Need help with mass UCC lookup - portfolio audit nightmare

Yeah I started sorting by state but even then it's overwhelming. California alone has like 200 filings to verify and their portal keeps crashing on me.

California's system is notoriously unreliable for bulk work. Try searching during off-peak hours, usually early morning works better.

Problem is I don't even know the lapse dates for most of these. The previous bank's files are a mess - some just have the original UCC-1 with no continuation records.

If you have the original filing date, add 5 years for the lapse calculation. But you'll need to verify if any continuations were filed in between.

Don't forget some states have different rules for fixture filings - those might be 10-year terms instead of 5.

That sounds too good to be true. How accurate is it with partial or unclear documentation?

It's surprisingly good at parsing even messy scanned documents. Obviously it can't work miracles with completely illegible forms, but it caught several debtor name mismatches I would have missed manually.

I'm skeptical of any automated tool for something this critical. UCC filings are too important to trust to AI.

Good idea. I've been keeping notes on random papers which is making everything worse.

Also add a column for which state each filing is in. Some states have better search functions than others.

Yes! And mark which ones have clear debtor names vs. questionable ones. Name matching is usually the biggest issue in bulk searches.

Because they make money on individual search fees. No incentive to make it easier.

That's probably true. It's infuriating when you're trying to do legitimate business.

That's smart. Unfortunately the loan amounts aren't clearly noted in all the files either, but I can probably figure out the bigger ones.

Check the original loan documents or credit committee memos if you have access. Sometimes the UCC files get separated from the loan files.

Also look for any SBA loans in the mix - those often have more complex UCC requirements.

Budget is tight but if I can't make progress soon I might have to. Do you have any recommendations?

There are several national firms that specialize in portfolio audits. Usually charge per search but they have better portal access than individual users.

Mostly commercial but there are definitely some consumer filings mixed in. Another layer of complexity I wasn't expecting.

Yeah consumer goods UCCs are often filed locally, not at the state level. Check county records for those.

Wait, that's not right. Consumer goods are usually possession or automatic perfection, not filing-based. Are you sure they're UCC filings?

Good point. Some of these might be for loans that were already satisfied. I should cross-reference with current active accounts.

Exactly. And if you find satisfied loans with active UCCs, those terminations should be your lowest priority unless there's a specific compliance issue.

I still think manual verification is safer for critical filings, but I admit the volume you're dealing with might make that impractical.

The tool doesn't replace good judgment, but it does flag potential issues you might miss in manual review. Especially helpful for catching subtle debtor name variations.

Good reminder. I've been so focused on the actual searches I haven't been documenting my process well.

Yeah, examiners love to see risk-based prioritization and systematic approaches, even if you can't complete everything.

Also keep screenshots of any portal errors or system issues. Sometimes that helps explain delays in compliance reviews.