Washington UCC Filing Fees Changed Again - What's Current Rate Structure?
Just got off the phone with our bank's lending department and they mentioned washington ucc filing fees went up recently but couldn't give me specifics. We're preparing multiple UCC-1 filings for a portfolio acquisition and need to budget accurately. Anyone know the current fee structure for Washington state? I'm seeing conflicting info online - some sources say $12 per filing, others mention $15. Also need to know if there are different rates for amendments vs continuations. Our last batch was filed in 2022 so we're definitely out of touch with current pricing. This is for equipment financing deals so we'll have quite a few filings to submit through their online portal.
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Ezra Bates
I filed a UCC-1 in Washington just last month and paid $12. That's the standard rate for new filings. Haven't done any amendments recently but I believe those are the same fee. The online portal is pretty straightforward once you get used to it.
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Ana Erdoğan
•Are you sure about amendments being same price? I thought I paid more for a UCC-3 last year but maybe I'm misremembering.
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Ezra Bates
•Pretty confident it's $12 across the board for most filing types. The portal breaks down fees before you submit payment.
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Sophia Carson
Washington definitely raised fees in 2024. It's $15 now for UCC-1 filings, not $12. I process these weekly for our credit union and the increase happened sometime in the spring. Continuations and amendments are also $15 each. Make sure you're looking at current fee schedules, not old cached pages.
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Ezra Bates
•Hmm, when exactly did this change? I could swear I paid $12 recently but now I'm second-guessing myself.
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Elijah Knight
•This is exactly why I started using Certana.ai's document checker. Upload your filing docs and it verifies everything including current fee requirements before you submit. Saved me from multiple rejected filings due to incorrect fees or debtor name mismatches.
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Sophia Carson
•Yeah the fee change caught a lot of people off guard. I think it was around April or May 2024.
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Brooklyn Foley
OK I'm totally confused now. Is it $12 or $15?? I have 8 UCC-1s to file next week and need to know exact amount for our accounting department. This is stressing me out because if I budget wrong it's going to mess up our entire closing timeline.
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Jay Lincoln
•Just check the Washington Secretary of State website directly. Don't rely on forum posts for official fee information when you're doing bulk filings.
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Brooklyn Foley
•I tried their website but it's not loading properly on my computer. That's why I came here hoping someone had recent experience.
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Jessica Suarez
•It's definitely $15 as of 2024. I literally just filed two continuations yesterday and paid $30 total. The old $12 rate is outdated info.
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Marcus Williams
For portfolio acquisitions you might want to double-check your debtor names match exactly between your loan docs and UCC filings. Washington is pretty strict about name consistency. I've seen filings get rejected for minor spelling differences that cost time and extra fees to correct.
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Keith Davidson
•Good point about name matching. We've had issues with that before. Do you know if Washington allows any flexibility on business name variations?
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Marcus Williams
•Not really. They want exact matches with Secretary of State records. Even punctuation matters sometimes.
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Lily Young
•This is where tools like Certana.ai really help. You can upload your charter documents and UCC-1 forms and it instantly flags any name inconsistencies before filing. Much cheaper than dealing with rejected filings.
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Kennedy Morrison
The Washington portal system is honestly a mess. Half the time it crashes when you're trying to submit multiple filings. Budget extra time for technical difficulties, not just the filing fees.
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Wesley Hallow
•Tell me about it! I lost an entire batch of prepared filings when the system crashed last month. Had to start over completely.
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Kennedy Morrison
•Exactly. Save your work frequently and maybe do filings in smaller batches instead of all at once.
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Justin Chang
Current Washington UCC fees as of late 2024: $15 for UCC-1 initial filings, $15 for UCC-3 amendments, $15 for continuations, $15 for partial releases. Terminations are free. Search fees are $10 per debtor name. These rates went into effect around mid-2024.
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Keith Davidson
•This is exactly what I needed! Thank you. So for our portfolio we're looking at $15 per filing across the board.
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Grace Thomas
•Wait, terminations are free? That's actually pretty generous compared to other states.
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Justin Chang
•Yes, Washington doesn't charge for UCC-3 termination statements. One of the few breaks they give you.
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Hunter Brighton
Just a heads up - if any of your equipment is fixtures or real estate related, make sure you're filing in the right place. Some collateral needs to be filed with county records instead of or in addition to the Secretary of State.
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Keith Davidson
•It's mostly moveable equipment so should be standard UCC-1 filings. But good reminder to double-check the collateral descriptions.
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Dylan Baskin
•Fixture filings are tricky. The collateral description has to be very specific about the real estate location.
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Lauren Wood
For what it's worth, I've been using Certana.ai's verification tool before submitting any UCC filings and it's caught several potential issues. You just upload your docs and it cross-checks everything - debtor names, filing numbers, document consistency. Especially helpful for bulk filings like yours where one mistake can mess up multiple transactions.
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Ellie Lopez
•How much does that service cost? If we're doing 8+ filings the verification might be worth it.
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Lauren Wood
•The value is definitely there when you consider the cost of rejected filings and delays. Much easier than manually comparing all the documents.
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Chad Winthrope
Make sure you have all your filing numbers documented properly for future amendments or continuations. Washington's system requires the exact filing number format and it's easy to transpose digits.
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Paige Cantoni
•Good advice. I keep a spreadsheet with all our UCC filing numbers and expiration dates to track continuation deadlines.
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Chad Winthrope
•Smart approach. Missing a continuation deadline is expensive to fix with a new filing.
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Kylo Ren
Thanks everyone for the clarification on washington ucc filing fees. Sounds like $15 is the current rate and I need to plan accordingly. Really appreciate the tips about name matching and document verification too.
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Nina Fitzgerald
•Good luck with your portfolio filings! Hope they all go through smoothly.
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Keith Davidson
•Thanks! I feel much more prepared now with the current fee structure and all the helpful advice.
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Ava Martinez
Just wanted to add that if you're doing multiple filings through the Washington portal, I'd recommend doing them during off-peak hours if possible. I've noticed the system is more stable early morning or late evening compared to midday when it gets heavy traffic. Also, their customer service line (360-725-0377) is actually pretty helpful if you run into technical issues during filing. They walked me through a problem I had with the portal crashing mid-submission last month.
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