UCC 9210 Information Request - Getting Debtor Details from Filed Financing Statements

This is exactly what I needed to know. Do you know if the search picks up variations in the debtor name automatically or do I need to submit multiple requests?

Most systems are pretty good at catching exact matches but if there are subsidiaries or slight name variations you might want to do separate searches. Better safe than sorry on an acquisition.

Good point about the exact legal name. I have their articles of incorporation so I should be covered there. Didn't think about personal guarantees though - that's a great catch.

Personal guarantees won't show up in UCC searches anyway since those are typically just contract terms, not filed liens. You're thinking of personal property filings which are different.

Actually I meant UCC filings against the individual owners as additional debtors on business equipment loans. Happens more often than you'd think with smaller companies.

Oh no that's exactly what I'm worried about! How does the Certana tool work? Do you just upload the company docs?

Yeah exactly - upload the articles of incorporation and any UCC documents you find, and it instantly flags any name mismatches or inconsistencies. Saves a ton of time and missed filings.

Definitely need certified copies. Good reminder about the per-page fees - I'll budget for that.

The fees are usually pretty reasonable though. We've never had a UCC search cost more than $100-200 even for companies with lots of equipment financing.

This is important. We found a bunch of expired filings on our last acquisition that looked scary until we realized they'd lapsed years ago.

Exactly. Always check the effectiveness dates and look for UCC-3 continuation statements. The filing history tells the whole story.

Wait I thought UCC filings lasted 20 years? Or is that just certain types?

No, standard UCC-1 financing statements are good for 5 years from filing date. Some fixture filings and manufactured home filings have different terms but 5 years is the default.

They're only in one state thankfully. I'll get the request submitted today.

Smart move. Better to have the info early and not need it than to be scrambling at closing.

That's a great idea. I can ask them for copies of their equipment loan agreements as part of the due diligence package.

Just make sure they're giving you everything. Some sellers conveniently forget about certain liens during due diligence.

This is why independent UCC searches are so important even when the seller provides documents. Trust but verify.

Perfect, I'll check their website. Online ordering sounds much better than dealing with paper forms.

Good catch. Operating leases usually aren't filed but capital leases sometimes are. Depends on how they're structured.

Exactly. The UCC search is just one piece of the lien search puzzle.

That's a really important point. I need to make sure our acquisition financing will have proper priority or if we need to pay off existing liens.

Your acquisition lender will definitely want to see all the UCC search results and probably require payoffs of any senior liens on assets they're financing.

This is getting into first vs second lien territory which is where you really need to involve your banking attorney.

That sounds really useful. I'm definitely going to check that out before finalizing our search strategy.

Does it work with different state filing formats? Every state seems to have slightly different UCC forms and search result layouts.

Yes it handles different formats really well. Just upload the PDFs and it automatically extracts the key information regardless of which state format it's in.