UCC Document Community

The frequency of monitoring should really depend on your risk tolerance and loan size. For our biggest exposures we check monthly, medium loans quarterly, and small loans twice a year. But any borrower showing distress signals gets moved to monthly monitoring immediately.

This is a great discussion - we implemented automated UCC monitoring about two years ago after a similar close call. One thing I'd add is to make sure your monitoring system can handle corporate name changes and mergers. We had a borrower that changed their legal name after a partial acquisition, and it took us three months to realize the "new" entity filing UCCs was actually our existing borrower. The automated system we use now tracks entity relationships and DBA filings too, which has been incredibly helpful. Also worth considering monitoring frequency based on your loan covenants - if you have negative pledge clauses, you might want monthly monitoring regardless of loan size since any new lien could be a covenant violation.

Thanks everyone! Sounds like the answer I was looking for is 'obtains possession' with the caveat that goods must be identified and parties must actually agree to that timing. I'll make sure our documentation is clear and consistent.

As a newcomer to UCC practice, this thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm still learning the distinctions between Article 2 and Article 9, and seeing how title passage timing affects security interests in real transactions is exactly what I need. One follow-up question - when you're drafting the sales agreement, do you typically include specific language about when title passes, or do you rely on the UCC default rules? I want to make sure I'm not creating unnecessary complications for clients.

One more thought - check your loan security agreement to see if it includes any language about name variations or successor entities. Some security agreements specifically address minor name formatting differences. If yours does, that might give you additional comfort that the security interest is properly attached.

Carmen, this is a classic UCC filing dilemma that many of us have faced! The comma versus no-comma issue with LLC names is incredibly common. Here's my take: since your filing was already accepted by the SOS office using the charter name format (with the comma), you're likely in good shape legally. The general rule is to use the exact name from the state organizational documents, which you did. However, given the significant collateral value ($340K), I'd recommend doing a quick debtor name search using both name variations - "ABC Manufacturing Solutions LLC" and "ABC Manufacturing Solutions, LLC" - to see if your filing comes up under both formats. If it does, you can confidently tell your compliance team you're covered. If the search only works with the charter version, consider filing a UCC-3 amendment to add the loan agreement name format as an alternative. The amendment cost is minimal compared to the risk of an unperfected lien, and it'll give everyone peace of mind. Document your search results either way for your compliance file.

For future reference, keep copies of all your UCC search results. I maintain a file for each client with their UCC history. Makes renewals and amendments much easier down the road.

Just wanted to add - if you're doing multiple UCC searches in Texas regularly, consider setting up an account with their online system. It saves your payment info and search history, which makes repeat searches much faster. Also, they sometimes offer bulk discounts if you're ordering a lot of documents at once. Given that you mentioned taking over multiple equipment financing accounts, this might save you time and money going forward.

For your paper, you should definitely mention that Article 9 governs the entire secured transaction process from start to finish. It covers: creation of security interests, perfection methods, priority rules, rights and duties of parties, and default remedies. It's really a complete system for secured transactions in personal property.

Thanks for all the detailed responses everyone! This is really helping me understand the scope better. Just to make sure I have this right - Article 9 covers any transaction where personal property secures a debt or obligation, it provides rules for creating and perfecting security interests, establishes priority when multiple parties claim the same collateral, and gives remedies when borrowers default. But it excludes real estate, wage assignments, and certain federally regulated items like aircraft. Is that a fair summary for my paper?