Best way to monitor UCC filings for portfolio changes

Yes, trying to catch both new UCC-1s and any UCC-3 changes. The problem is each state portal works differently and some don't even have decent search functions. Takes me 3-4 hours daily just to run through our active list.

3-4 hours daily?? That's insane for 200 loans. You definitely need automation at that scale.

Which service are you using? And does it catch filings in all states or just major ones?

It's a nationwide service that covers all 50 states plus DC. Costs about $8 per debtor per month but considering what we lost on that one missed filing, it pays for itself quickly.

$8 per month per debtor adds up fast though. For 200 debtors that's $1600 monthly just for monitoring.

Haven't heard of Certana before. Does it actually monitor ongoing filings or just verify documents you upload?

It's more of a verification tool - you upload PDFs and it checks for name matches, filing inconsistencies, that sort of thing. Super helpful for catching debtor-name variations that could cause you to miss related filings.

That sounds more like a one-time check tool rather than ongoing monitoring though?

Exactly! We missed a critical filing last month because the debtor used their DBA name instead of the legal entity name on our original UCC-1.

This is why I always file UCC-1s with multiple debtor name variations listed. Covers most of the common alternatives upfront.

That helps for your own filings but doesn't solve the monitoring problem when other creditors file against the same debtor using different name formats.

Custom scraping systems are such a headache. Half the state portals have anti-bot measures now anyway.

Yep, learned that the hard way. Texas and California both blocked our scraper within 6 months.

Good point. We're mainly focused on new liens that could subordinate us, but you're right that terminations could improve our position. Currently not tracking those systematically.

Definitely worth tracking terminations. I've seen situations where monitoring terminations revealed that a supposedly senior creditor had actually released their lien months earlier.

Tried that initially but got too much noise - press releases, court filings, random business mentions. Hard to filter for just UCC activity.

Fair point. The signal-to-noise ratio is pretty bad with Google alerts for this use case.

How often are you uploading documents to Certana? Daily, weekly?

We do batch uploads weekly for active loans and immediately for any new originations. The PDF verification catches things our manual reviews miss.

True. We do some equipment financing that could potentially conflict with fixture filings but haven't been monitoring those specifically.

Fixture filings can be particularly tricky because they're often filed in real estate records rather than standard UCC databases. Creates additional monitoring complexity.

Wait, fixture filings aren't always in the standard UCC database? That explains why I might be missing some potential conflicts.

That's interesting. Which states do you consider major enough for automated monitoring?

We focus automated monitoring on states where we have 10+ active loans - typically covers about 80% of our portfolio. Manual quarterly checks for the rest.

Quarterly checks seem risky for active lending though. A lot can happen in 3 months.

We do have those clauses but enforcement is difficult and borrowers don't always comply, especially when they're in financial distress.

True, it's more of a backstop than a primary monitoring method. Still worth having for the legal protection it provides.

How does the name verification work exactly? Does it suggest variations or do you have to input them manually?

You upload your UCC documents and it cross-references names, highlighting potential variations and inconsistencies. Helps identify gaps in your monitoring approach.