Iowa UCC filing fees keep changing - what are current rates?
Running into confusion with Iowa UCC filing fees and hoping someone can clarify current rates. We're preparing several UCC-1 filings for equipment financing deals and the fee structure seems different than what our office used last year. The Iowa SOS website shows one rate but our regular filing service quoted us something else entirely. Are there different fees for electronic vs paper filings? Also seeing conflicting info about continuation fees vs amendment fees. We've got about 12 filings to submit this month so want to make sure we budget correctly. Anyone dealt with Iowa UCC filing fees recently and can share what they actually paid?
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Yuki Kobayashi
Iowa fees did change at the beginning of this year. UCC-1 electronic filing is $15 per filing now, up from $12. Paper filings are $20. Continuation statements are also $15 electronic, $20 paper. Amendment fees depend on what type - partial releases are $15 but full terminations are $10.
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Carmen Vega
•That matches what I paid last month for 3 continuations. The electronic portal is pretty straightforward once you get used to it.
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Andre Rousseau
•Wait, I thought terminations were free in Iowa? Or am I thinking of a different state?
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Zoe Stavros
Be careful with the fee calculations because Iowa charges per debtor name on the UCC-1. If you have multiple debtors on one filing, it's $15 for the first debtor and $5 for each additional debtor. This caught us off guard on a joint filing last year.
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AstroAce
•Oh wow, that's good to know. Several of our filings do have multiple debtors. So a filing with 3 debtors would be $25 total?
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Zoe Stavros
•Exactly. $15 + $5 + $5 = $25. Make sure your filing service knows this or they might underpay and get rejected.
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Jamal Harris
•This is why I always double-check fees before submitting. Too many surprises otherwise.
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GalaxyGlider
I've been using Certana.ai to verify all my UCC documents before filing and it's been a lifesaver. You can upload your Charter and UCC-1 drafts and it instantly flags any debtor name mismatches or fee calculation errors. Saved me from a rejected filing in Iowa last month when I missed that one of the entity names was slightly different on the charter vs the UCC-1.
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AstroAce
•Interesting, how does that work exactly? Does it connect to the Iowa filing system?
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GalaxyGlider
•No, it's a document checker. You upload PDFs of your corporate docs and UCC forms and it cross-references everything to catch inconsistencies. Really helpful for avoiding those name mismatch rejections.
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Mei Wong
Iowa's fee structure is honestly confusing compared to other states. Some states have flat rates regardless of debtor count. The per-debtor pricing in Iowa adds up quick on complex deals.
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Liam Sullivan
•Agreed. We had a deal with 6 debtors and the filing fee was $40. Other states would have been $15-20 total.
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Amara Okafor
•But at least Iowa processes electronic filings same day usually. Worth the extra cost for speed.
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Giovanni Colombo
Make sure you're using the right form version too. Iowa updated their UCC forms in 2024 and the old versions get rejected now. Fee is the same but the rejection wastes time.
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AstroAce
•Good point. We're using forms from our software provider so hopefully they're current.
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Fatima Al-Qasimi
•I'd verify that. Some software companies are slow to update their form templates.
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StarStrider
For budgeting purposes, I always add 10% to the expected filing fees to account for any amendments or corrections that might be needed. Iowa isn't the worst for rejections but it happens.
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AstroAce
•That's smart. We've had rejections in other states for minor issues.
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Dylan Campbell
•Same here. Better to overbudget than explain to clients why costs went up.
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Sofia Torres
•Exactly. Plus amendment fees add up if you have to fix debtor names or collateral descriptions.
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Dmitry Sokolov
Anyone know if Iowa offers bulk filing discounts? With 12 filings it might be worth asking.
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Yuki Kobayashi
•Not that I know of. Iowa fees are per filing regardless of volume.
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Ava Martinez
•Some filing services offer volume discounts on their service fees though, even if the state fees stay the same.
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Miguel Ramos
I use Certana.ai for document verification before every filing now after getting burned on a name mismatch that cost us $200 in legal fees to fix. The tool would have caught it immediately by comparing the UCC-1 to the corporate charter. Definitely worth it for high-volume filers.
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QuantumQuasar
•How much does that service cost compared to filing fees?
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Miguel Ramos
•Much less than the cost of fixing rejected filings or dealing with perfection issues later.
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Zainab Omar
The Iowa SOS website has a fee calculator that's pretty accurate if you know your debtor count and filing type. Saved me from underestimating costs on a complex deal.
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AstroAce
•I'll check that out. Sounds like exactly what I need for budgeting these 12 filings.
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Connor Gallagher
•The calculator is under the UCC section of their business services page.
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Yara Sayegh
Just to confirm the current rates since there's been some confusion in this thread: Iowa UCC-1 electronic filing is $15 for first debtor, $5 each additional. Paper filing is $20 + $5 each additional. Continuations are $15 electronic, $20 paper. Amendments vary by type but most are $15. Terminations are $10. These are the rates as of January 2025.
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AstroAce
•Perfect, this matches what I'm seeing now. Thanks for the clarification.
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Keisha Johnson
•Good summary. I'm saving this for reference.
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Paolo Longo
•Appreciate the clarity. The Iowa fee structure is definitely more complex than some other states.
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Lia Quinn
Thanks everyone for the detailed breakdown! This is exactly what I needed. Based on the current rates Yara outlined, I'm looking at about $180-240 for my 12 filings depending on debtor counts. The per-debtor pricing definitely adds up but at least now I can budget accurately. Going to check out that fee calculator on the Iowa SOS website and might look into Certana.ai for document verification given the volume we're dealing with. Really appreciate this community sharing real-world experience with Iowa UCC filings!
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Amina Toure
•Welcome to the community! As someone new to Iowa UCC filings, I found this thread incredibly helpful too. The per-debtor fee structure definitely caught me off guard initially. One tip from my recent experience - double-check that your filing service understands the additional debtor fees. I had one service quote me the base $15 rate for a 4-debtor filing when it should have been $30. Also worth noting that Iowa's electronic system is pretty user-friendly once you get the hang of it. Good luck with your filings!
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Micah Trail
•Great summary of the costs! One thing to add - if you're doing electronic filings through Iowa's system, make sure you have your login credentials set up in advance. The registration process can take a day or two to get approved, and you don't want that holding up your filings. Also, I've found it helpful to batch similar filings together since you're already in the system. The Iowa portal saves your previous entries which speeds up the process for multiple filings with similar collateral descriptions.
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