UCC basics series #2: UCC-3s

Back-to-school with UCC basics!

Welcome back to our UCC basics series! Today’s lesson…UCC-3s.

A UCC-3 is defined as a filing used to make any changes to a UCC-1 filing, including continuing or terminating the filing. In short, UCC-3s are amendment filings, and there are five different types:

1. Continuations – This type of filing extends the life of the financing statement by another five years.
2. Party Amendments – This type of filing is used to change or add critical information about the debtor or the secured party. For example, they can be used to change the name or the address.
3. Collateral Amendments – This type of filing is used to add collateral, remove collateral or restate the entire collateral description. Prior to the RA9, collateral amendments were also called “releases.”
4. Assignments – This type of filing is used to transfer the rights in a filing from one secured party to another. There are both “partial” and “full” assignments.
5. Terminations – This type of filing is used to extinguish the lien before its five-year term has ended. Keep in mind that debtors can file terminations, because RA9 does not require any signatures on the filings. Therefore, you may not be aware that one of your liens has been terminated. Select service providers offer monitoring services, which will let you know when another party files a termination on one of your UCCs.

Common UCC-3 Mistakes

Here are the most common mistakes that occur on UCC-3 filings:

• Incorrect File Number – Normally, this is because a state has changed the format of its filing numbers.
• Incorrect File Date – With the help of a service provider’s technology and service professionals, retrieving all of the correct filing data becomes less of a risk.
• Continuation Not Filed Within Proper Window – Either too early or too late. It is always best to make changes as soon as possible, but as a few guidelines: 1) changes to the debtor’s name must be filed within four months of the name change; 2) in most cases, continuations may be submitted no earlier than six months prior to the expiration date (every five years); in all other cases, file as soon as possible.
• Multiple Transactions on the Same Form – Prior to RA9, a number of states would allow multiple transactions—for example, a continuation and an amendment on the same form. More than half of all states now require only one transaction per form. This allows a UCC to be filed electronically for faster filings and acknowledgement and lower cost in many states.

Class is adjourned for today, but we hope you’ll come back tomorrow morning to learn about conducting searches.

Comments

[Amanda Rasizzi - Manager of Marketing, CT Lien Solutions]

Lawrence- All the states base the expiration date on the original filing date even if the latest continuation was filed a few months before the actual expiration. So in this case the expiration date would be 10/31/16.

[Lawrence]

A UCC is originally filed on 10/31/06. The continuation is filed on 6/6/11. What is the lapse date?

[Greet Verellen]

Your information on UCC-3s is awesome. I didn't know about it much. Thanks for sharing such an informative post.

[Amanda Rasizzi, CTLS Marketing]

Great question, Althea! Here's how it breaks down:

UCC1: Original Financing Statement

UCC3: Amendment – Changes to the debtor(s), secured party(s), collateral statement; Assignment – Loan is transferred from one or more creditor(s) to another; Continuation – Continuing the filing to avoid lapsing; Termination – Loan is usually paid off and loan is terminated

UCC5: Correction Statement

UCC11: Search and Copy Request

[Althea Daigre]

What are all of the UCC numbers and what do they represent?