UCC Document Community

Update: Went back and completely rewrote our collateral description with individual serial numbers for each piece of equipment. Also removed any reference to 'agricultural lien' and used standard security interest language. Filed this morning and it was accepted within 2 hours! Thanks everyone for the guidance. The key was definitely being more specific with equipment descriptions and using proper UCC terminology instead of mixing in ag lien language.

This is such a helpful thread! I'm new to UCC filings for agricultural equipment and this whole conversation is a goldmine of practical advice. The distinction between "agricultural lien" and "security interest in farm equipment" is something I definitely would have missed. Question for the group - are there any other common terminology pitfalls like this that trip up newcomers? I want to make sure I'm not making similar mistakes on my first few ag equipment filings.

For anyone else dealing with letter of credit rights in the future: ALWAYS get copies of the actual LC documents before preparing your UCC filings. Don't rely on summaries or descriptions from the borrower. I learned this the hard way when a client gave me the wrong beneficiary name and we had to refile everything. Now I make document review the first step in any LC-secured transaction.

As someone new to letter of credit collateral, this thread has been incredibly educational. I'm working on my first LC-secured deal and was planning to just use standard UCC language, but now I see how specific the collateral description needs to be. Quick question for the group: when you're dealing with a revolving LC that might be renewed or extended, do you need to file amendments each time the LC terms change, or does the original filing cover future modifications as long as the LC number stays the same? Also, the Certana.ai tool mentioned throughout this thread sounds like exactly what our small firm needs. We don't have the volume to justify expensive document review software, but something that can catch these name and description mismatches would be invaluable.

Just went through this with a 2020 filing myself. One thing I learned - double-check that the secured party information hasn't changed. If your client moved offices or changed their legal name, that could complicate the continuation.

Thanks everyone for the detailed responses! This has been really helpful. Just to summarize what I've learned: my lapse date is exactly March 15, 2025 (5 years from filing), I can file the continuation anytime after September 15, 2024, and I need to make sure I check for any amendments and verify all the party information matches exactly. I think I'll get the UCC-3 prepared next week and file it in January to give myself plenty of buffer time. Better safe than sorry with these deadlines!

This thread is making me grateful I mostly deal with continuation filings and terminations. The recording tax on new UCC-1 filings in Tennessee sounds like a major headache. At least continuations are just the standard fee without all these additional taxes.

Welcome to the Tennessee UCC recording tax club! I just went through this same nightmare last month with a $450 surprise fee on agricultural equipment financing. What really got me was that my paralegal had filed dozens of UCCs in other states without any issues, but Tennessee's system is completely different. The recording tax seems to kick in around the $150K collateral value threshold, and like others mentioned, the way you describe the equipment matters a lot. I ended up having to explain the unexpected cost to my client after the fact, which was embarrassing. Now I always call the Tennessee SOS directly before filing anything over $100K just to get a ballpark estimate of total costs. Their phone system is terrible like someone mentioned, but if you can get through, they'll at least tell you if your collateral description is likely to trigger the higher tax brackets.

Quick question for my own knowledge - if they had missed the 20 day filing deadline, would they still have a security interest, just without PMSI priority? Or would they be completely unsecured?

This thread has been really helpful! I'm new to commercial lending and PMSI situations always seemed intimidating, but reading through everyone's explanations makes it much clearer. The key takeaways I'm getting are: 1) 20-day grace period for equipment PMSI after delivery, 2) direct vendor payment creates clean purchase money trail, 3) PMSI priority comes from the transaction itself not just UCC language, and 4) missing PMSI deadline doesn't kill your security interest, just the super-priority. Thanks to everyone who contributed - this is exactly the kind of practical knowledge that's hard to find in textbooks!