Uniform Commerical Code

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Online Searching and Filing

About the Uniform Commercial Code Section

Attention: The Office of the Secretary of State is completing a project to redact the social security numbers of living persons from the documents filed in this office.  As you know, UCC financing statements are public records and the information on those statements is readily available to all requesting parties including the availability of filed documents on SOSDirect.  Please join us in protecting your client’s privacy by refraining from including client social security numbers in UCC filings.  In addition to the privacy concerns, redaction is costly and may result in delays in processing your documents.  Thank you for your cooperation.

The Uniform Commercial Code Section (UCC) is the central filing office for certain financing statements and other documents provided for under the Uniform Commercial Code since 1966.

Excerpt from the Uniform Commercial Code:

The Uniform Commercial Code adopts the “notice filing” approach, under which an abbreviated notice is filed with the appropriate filing officer evidencing that a debtor and secured party intend to engage in a secured transaction using specified collateral as security. The actual security agreement may even be executed later. The Code became effective at midnight on June 30, 1966 , and applies to transactions entered into and events occurring after that date.

In plain language, the Uniform Commercial Code allows a creditor to notify other creditors about a debtor’s assets used as collateral for a secured transaction by filing a public notice (financing statement) with a particular filing office.

The place of filing is either 1) a state of organization if the organization is registered with a state; 2) state of the chief executive office if the organization is unregistered and has more than one place of business; or 3) state where an individual resides in the case of an individual or sole proprietor. Filing with the Office of the Secretary of State is required to perfect a security interest or agricultural lien except where a filing is required with the county clerk or other office designated for the filing or recording of a mortgage on the related real property; if:

  1. the collateral is as-extracted collateral or timber to be cut; or
  2. the financing statement is filed as a fixture filing and the collateral is goods that are or are to become fixtures.

In most cases, financing statements are filed at the close of a secured transaction. However, it is advisable to file financing statements and perform a search on the debtor to discover existing filings by other creditors before the loan closing.

Documents filed in the central filing office relate to the following:

The UCC Section’s main objective is to review all documents for statutory compliance, then accept or reject the documents as soon as possible. All accepted documents are processed in a timely manner, recorded, filed, and made available to the public upon request.

Fraudulent Filers
Effective September 1, 2005, under Section 405.022 of the Texas Government Code, the Office of the Secretary of State is requesting the assistance of the Attorney General to determine whether a document is fraudulent prior to filing. The Attorney General's office will determine if legal action should be taken against fraudulent filers.