UCC Filing Lookup

How UCC filings show up in the public record, and a way to order the search.

UCC Filing Lookup

Filing Number Search

Quick answer. A UCC filing-number search opens one financing-statement family. Do not type the company’s state entity number into the UCC number box and expect a hit. A UCC filing search finds an accepted financing statement or amendment. “What is a UCC filing” has a short answer: public notice of a security interest, or a later change to that notice. The fee depends on the office.

Steps

  1. Decide number or name

    File number is exact. Debtor name needs the legal spelling.

  2. Stay inside the UCC system

    The state page links it. The formation search is the wrong module.

  3. Read the fee before you click pay

    Some offices charge even when the result is no records.

  4. Save the receipt with the result

    The receipt proves the search ran on that date.

UCC file number, not charter number

The file number is assigned when the UCC-1 is accepted. Amendments cite it. If you only have a debtor name, search by name and then copy the number from the result.

Include punctuation the office printed. A shortened number can land on nothing.

A filing is an accepted form

Search by file number when a lender quoted one. Search by debtor when they did not. The company’s state entity number is a different identifier and usually will not open the UCC file.

New York’s Department of State has published separate paper and electronic filing fees and a search fee. Texas charges a dollar to run a web search before you see results. Other states post other numbers. Use the schedule linked from the state page instead of a blog’s table.

Common mistakes

  • Typing an entity number into the UCC number field.
  • Assuming a free state is the national rule.
  • Calling a rejected submission a filing.
  • Skipping the fee disclosure on a no-hit search.

Questions

What is a UCC filing?

A financing statement or an amendment the filing office accepted and indexed.

How do I search by UCC file number?

Use the filing-number field in that state’s UCC system, not the corporation search.

Is there one UCC filing fee?

No. Each filing office posts its own schedule.

Sources reviewed