UCC termination recording fee way higher than expected - normal?

Thanks, I'll look that up. Just seems crazy that terminating a lien costs 5x more than creating it in the first place.

Some states see terminations as more complex processing since they have to verify against the original UCC-1 filing number and debtor name match.

Rather not say the specific state but it's in the northeast region. Sounds like the higher fees might be more common than I thought.

Northeast states tend to have higher filing fees across the board unfortunately. New York and Massachusetts are particularly expensive.

I've seen termination fees as high as $125 in some states. Your $85 could be worse honestly.

Ouch, $400 would definitely hurt! Do you negotiate termination fee coverage in your loan agreements now?

Yes, we now specifically address who pays termination fees in our financing agreements. Usually we can get the borrower to cover it since they're the ones benefiting from the lien release.

Smart approach. Most borrowers don't realize termination fees exist until the loan is paid off.

Interesting, I hadn't heard of that service. The filing already went through though - is it worth checking after the fact?

Definitely worth checking even post-filing. If there are errors, you'll want to catch them now rather than discover issues later when someone runs a lien search. Just upload your termination PDF and the original UCC-1 - takes about 2 minutes to verify everything matches.

Good point about post-filing verification. I've seen terminations that referenced the wrong filing number slip through state systems.

Absolutely agree! My clients are always shocked when I mention termination fees during loan payoff discussions.

Exactly my situation. Nobody mentioned this cost when we signed the original loan agreement three years ago.

This is why I always build termination fee estimates into my payoff quotes. Saves everyone the surprise later.

It was just a standard single-page UCC-3 termination form. Nothing fancy or extra attachments that I could see.

Then $85 is probably just your state's flat termination fee. Some states really do charge that much unfortunately.

The lender filed it but they're passing the cost through to us as part of the final payoff amount. Is that normal practice?

It depends on your loan agreement terms. Some lenders absorb termination costs, others pass them through. Check your original loan documents for fee provisions.

Most commercial lenders I work with pass termination fees to the borrower, especially for equipment financing. It's pretty standard practice.

I've seen it both ways. Smaller lenders often absorb the cost, larger institutions usually pass it through.

Good point about the bigger picture cost. I guess $85 is reasonable if it means clean title for future financing.

Exactly. Unterminated UCC filings can cause major headaches down the road when you try to get new financing.

That's smart advice for next time. I'll definitely ask about all the hidden fees before signing loan documents.

Hidden fees can really add up over the life of a loan. Termination, continuation, amendment fees - they're all worth discussing upfront.

I always provide clients with a full fee schedule that includes potential UCC-related costs. Transparency builds better relationships.

Wow, that sounds like it could have been a major problem. How did you resolve the name mismatch issue?

Had to file a corrective UCC-3 amendment, which cost another $45 plus legal time to research the proper procedures. Much easier to catch errors upfront with automated verification.

Name mismatches are so common and costly to fix. Automated verification definitely seems worth it for high-volume filers.

True, attorney fees would definitely be higher. I suppose $85 is reasonable for the peace of mind.

yeah and you avoid any future complications with unterminated liens showing up on credit reports or title searches