While the UCC does not address this question in the law itself, the Official Commentary to the Uniform Official Code clarifies that you may amend a financing statement by identifying specific changes (i.e., by using the “delete” box) or by restating the entire collateral description (i.e., by using the “restate” box). In other words, you may release a lien on a specific piece of equipment using either box — you may use the “delete” box to specifically identify the item of equipment to be deleted or the “restate” box to restate your blanket lien with a specific exclusion or omission for the item of equipment.

We should note that using the “restate” box could be riskier than using the “delete” box — if you fail to accurately restate your current collateral, you could end up inadvertently removing more collateral than you had intended. For example, one bankruptcy court has held that when the restated collateral description in an amended financing statement did not match prior collateral descriptions, the creditor’s lien covered only the restated collateral from the amendment — the restated collateral description in the amended financing statement replaced all prior collateral descriptions.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Uniform Commercial Code, 810 ILCS 5/9-512, Official Comment 3 (“An amendment under this Article may identify only the information contained in a financing statement that is to be changed; alternatively, it may take the form of an amended and restated financing statement. The latter would state, for example, that the financing statement ‘is amended and restated to read as follows: . . .’”)

• In re N. Beef Packers Ltd. P’ship Tax, 2014 WL 948470, at *8 (Bankr. D.S.D. Mar. 11, 2014) (“Because Defendant Axis’s amended financing statements no longer referenced any personal property other than personalty covered by agreements between Defendant Axis and Debtor, Defendant Axis did not retain a perfected blanket security interest in Debtor’s personal property.”)