UCC Lien Report

Debtor names, file numbers, and what a financing statement actually says.

UCC Lien Report

UCC Due Diligence

Quick answer. UCC due diligence means searching the correct filing office under the correct debtor name and reading the live filings, the lapses, and the amendments. A UCC report lists the debtor name, the office, the date, each file number, the secured party, lapse, and whether the image was read. A blank page is not a “no records” result. Say “no records” when that is what the office returned.

Steps

  1. Fix the debtor name and the state

    One report, one office, one name string, unless you add a named variant on purpose.

  2. Record no-hit results

    Write “no records” and keep the receipt if the state charged for the search.

  3. Attach images you relied on

    Collateral descriptions come from the image, not from memory.

  4. Date the report

    A filing the next morning is outside the report. Say that.

UCC due diligence is a named search

Add prior names if the charter shows a name change. Financing statements filed under the old name can remain effective. Search both names and say that you did.

A report that skips amendments will miss a termination or a continuation. Open the family of filings under the initial file number, not only the UCC-1 row.

A report is a dated search, not a score

Due diligence adds prior legal names after a name-change amendment, because filings under the old name can remain effective. It also opens every amendment in the file family. An MCA funder’s UCC-1 looks like any other financing statement. There is no separate MCA database.

Our price is for preparing that report from the official index. State search fees, if the office charges them, are the office’s charge. A certificate is extra if you ask for one.

Common mistakes

  • Sending a hit list with no date.
  • Hiding a no-records result.
  • Calling an MCA filing a tax lien.
  • Promising a payoff figure from the index.

Questions

What is in a UCC search report?

Office, date, debtor name searched, file numbers, parties, lapse, and the images you opened.

What is UCC due diligence?

Searching the right office under the right names, including prior names, and reading amendments.

How are MCA liens found?

By a debtor-name search. The funder is just the secured party on an ordinary financing statement.

Sources reviewed