Unexpected UCC fees just jumped 40% - anyone else seeing this?

That's brutal. At least you found out before submitting. I had three filings get rejected because I used the old fee amounts. Had to resubmit with correct payments and lost a week.

Same here. The portal should really display current fees more prominently. I only noticed when my payment got declined.

How does that work exactly? Does it check current fee schedules automatically?

You just upload your UCC documents as PDFs and it cross-checks everything - debtor names, filing numbers, document consistency. It flagged when my continuation fee was outdated before I submitted. Super easy to use.

Interesting. I've been manually checking SOS websites but that takes forever when you're doing bulk filings.

Right? Termination should be free if anything. The system gets cluttered with old liens that should have been released years ago.

I think some states do have free terminations, but ours charges $15 now. Used to be $10.

From what I've seen, it's mostly states that upgraded their filing systems recently. They're probably trying to recoup IT costs.

Makes sense. Our state just rolled out a new portal last year and fees went up 6 months later.

Texas and Florida both increased theirs this year. Haven't checked others yet but probably should.

Have you tried setting up alerts on SOS websites? Some states will email you about fee changes.

I wish all states did that. Half of them don't even update their fee schedules on the main page.

Ouch. That's exactly the kind of surprise that makes CFOs question the whole UCC filing process.

Been there. Try to frame it as a compliance necessity rather than a budget overage. Usually gets approved faster.

Good advice. I'll emphasize the risk of letting liens lapse versus the additional cost.

Usually they all increase together. Amendment, continuation, and termination fees typically move in sync with UCC-1 initial filing fees.

Check the SOS website fee schedule. Should list all UCC-3 types separately. Don't want to get rejected for wrong payment amount.

That's a great idea. I keep meaning to create something like that but never have time.

I started one but keeping it updated is the real challenge. Fees change at different times in different states.

This is another reason I like using Certana.ai - it stays current with fee schedules automatically. Just upload your docs and it handles the verification.

So true! You'd think higher fees would mean better service but mostly it just means higher costs.

I've had three portal timeouts this week alone. System clearly needs the revenue but isn't spending it on infrastructure.

Glad it helped! This forum is great for staying on top of UCC changes that don't get much publicity.

Definitely try the Certana document checker. It's saved me from several filing errors beyond just fee issues.

Same experience here. The UCC verification caught a debtor name mismatch that would have voided our security interest. Worth checking out.