Effective UCC Search Strategies to Minimize Risk

Understand how to conduct thorough UCC searches for your next case.

Lenders and other creditors need to know where they stand if a debtor becomes bankrupt. Primarily, this is a function of whether they have a lien or security interest and if so, whether anyone else has a prior lien or security interest. Liens generally must be made public in some way, usually by a filing in a public office, in order to enjoy priority, so prospective lenders and creditors will want to search for those liens. Notwithstanding Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, the law that governs most consensual security interests, lien searching remains an art. Issues remain regarding what name to search, where to search and how to deal with past transactions conducted by the debtor's predecessors in interest or by the debtor under prior names or in prior locations. In addition, other liens not governed by Article 9 must be taken into account and those liens are not held to the same standards that affect searchability as Article 9 security interests. Searching is not a mechanical process and there is no procedure that guarantees comprehensive results in every case. In short, searchers need to understand their opportunities so they can balance their costs against their risks.