UCC Filing Copies

Steps

1. Find the initial file number

   Name search first if you do not have it. Then stay on that number.

2. List UCC-3s in date order

   Mark continuation, assignment, amendment, and termination as separate events.

3. Open the image for collateral

   Index lines often omit the collateral description.

4. Choose plain or certified on purpose

   Read the office’s copy menu. Do not call a screenshot certified.

Images versus certified UCC copies

A plain image is enough to read collateral. A certified copy is what a later filing office or a court asked for when they used the word certified.

Copy fees and search fees are not the same line on the schedule. Texas, for example, charges a search fee before the search runs. California’s bizfile help guide says UCC searches and plain copies are free.

Read the file family, not one form

People search “ucc-1” when they want the initial notice and “ucc 1 filing” when they want to see if it was accepted. The office’s file number is assigned after acceptance. Later copies, plain or certified, are ordered against that number.

A continuation filed in the statutory window keeps the same file alive. A continuation that cites a different number does nothing to the file you are reading. Certified copies cost more and are a different product from the free image, in states that charge.

Common mistakes

• Quoting the form number UCC-1 as if it were the file number.
• Missing a termination filed as a UCC-3.
• Assuming every state gives free certified copies.
• Ignoring lapse because a PDF still downloads.

Questions

Sources reviewed

• USA.gov state governments