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HRS §490:9-516

When a filing counts as filed

This section explains when a financing statement is officially filed. Filing happens if you send it correctly and pay the fee, unless the office rejects it for specific missing information. If rejected for a reason not listed, it still counts except against someone who relied on it being absent.

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The statute, as written — What constitutes filing; effectiveness of filing

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), communication of a record to a filing office and tender of the filing fee or acceptance of the record by the filing office constitutes filing. (b) Filing does not occur with respect to a record that a filing office refuses to accept because: (1) The record is not communicated by a method or medium of communication authorized by the filing office; (2) An amount equal to or greater than the applicable filing fee is not tendered; (3) The filing office is unable to index the record because: (A) In the case of an initial financing statement, the record does not provide a name for the debtor; (B) In the case of an amendment or information statement, the record: (i) Does not identify the initial financing statement as required by section 490:9-512 or 490:9-518, as applicable; or (ii) Identifies an initial financing statement whose effectiveness has lapsed under section 490:9-515; (C) In the case of an initial financing statement that provides the name of a debtor identified as an individual or an amendment that provides a name of a debtor identified as an individual which was not previously provided in the financing statement to which the record relates, the record does not identify the debtor's surname; or (D) In the case of a record filed in the filing office described in section 490:9-501(a)(1), the record does not provide a sufficient description of the real property to which it relates; (4) In the case of an initial financing statement or an amendment that adds a secured party of record, the record does not provide a name and mailing address for the secured party of record; (5) In the case of an initial financing statement or an amendment that provides a name of a debtor which was not previously provided in the financing statement to which the amendment relates, the record does not: (A) Provide a mailing address for the debtor; or (B) Indicate whether the name provided as the name of the debtor is the name of an individual or an organization; (6) In the case of an assignment reflected in an initial financing statement under section 490:9-514(a) or an amendment filed under section 490:9-514(b), the record does not provide a name and mailing address for the assignee; or (7) In the case of a continuation statement, the record is not filed within the six-month period prescribed by section 490:9-515(d). (c) For purposes of subsection (b): (1) A record does not provide information if the filing office is unable to read or decipher the information; and (2) A record that does not indicate that it is an amendment or identify an initial financing statement to which it relates, as required by section 490:9-512, 490:9-514, or 490:9-518, is an initial financing statement. (d) A record that is communicated to the filing office with tender of the filing fee, but which the filing office refuses to accept for a reason other than one set forth in subsection (b), is effective as a filed record except as against a purchaser of the collateral which gives value in reasonable reliance upon the absence of the record from the files.
Read the official text at capitol.hawaii.gov ↗as published Jan 6, 2026our copy taken Aug 20, 2026

Sections this one refers to

§490:9-501 Where to file a financing statement in Hawaii

§490:9-512 How to change a filed financing statement

§490:9-514 How to transfer a secured party's rights to change a filing

§490:9-515 How long a financing statement stays valid and what happens when it expires

LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.