A UCC-1 financing statement (an abbreviation for

Uniform Commercial Code The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), first published in 1952, is one of a number of Uniform Acts that have been established as law with the goal of harmonizing the laws of sales and other commercial transactions across the United States through U ...

-1) is a legal form that a

creditor A creditor or lender is a party (e.g., person, organization, company, or government) that has a claim on the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. The first party, in general, has provided some property ...

files to give notice that it has or may have an interest in the personal property of a

debtor A debtor or debitor is a legal entity (legal person) that owes a debt to another entity. The entity may be an individual, a firm, a government, a company or other legal person. The counterparty is called a creditor. When the counterpart of this ...

(a person who owes a debt to the creditor as typically specified in the agreement creating the debt). This form is filed in order to "perfect" a creditor's

security interest In finance, a security interest is a legal right granted by a debtor to a creditor over the debtor's property (usually referred to as the ''collateral'') which enables the creditor to have recourse to the property if the debtor defaults in makin ...

by giving public notice that there is a right to take possession of and sell certain assets for repayment of a specific debt with a certain priority. Such notices of sale are often found in the local newspapers. Once the form has been filed, the creditor establishes a relative priority with other creditors of the debtor. This process is also called "perfecting the security interest" in the property, and this type of loan is a

secured loan A secured loan is a loan in which the borrower pledges some asset (e.g. a car or property) as collateral for the loan, which then becomes a secured debt owed to the creditor who gives the loan. The debt is thus secured against the collateral, an ...

. A financing statement may also be filed in the real estate records by a lessor of fixtures to establish the priority of the lessor's rights against a holder of a mortgage or other lien on the real property. The creditor's rights against the debtor and the lessor's rights against the lessee are based on the credit documents and the lease, respectively, and not the financing statement. Pursuant to the standards set forth in the UCC, at 9-503 and 9–504, the financing statement need only contain three pieces of information: # the debtor's name and address # the creditor's name and address # an indication of the collateral, "whether or not it is specific, if it reasonably identifies what is described." (UCC 9-108) The financing statement is generally filed with the office of the

state secretary of state The secretary of state is an official in the state governments of 47 of the 50 states of the United States, as well as Puerto Rico and other U.S. possessions. In Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, this official is called the secreta ...

, in the state where the debtor is located - for an individual, the state where the debtor resides, for most kinds of business organizations the state of incorporation or organization. Many states have a state agency that operates under the secretary of state, which is tasked with overseeing business organizations and activities, including receipt of financing statements. However, an exception exists if the collateral is something that is tied to a particular piece of

real property In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, is land which is the property of some person and all structures (also called improvements or fixtures) integrated with or aff ...

, such as

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

mineral rights Mineral rights are property rights to exploit an area for the minerals it harbors. Mineral rights can be separate from property ownership (see Split estate). Mineral rights can refer to sedentary minerals that do not move below the Earth's surfac ...

, or fixtures. In that case, the filing must be made in the county where the property is located, usually in the recording office or county court, because that is where third parties are most likely to search for such record. In the case of a loan secured by personal property collateral, the filing of a financing statement gives notice of a

lien A lien ( or ) is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. The owner of the property, who grants the lien, is referred to as the ''lienee'' and the per ...

against the property so that other lenders or buyers of the personal property will know of the security interest. In the case of a filing of a financing statement by a lessor of fixtures, the filing of the financing statement gives notice of the lessor's interests to others who acquire an interest in the real property and related fixtures. The financing statement does not create a lien nor does it create any additional rights against a lessee in favor of a lessor, the filing of a financing statement just gives notice of whatever rights the creditor or lessor have under their loan documents or lease, respectively. A filed financing statement typically has a duration of five years from when it was filed before a lapse may occur. Upon a lapse, a financing statement is no longer effective and any security interest that was perfected by the financing statement becomes unperfected. A secured party can continue their security interest by filing a continuation six months before the expiration date of the financing statement.

References

{{Reflist Uniform Commercial Code American legal terminology