UCC Document Community

Remember that UCC-1 filings are only effective for 5 years. You'll need to file a UCC-3 continuation statement before it lapses if the loan term is longer than 5 years. Mark your calendar now so you don't forget.

Great question about UCC filings! For Illinois, you'll definitely file with the Illinois Secretary of State since that's where your debtor is likely organized. The key thing to remember is that the filing location depends on where the debtor is organized (incorporated/formed), not where the collateral is located. For your equipment and fixtures situation, you might need dual filings - regular UCC-1 for equipment with the Secretary of State, and potentially a fixture filing with the county recorder if any equipment is permanently attached to real property. I'd recommend getting clarity on whether your collateral truly includes fixtures or just equipment that happens to be located in a building. Illinois does have electronic filing which is much faster than paper - usually processes same day. One copy is sufficient for electronic filing. Make sure your debtor name matches their organizational documents exactly, even punctuation matters!

As a newcomer to this community and commercial lending in general, I'm finding this discussion incredibly educational! I work for a credit union that's considering expanding into equipment financing, and the distinction between legal requirements versus best practices for UCC filing notifications is exactly the kind of nuanced issue I need to understand. From what I'm gathering, while there's no legal obligation to notify debtors about UCC-1 filings (beyond the authorization in the security agreement), some institutions are adopting courtesy notifications as a customer service measure. This seems like a smart way to prevent the kind of attorney challenges Aisha is facing. My question is: for those who do send courtesy notices, do you have any specific timing recommendations? And are there any downsides to this practice I should consider before recommending it to our lending committee? I want to make sure we're not inadvertently creating new compliance obligations or customer expectations that could backfire later.

As someone new to both this community and commercial lending, I've been following this discussion with great interest! I recently joined a regional bank's commercial lending team after working in consumer banking, and UCC filing procedures are still somewhat new to me. Reading through everyone's responses has been incredibly reassuring - it's clear that the consensus is UCC-1 filings don't require separate debtor notification beyond the authorization in your security agreement. What strikes me most is how this situation demonstrates the importance of having rock-solid documentation from the start. It sounds like many of these attorney challenges could be avoided with clear, explicit language in security agreements. I'm curious - for those with more experience, what other "gotcha" issues should newer commercial lenders be aware of when it comes to UCC filings? Are there common documentation mistakes that create unnecessary vulnerabilities? I want to make sure I'm building good habits early in my commercial lending career rather than learning these lessons the hard way later!

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is timing - since your borrower paid off in Miami just last month, you're actually still well within the normal timeframe. Florida gives secured parties up to 20 days after payoff to file the termination, and many lenders take 30-60 days as standard practice. Don't let the borrower pressure you into rushing and making mistakes. That said, definitely prioritize getting this done right the first time. I'd also recommend sending the borrower a brief email explaining the process and timeline once you file - it helps manage their expectations about when they'll see the credit report updates. Nothing worse than a borrower calling every day asking why their credit still shows the lien two weeks after you filed the termination!

Just a heads up for future reference - if you're doing multiple UCC filings in Florida, they offer a bulk filing service that can save time and money if you have 10 or more documents to file at once. The per-document fee drops to $7 instead of the standard $10. Not relevant for your current situation, but could be useful if your institution handles a lot of equipment financing. Also, Florida sends email confirmations for online filings, so make sure you're using an email address that won't get caught in spam filters. I've had colleagues miss important filing confirmations because they went to junk folders. The confirmation email includes your filing number which you'll need for any future reference or corrections.

Thanks everyone for clearing up the state vs county filing confusion. I was making the same mistake as the OP. This thread probably saved me from looking foolish when I call the Nassau County Clerk's office asking about UCC fees!

Just wanted to add a practical tip for anyone doing multiple UCC filings - I always do a quick UCC search on each debtor before filing to see what's already on record. Sometimes you'll discover existing liens you weren't aware of, or you might find that a previous lender filed with slightly different name variations. This can help you make sure your filing will be consistent with what's already in the system. The NY search fee is only $10 per debtor name, so it's worth the small cost to avoid potential issues later.

I've been handling UCC filings in NY for several years and can confirm the $20 fee is still current for 2025. A few practical tips for your restaurant equipment filing: First, make sure you have your exact legal business name from your Articles of Incorporation or LLC formation documents - don't go by your DBA or trade name. Second, for the collateral description, keep it broad but relevant like "restaurant equipment, kitchen appliances, furniture and fixtures" rather than listing every individual item. Third, if you're unsure about any details, the NY Secretary of State UCC division is actually pretty helpful if you call them directly. They can clarify specific questions about your filing. Since you mentioned this is for $85K in equipment, your lender will probably want to see the filed UCC-1 before closing, so factor in the 1-2 business day processing time. Good luck with your equipment financing!

New to UCC filings here and this thread has been super helpful! I'm in a similar situation with equipment financing for my small business in NY. Quick question - when you all mention the $20 fee, is that just for the state filing or are there any other costs I should be aware of? Like processing fees from third-party services or anything like that? Also, I keep seeing mentions of potential rejections due to name mismatches - is there a way to verify your exact legal business name beforehand to make sure you get it right the first time? I want to avoid the refiling costs some of you mentioned. Thanks for all the detailed info everyone has shared!