the burden of proving that the amount is an accurate estimate.
 5. The Iowa grain indemnity fund board shall upon written demand of the warehouse operator file a termination statement with the secretary of state, if after one hundred eighty days from the date that the lien is perfected the warehouse operator’s license has not ceased by revocation, cancellation, or expiration. Upon filing the termination statement, the lien becomes unperfected. The board shall also deliver a copy of the termination statement to the warehouse operator.
 6. The secretary of state shall note the filing of a lien statement under this section in a manner provided by chapter 554, the uniform commercial code. The secretary shall note the filing of a termination statement with the lien statement.
 7. A lien statement filed under this section shall be a security interest perfected under chapter 554 and subject to the same priority as provided under section 554.9322.
 8. In the event the department is appointed as a receiver under section 203C.3, assets under the authority of the receiver are free from this statutory lien. However, if there are receivership assets in excess of those necessary to fully reimburse depositors, the perfected lien will attach to those excess assets.
 9. a. The Iowa grain indemnity fund board may enforce the lien in the manner provided in chapter 554, article 9, part 6, for the enforcement of security interests. If, upon enforcement of the lien, the lien amount is satisfied in full without exhaustion of the warehouse operator assets, the remaining assets shall be returned to the warehouse operator or, if there are competing claims to those remaining assets by other creditors, those assets shall be placed in the custody of the district court and the known creditors impleaded.

 b. For purposes of enforcement of the lien, the board is deemed to be the secured party and the warehouse operator is deemed to be the debtor, and each has the respective rights and duties of a secured party and a debtor as provided in chapter 554, article 9, part 6. If a right or duty under chapter 554, article 9, part 6, is contingent upon the existence of express language in a security agreement, or may be waived by express language in a security agreement, the requisite language is deemed not to exist for purposes of enforcement of the lien created by this section.
 10. Actions relating to this section shall be brought in the district court in the county in which the warehouse operator’s primary place of business is located or in Polk county.
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