Corona Fruits & Veggies (Corona) leased farmland to a strawberry farmer named Armando Munoz Juarez. He signed the lease “Armando Munoz.” Corona advanced him money for payroll and farm production expenses. Corona filed a financing statement, claiming a security interest in the strawberry crop, and listed the debtor’s name as “Armando Munoz.” Six months later, Armando Munoz Juarez contracted with Frozsun Foods, Inc. to sell processed strawberries. Frozsun advanced the farmer money, and filed a financing statement listing the debtor’s name as “Armando Juarez.”

The next year, the farmer owed Corona $230,000 and Frozsun $19,600. When the farmer was unable to make payments on Corona’s loan, the company repossessed the farmland and harvested the strawberry crop. Both Corona and Frozsun claimed the proceeds of the crop. The trial court awarded the money to Frozsun, finding that Corona had filed its financing statement under the wrong last name, and therefore had failed to perfect its security interest in the crop. Corona appealed.

Questions:

1. Did Corona correctly file its financing statement?

2. If Corona knew Armando Munoz Juarez’ last name was Juarez, why didn’t they use that in their UCC-1 filing?