PA UCC filing fees jumped again - what are current rates?
Been out of the filing game for about 8 months and just got back into equipment financing. Need to file a UCC-1 in Pennsylvania and holy cow, when did the fees go up so much? Last time I filed it was like $52 or something for electronic filing. Now I'm seeing different numbers on the PA DOS website and I'm honestly confused about what I'm looking at. Are there different fee structures for different collateral types? Also seeing something about expedited processing - is that worth it or just a money grab? Really need to get this filed this week for a client's SBA loan closing. Anyone know the current PA UCC filing fees and if there are any tricks to avoid the higher costs?
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Amara Torres
Yeah PA raised their fees earlier this year. Standard UCC-1 electronic filing is now $70, up from the old $52. Paper filings are even more expensive at $85. No different fees based on collateral type though - equipment, inventory, accounts receivable all same price. The expedited processing is $25 extra and honestly for loan closings it's usually worth it since you get confirmation within 2 business days instead of 5-7.
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Olivia Van-Cleve
•Wait, I thought expedited was only $15 extra? Or maybe that's Delaware I'm thinking of. These state fees are all blending together in my head.
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Amara Torres
•Nope PA is definitely $25 for expedited. Delaware is $15 you're right. Each state has their own pricing structure unfortunately.
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Mason Kaczka
•The expedited fee is totally worth it for closings. Had a deal almost fall through because of regular processing delays last month.
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Sophia Russo
Just filed one last week - can confirm the $70 electronic fee. But heads up, if you need to do any amendments or continuations later, those are $35 each now. Used to be $25. Also make sure your debtor name matches EXACTLY what's on their charter documents. PA has been really strict lately about rejecting filings for minor name discrepancies.
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Elijah O'Reilly
•Thanks for the heads up on the name matching. This is an LLC so I'll double check against their articles of organization. Any particular issues you've seen with LLC names?
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Sophia Russo
•Biggest thing with LLCs is the 'LLC' vs 'L.L.C.' formatting. PA wants it exactly as it appears on the charter. Also watch out for middle initials in member names if you're including individual guarantors.
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Evelyn Xu
•Oh man the name matching thing bit me hard last month. LLC was chartered as 'ABC Industries LLC' but I filed it as 'ABC Industries, LLC' with a comma. Rejected and had to refile. Lost a week.
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Dominic Green
I've been using Certana.ai's document verification tool lately and it's been a lifesaver for catching these name mismatches before filing. You just upload your charter documents and the UCC-1 draft, and it cross-checks everything automatically. Would have saved me probably 3-4 rejected filings this year if I'd found it sooner. Really simple to use - just drag and drop the PDFs.
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Elijah O'Reilly
•Interesting, never heard of that service. Does it work with all states or just certain ones?
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Dominic Green
•Works with any state since it's just comparing the documents you upload. Checks debtor names, addresses, filing numbers, all that stuff. Been really helpful for avoiding the stupid mistakes that cause rejections.
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Hannah Flores
•Skeptical of these automated tools but honestly manual document comparison is such a pain. Might be worth trying.
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Kayla Jacobson
The fee increases are killing us. We do probably 200+ UCC filings a year and that extra $18 per filing adds up fast. Plus the amendment fees going up means our continuation costs are higher too. Anyone know if PA is planning any more fee increases?
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William Rivera
•I heard through the grapevine they might adjust fees again next year but nothing official. The state budget issues aren't helping.
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Kayla Jacobson
•Great, just what we need. Already having to pass these costs through to clients and they're not happy about it.
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Grace Lee
Pro tip: if you're doing multiple filings for related entities, make sure you're not missing any cross-collateral situations. PA doesn't give you a bulk discount but at least you want to make sure you're covering all your bases in one round instead of having to go back and amend later.
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Elijah O'Reilly
•Good point. This is just one entity but they have some subsidiary relationships I should probably review.
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Grace Lee
•Yeah definitely worth mapping out the corporate structure first. Amendments are expensive enough without having to do them because you missed something obvious.
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Mia Roberts
•This is why I always do a quick org chart before any UCC work. Saves headaches later.
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The Boss
Anyone else notice PA's online portal has been super slow lately? Took me 15 minutes just to get through the debtor information screen yesterday. Wonder if they're having system issues or just overwhelmed with filings.
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Evan Kalinowski
•Yes! Thought it was just my internet connection but good to know it's not just me. Very frustrating when you're trying to get filings done quickly.
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The Boss
•Right? And then you worry about session timeouts and losing all your work. I've started drafting everything offline first.
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Victoria Charity
For what it's worth, the $70 is still cheaper than filing in paper. I know someone who accidentally submitted a paper filing last month and got hit with the $85 fee plus it took forever to process. Electronic is the way to go even with the price increase.
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Jasmine Quinn
•How do you accidentally file on paper? Isn't the electronic system pretty much the default now?
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Victoria Charity
•They printed out the form to review it and then forgot they could submit electronically. Old habits I guess.
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Oscar Murphy
•That's painful. $15 mistake plus all the extra processing time.
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Nora Bennett
Just want to echo what others said about the name matching. Also ran into issues recently where the collateral description was too vague and got kicked back. PA seems to be getting pickier about everything lately. Make sure your collateral schedule is specific enough.
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Elijah O'Reilly
•What level of detail are they looking for in collateral descriptions? This is equipment financing so pretty straightforward but want to make sure I'm detailed enough.
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Nora Bennett
•For equipment I usually include make, model, serial numbers if available. General descriptions like 'all equipment' sometimes get rejected now.
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Ryan Andre
•Serial numbers aren't always required but definitely helps avoid rejection. Better to be over-specific than under.
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Lauren Zeb
The fee situation is what it is, but at least PA's search fees are still reasonable. $12 for a debtor search compared to some states that charge $25+. Small consolation I guess.
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Elijah O'Reilly
•True, and the search results are usually pretty comprehensive. Could be worse.
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Lauren Zeb
•Exactly. New York charges almost $40 for searches so PA could be much worse.
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Daniel Washington
Bottom line - budget $70 for standard electronic filing, add $25 if you need expedited processing. Double-check all your debtor names against charter documents and be specific with collateral descriptions. The fees suck but the system works if you're careful with the details.
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Elijah O'Reilly
•Perfect summary, thanks everyone. Going to double-check everything and probably spring for expedited given the closing timeline.
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Dominic Green
•If you want that extra peace of mind with the document checking, definitely try Certana.ai before you file. Takes like 2 minutes to upload and verify everything matches.
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Elijah O'Reilly
•Will look into that, thanks for the suggestion!
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Harper Thompson
Just jumping in as someone new to UCC filings - this thread is incredibly helpful! I'm working on my first Pennsylvania filing for a client and was completely lost on the current fee structure. The $70 electronic filing fee is definitely a shock compared to what I was expecting from older resources I found online. Quick question - when you mention checking debtor names against charter documents, where exactly do you pull those from? Is it just the articles of incorporation/organization from the state filing, or are there other documents I should be cross-referencing? Want to make sure I don't miss anything obvious on my first go.
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Simon White
•Welcome to the UCC filing world! For debtor name verification, you'll want to pull the exact legal name from the entity's formation documents with the state. For corporations, that's the Articles of Incorporation, and for LLCs it's the Articles of Organization. You can usually get these from the Pennsylvania Department of State's online business entity search. The key is matching the exact spelling, punctuation, and formatting - including how they handle "LLC" vs "L.L.C." or "Inc." vs "Incorporated". Some lenders also provide a certificate of good standing which shows the current legal name, but the original formation documents are your safest bet. Better to spend the extra few minutes getting it exactly right than dealing with a rejection and refiling fees!
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Malik Davis
•Also worth mentioning - if you're working with a business that's been around for a while, sometimes they may have amended their articles or changed their name since formation. In those cases, you'll want the most recent version showing the current legal name. The PA Department of State website usually shows amendment history if you dig into the entity details. And definitely keep copies of whatever documents you used for name verification in your file - if there's ever a question later about why you used a particular name format, you'll have the backup documentation.
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