When is it necessary for a secured party to file a financing statement?

A secured party must file a financing statement to achieve perfection of the security interest, which is a crucial step in protecting their rights against third parties. Perfection serves to notify the public of the secured party’s interest in the collateral, which helps establish the priority of their claim in the event of default or bankruptcy. Filing the financing statement is the formal action that provides constructive notice of the security interest and is particularly important when the collateral is not in the secured party's possession.

Perfection can be achieved in other ways, such as possession of the collateral or control over certain types of collateral, but filing is the most common method for many collateral types and provides the necessary legal framework for the secured party to enforce their rights. Thus, if a secured party fails to file, they risk their security interest becoming subordinate to the claims of other creditors and losing their rights to enforce the security agreement effectively.

The other options do not directly relate to the necessity of filing a financing statement for perfection. Unsure creditworthiness pertains more to the secured party's assessment of risk prior to lending rather than the filing requirement itself. A verbal agreement may exist without filing, but it does not provide any legal protection or perfection of the security interest. Finally, creating a new security agreement is