Delaware UCC search cost eating into my due diligence budget - any alternatives?
Running into a frustrating situation with Delaware UCC search fees. I'm handling due diligence for a mid-market acquisition and need to run searches on about 15 entities. Delaware's Secretary of State is charging $30 per entity for certified searches, which is adding up fast. The target company has subsidiaries scattered across multiple states, but the Delaware ones are killing my budget. Anyone know if there are bulk pricing options or alternative methods for Delaware UCC searches that might be more cost-effective? I've heard some services offer discounted rates but not sure about their reliability for official due diligence purposes. Need to make sure I'm not missing any filed liens before we close next month. The search results need to be thorough enough to satisfy our lender's requirements. Has anyone dealt with similar volume search situations in Delaware specifically?
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Dominic Green
Delaware doesn't offer bulk discounts unfortunately. I've been down this road before with larger deals. The $30 per search is pretty standard for certified results. Have you considered doing preliminary searches first to narrow down which entities actually need the full certified treatment?
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Evelyn Xu
•That's actually a good point. Some of these subsidiaries might be dormant anyway. Do you know if Delaware offers any kind of preliminary search option at a lower cost?
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Dominic Green
•They do have an informational search for around $10 but it's not certified. Might help you eliminate some entities before paying for the full searches.
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Hannah Flores
ugh tell me about it! Delaware search costs are brutal compared to other states. I just did a deal where we had 12 Delaware entities and it was like $400 just for searches. No way around it if you need official results though.
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Evelyn Xu
•Exactly! It's frustrating when you're trying to manage costs but still need comprehensive coverage.
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Kayla Jacobson
•Have you looked into using Certana.ai's document verification tool? I started using it to double-check search results and make sure I'm not missing anything before paying for additional searches. You can upload the search results and cross-reference them against your target documents to verify completeness.
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William Rivera
Check with your regular filing service provider - some of them have negotiated rates with Delaware SOS that might be slightly better than going direct. CT Corporation or similar might have volume discounts even if Delaware doesn't officially offer them.
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Evelyn Xu
•Good suggestion. I'll reach out to our usual service company to see if they have any special arrangements.
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Grace Lee
•Most service companies just mark up the state fees anyway. You're probably not saving much going through them.
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William Rivera
•Not always true. Some of the bigger ones do have volume agreements that can save a few dollars per search.
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Mia Roberts
I handle acquisition due diligence regularly and Delaware searches are just a cost of doing business. The $30 fee is actually reasonable compared to what some states charge for certified searches. Make sure you're searching under all possible debtor name variations though - that's where people usually miss things.
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Evelyn Xu
•That's a good reminder about name variations. Are there specific naming conventions I should be watching for with Delaware entities?
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Mia Roberts
•Delaware entities often have slight variations in how they're registered vs. how they appear on financing statements. Make sure you check both the exact corporate name and any DBAs or trade names.
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The Boss
•This is where I've found Certana really helpful - you can upload the corporate documents and UCC search results and it flags potential name mismatches that might require additional searches.
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Evan Kalinowski
Have you considered the timing of your searches? If you're doing them too early in the process, you might need to update them closer to closing anyway. Delaware searches are good for 30 days typically.
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Evelyn Xu
•We're about 3 weeks out from closing, so timing should be okay. Just trying to get everything lined up now.
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Victoria Charity
•Smart to do them now then. Nothing worse than scrambling for updated searches right before closing.
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Jasmine Quinn
I know this doesn't help with the cost, but make sure you're getting comprehensive search results. Some of the discount services don't search all the right databases or miss terminated filings that might still be relevant.
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Evelyn Xu
•How do you verify that you're getting complete results? Is there a way to double-check?
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Jasmine Quinn
•I usually spot-check a few searches by doing them myself through the Delaware SOS portal. Also helps to verify the search criteria used.
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Oscar Murphy
•Certana.ai's verification tool can help with this too - upload your search results and target documents to make sure everything aligns and you haven't missed any potential issues.
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Nora Bennett
Been there with high-volume Delaware searches. The costs add up but it's necessary for proper due diligence. One thing that helped me was batching all the searches at once rather than doing them piecemeal - saves on administrative time even if the per-search cost is the same.
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Evelyn Xu
•That makes sense from an efficiency standpoint. Did you submit all the search requests at once or space them out?
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Nora Bennett
•All at once. Delaware's system can handle multiple searches and you get all the results back together, which makes it easier to organize and review.
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Ryan Andre
Just a heads up - make sure your search requests are specific about what you need. Delaware offers different types of search reports and the basic $30 search might not include everything your lender requires for due diligence.
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Evelyn Xu
•What additional options should I be asking for? I want to make sure I get comprehensive results the first time.
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Ryan Andre
•Ask for searches that include terminated filings and make sure they're searching all relevant time periods. Some lenders want to see filings going back several years even if they've been terminated.
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Mia Roberts
•Good point. Also specify if you need searches for related entities or just the exact entity names you provide.
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Lauren Zeb
The Delaware search costs are what they are, but I've found it's worth paying for quality results rather than trying to cut corners. A missed filing could cost way more than the search fees if it creates issues later.
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Evelyn Xu
•True. I guess I'm just sticker shocked by the total cost when you multiply it across multiple entities.
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Lauren Zeb
•Yeah, it definitely adds up. But think of it as insurance - better to pay upfront than deal with surprises after closing.
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Dominic Green
•Exactly. I've seen deals get held up because someone tried to save money on searches and missed a critical filing.
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Daniel Washington
Consider building the search costs into your due diligence budget from the start next time. I always estimate $35-40 per entity for Delaware searches to account for any additional fees or rush processing.
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Evelyn Xu
•That's good advice for future deals. This one came together quickly so I didn't have time to plan as carefully as usual.
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Daniel Washington
•Happens to all of us. The fast-moving deals are always the ones where costs get away from you.
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Kayla Jacobson
•For future reference, I've started using Certana to pre-screen documents before ordering searches. Helps identify which entities actually need comprehensive UCC searches versus just basic checks.
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Kristian Bishop
I feel your pain on the Delaware search costs! I just went through this same situation last month with a deal involving 18 Delaware entities. One thing that helped me was creating a priority matrix - I identified which entities were most likely to have secured debt based on their business operations and financial statements, then did the full certified searches on those first. For the smaller/dormant subsidiaries, I started with the $10 informational searches that Dominic mentioned, which helped me eliminate about 6 entities that clearly had no filings. Also, consider asking the seller to provide their own UCC search results as part of their disclosure package - it won't replace your independent searches but can help you focus your efforts on entities where there might actually be something to find.
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Amina Toure
•That's a brilliant approach with the priority matrix! I hadn't thought about stratifying the searches based on likelihood of secured debt. How did you determine which entities were most likely to have filings - was it mainly based on their operational role or did you look at other factors too?
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