UCC fee increase hitting my small lending operation hard - alternatives?
Been running a small equipment financing business for 8 years and the state UCC fee increases are killing my margins. Used to file maybe 20-30 UCC-1s per month at $15 each, now they're $35 and going up again next year. That's an extra $400-600/month just in filing costs, not counting amendments and continuations. Anyone found ways to reduce UCC fee impact? Considering bundling filings or finding states with lower fees for out-of-state collateral. Really frustrating when you're trying to keep loan costs competitive but these administrative expenses keep climbing.
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Luca Ferrari
Feel your pain on the UCC fee increases. We switched to doing quarterly bulk filings instead of individual ones when possible, but that only works if your loan timing allows it. Some states are definitely cheaper than others - Wyoming is still around $20 I think, but you have to actually have nexus there for the collateral.
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NebulaNomad
•Bulk filing might work for some of our equipment leases but most of our customers need immediate perfection for their bank requirements. Will look into the Wyoming option though.
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Nia Wilson
•Be careful with the nexus requirements - you can't just file anywhere cheap. The collateral location and debtor location matter for which state has jurisdiction.
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Mateo Martinez
ugh tell me about it!! our state went from $12 to $40 in two years and they're talking about another increase. makes no sense when everything is electronic now, should be getting cheaper not more expensive
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Aisha Hussain
•The electronic filing should make it cheaper but somehow they always find ways to increase revenue. Our state added a 'technology improvement fee' on top of the base filing fee.
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Ethan Clark
•At least electronic filing is faster than the old paper days. Remember waiting weeks for confirmation? Still expensive though.
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StarStrider
Have you looked into Certana.ai's UCC document verification tool? I started using it after getting burned by a filing rejection that cost me double fees. You upload your UCC-1 and supporting docs and it catches issues before you file. Saves money by avoiding rejections and the need to refile. Worth checking out since rejected filings mean paying the UCC fee twice.
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NebulaNomad
•Hadn't heard of that but rejections are definitely costly. How does the verification work exactly?
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StarStrider
•You just upload PDFs of your UCC forms and it cross-checks everything - debtor names, collateral descriptions, formatting issues. Catches the stuff that typically gets filings rejected by the SOS office.
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Yuki Sato
•That actually sounds useful. I've had three rejections this month alone, mostly stupid debtor name formatting issues.
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Carmen Ruiz
The real killer is continuation fees. By the time you file the original UCC-1, then do a continuation in 5 years, then maybe an amendment or two, you're looking at $150+ per loan over the life cycle. Add termination fees and it really adds up for high-volume lenders.
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Andre Lefebvre
•Don't forget amendment fees when the debtor changes their name or you need to add collateral. Those can be just as expensive as the original filing.
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Zoe Alexopoulos
•True, but amendments are usually necessary. Continuations you can at least plan for since they're every 5 years.
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NebulaNomad
•Yeah we budget for continuations but the fee increases make it hard to predict costs 5 years out.
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Jamal Anderson
Some of the online filing services offer volume discounts that can offset the state fee increases. They charge a service fee but if you're doing enough volume, their bulk pricing with states can save money overall.
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Mei Wong
•Which services offer volume discounts? We file maybe 40-50 UCCs per month across multiple states.
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Jamal Anderson
•CT Corporation and CSC both have volume pricing tiers. You'd have to contact them for quotes based on your filing volume.
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QuantumQuasar
The fee increases are just revenue grabs by the states. They know businesses have to file UCCs to perfect their security interests so they can charge whatever they want. It's basically a captive market.
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Liam McGuire
•Agreed, it's definitely a revenue stream for states. Some are worse than others - Delaware and New York are particularly expensive.
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Amara Eze
•At least most states have gone to electronic filing which is more convenient even if it's not cheaper.
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QuantumQuasar
•Electronic filing should reduce their processing costs but somehow the fees keep going up anyway. Makes no sense.
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Giovanni Greco
Been in secured lending for 15 years and UCC fee increases are just part of doing business unfortunately. You have to build them into your loan pricing. The alternative is not perfecting your security interests, which isn't really an option for most lenders.
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NebulaNomad
•That's what we're doing but it makes us less competitive on pricing. Customers don't understand why loan rates need to increase for 'paperwork fees'.
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Fatima Al-Farsi
•You could try explaining that UCC filings protect their ability to get financing by establishing clear lien priorities. Most customers don't realize the filing is for their protection too.
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Dylan Wright
I've been using that Certana tool someone mentioned earlier and it's actually saved me quite a bit on UCC fees. Had a batch of 12 filings last month that would have been rejected for debtor name issues - caught them all before filing. That's $420 in duplicate fees avoided right there.
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Sofia Torres
•Is it expensive to use? Trying to figure out if the cost of the verification service is worth it versus just dealing with occasional rejections.
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Dylan Wright
•Way cheaper than paying double filing fees. Plus it saves time not having to research why filings got rejected and then redo them.
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GalacticGuardian
Check if your state offers any fee discounts for electronic filing or high-volume filers. Some states have programs but they don't advertise them well. Might be worth calling the SOS office directly.
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Dmitry Smirnov
•Good suggestion. Never thought to ask about volume discounts directly with the state.
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Ava Rodriguez
•Most states don't offer volume discounts but it's worth asking. The worst they can say is no.
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Miguel Diaz
Bottom line is UCC fees are going to keep increasing and there's not much we can do about it except factor them into loan pricing. Focus on reducing other costs where possible and making sure your filings are done right the first time to avoid duplicate fees.
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NebulaNomad
•That's probably the reality. Just frustrating when you're trying to keep loan products affordable but administrative costs keep climbing.
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Zainab Ahmed
•At least UCC fees are tax deductible business expenses. Small consolation but better than nothing.
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Connor Gallagher
•True, and you can usually pass them through to customers as part of loan closing costs if your loan agreements allow it.
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Luis Johnson
New to the secured lending space and this thread is eye-opening about UCC costs! I'm setting up a small asset-based lending operation and was budgeting $20 per filing based on old info. Sounds like I need to revise those projections significantly. Are there any resources for tracking current UCC fees by state? Would hate to get surprised by fee increases after we're already operational.
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