UCC lien search that shows who else claims the same collateral — machine by machine, before you fund
Every conflicting claim found before you fund, shown to its filing.
See one case, screen by screen ↓Software that searches the UCC filing offices, county recorders and title records for a borrower, reads what each filing claims, and tells a lender which of its collateral someone else already has a claim on. UCC Lien Search adds agents that build the search plan from the exact legal name, read every collateral clause and match it to each serial number or VIN on the schedule.
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UCC filings sit in separate state filing offices, county recorders and title systems, and they describe collateral by category — “all assets”, “equipment” — not by the serial numbers you lend against. The search comes back as a stack of filing images, and someone has to read every collateral clause against every line of the collateral schedule.
So closings often lean on the borrower’s financing disclosure and its word that the machines are owned free and clear. When the same assets are pledged to two lenders, each relies on the borrower’s schedules and neither finds out until it is too late. A filing three weeks old, a lessor’s precautionary filing, a title that still shows a lienholder, one digit wrong in a serial number — each one is easy to miss on the second day of reading.
Estimated split for an equipment deal of about 37 units, by hand and with the solution.
Six specialist agents search every registry and draw each claim on a lien graph; the closing officer and counsel sign.
Brennick Haul & Grade LLC wants a $6,840,000 refinance against 37 machines, closing Friday 16 October. Credit is approved subject to clear collateral. Here is the week, screen by screen, in the working solution.
Elena opens her lien searches: seven open, $19.39M to fund, four closing this week. Each row shows the registries, the thru date, the closing date and what the search found. Brennick Haul & Grade, deal EF-26-0412, closes Friday.
“Rule: a search must be within 10 days of funding, with a bring-down before every advance.”
From the Delaware record: Brennick Haul & Grade LLC, Delaware LLC 6418207, formed 11 Apr 2017 — named Brennick Hauling & Grading LLC until 14 Mar 2023. The schedule says “Brennick Haul and Grade LLC”. The plan covers six registries: Delaware, Ohio and Indiana UCC, the Franklin and Wayne County recorders and the Ohio titles. The former name is searched in Delaware, Ohio and Franklin County.
“A filing under a wrong name still counts if the office’s standard search logic finds it under the correct name (UCC §9-506(c)).”
Nine records come back, seven live, each drawn as a link to the borrower with the collateral it claims and its place in line. The last one is Lakemont Business Funding: a Delaware filing on all accounts, receivables, equipment and inventory, filed 21 Sep 2026 — 11 days before the disclosure was signed. It is escalated to Ben Castellano.
“All assets — filed 3 weeks ago, ahead of our lien · 5th · not disclosed.”
Corliss Machinery Credit’s Delaware filing 2024 0611932 of 29 Jan 2024 lists two Ridgeline RX350 excavators, RX350-0417 and RX350-0422, by number. The borrower’s schedule shows both as owned free and clear, and Corliss is not on the disclosure. $824,000 of OLV is held.
What clears it: a payoff letter and a UCC-3 release of both serials — or they stay out of the collateral.
Elena clicks A02, the 2022 Ridgeline RX350. The graph dims every claim that does not reach it, and the rail lists the ones that do, in line: Meridian Commerce Bank first on all assets, Corliss second by serial, the IRS tax lien fourth, Lakemont fifth — then Halvard’s own lien at closing.
Every serial and VIN is checked against every live filing and title. Seven exceptions: four hold assets — the Corliss excavators, a cone crusher leased from Ashbury Equipment Leasing ($1,186,000), two dump trucks whose Ohio titles still show Westover Truck Finance ($237,000), and a wheel loader whose serial does not match its plate ($296,000). Three sit on the facility.
The title and tax lien checker never treats a borrower’s “paid off” as a lien release.
Any exception opens the filing image as the filing office returned it. Lakemont’s UCC financing statement names Brennick Haul & Grade LLC at 4410 Sawmill Bend Road, and the collateral box is marked: all accounts, accounts receivable, equipment, inventory and general intangibles, now owned or hereafter acquired.
Collateral schedule A at $10,112,000 OLV, less the four holds, leaves $7,569,000 cleared on 31 units. At 80% of OLV that supports $6,055,200 — $784,800 waits on the held assets. Three closing conditions before funding: Meridian’s partial release, Lakemont’s termination and payoff, and the $186,420 federal tax lien paid from proceeds with the IRS certificate of release.
Elena signs the clearance memo with the meaning “Collateral cleared as listed, on conditions”. Because prior claims were found, Martin co-signs; Ben approves the advance at $6,055,200 instead of $6,840,000. The signature, the time, every hold and every condition go to the audit trail.
“Cleared before funding. 31 machines clear for $6,055,200; closing proceeds Friday once Meridian, Lakemont and the IRS releases are in.”
The same agents search all 418 funded borrowers every night. Last night’s run read 46 new or amended filings and 1,912 titles. This week a new Pennsylvania filing, filed Friday 9 October, lists the serial of the all-terrain crane that secures Ostrowski Crane Service’s loan, and the alert was there by morning.
The same deal, seen by the five people who carry it — what their week looked like, and what it looks like now.
Six specialist agents search every registry and draw each claim on a lien graph; the closing officer and counsel sign.
Reads the formation record for the exact legal name, entity type, state, file number and former names, and builds the search plan.
Runs the plan across state UCC offices, county recorders and title records, and records each certified thru date.
Reads each UCC-1 and UCC-3: secured party, collateral clause, serials, lapse date, amendments, terminations and true-lease language.
Matches every scheduled asset by serial or VIN to the collateral clauses and titles, and flags serial hits, category coverage, leases and identity mismatches.
Reads lienholders on certificates of title and federal and state tax liens at the county recorders.
Turns the findings into the conflict list, the closing conditions, the amount the cleared collateral supports, the memo and the release and payoff requests.
Signs the memo; counsel co-signs prior claims. The agents propose; a named person decides.
The closer, counsel and credit can ask in plain words — or tell it what to draft. Every answer points to the filing, title or plate it rests on.
Why are the two Ridgeline excavators held?
Corliss Machinery Credit’s Delaware filing 2024 0611932 of 29 Jan 2024 names both machines by serial — RX350-0417 and RX350-0422. It is live until 29 Jan 2029. Brennick’s schedule A lists both as owned free and clear, and Corliss is not on the financing disclosure of 2 Oct. They stay out of the collateral — $824,000 of OLV — unless Corliss is paid out and files a UCC-3 release.
Who filed against Brennick in the last 90 days?
Two filings, neither disclosed: Lakemont Business Funding on 21 Sep 2026, on all accounts, equipment and inventory; and the Internal Revenue Service on 14 Aug 2026, a federal tax lien of $186,420 in Franklin County. Both reach all 37 units. Lakemont is escalated to Ben Castellano.
What can we lend against at closing?
$6,055,200 — 80% of the $7,569,000 OLV on the 31 cleared units, $784,800 short of the $6,840,000 requested. The fastest add-back is the Halden wheel loader: the plate and invoice both read L180-2281, so a field check and a corrected schedule adds $236,800.
Draft the release requests for Meridian, Lakemont and Westover
Drafted, one per filing — nothing is sent until you approve: a UCC-3 partial release of the 31 cleared serials and consent from Meridian Commerce Bank; a payoff to 16 Oct and a UCC-3 termination from Lakemont Business Funding; a lien release on both titles from Westover Truck Finance; and a payoff for the two excavators from Corliss Machinery Credit, if the borrower pays them out.
13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.
Where to search, how fresh a search must be, what you lend against and who signs are settings — versioned and on the audit trail.
| Setting | Default | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
| Registered organisations searched in | State of organisation + county recorders at each location | State of organisation + county recorders at each location · State of organisation only |
| Former names searched for | 5 years | 5 years · 3 years · Since formation |
| Search freshness at funding | 10 days | Any number of days; bring-down search before every funding and advance |
| Serial and VIN matching | Exact match, plate or invoice confirmed | Exact match, plate or invoice confirmed · Exact match on the schedule only |
| Advance rate | 80% of OLV | 75% · 80% · 85% of OLV, on cleared assets only |
| Undisclosed filings | Escalate to the credit officer | Escalate to the credit officer · Escalate to credit and counsel |
| Filing watch | Nightly | Nightly · Weekly |
| File continuations no later than | 120 days before lapse | 120 · 90 · 60 days before lapse |
Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.
“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample deal data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate · “typical” = published figures (Cobalt Intelligence, citing Bloomberg, 25 Mar 2026 — $4.4B combined lender losses at Tricolor, First Brands and MFS). UCC §§9-307, 9-311, 9-506 and 9-515 are named as context. People, companies, deals and filings named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.
Software that searches the UCC filing offices, county recorders and title records for a borrower, reads what each filing claims, and tells a lender which of its collateral someone else already has a claim on. UCC Lien Search adds agents that build the search plan from the exact legal name, read every collateral clause and match it to each serial number or VIN on the schedule.
The collateral matcher tests every scheduled asset against every live filing and title: does the filing name the serial, describe its category, or cover all assets? An asset named by serial in another lender’s filing, or under a lessor’s true-lease filing, is held and shown on the lien graph in red with the filing behind it.
Yes. The debtor identity checker reads the formation record for the exact legal name and former names, and the search plan follows your rules: a registered organisation in its state of organisation, county recorders at each location, title records for titled assets and the FAA registry for aircraft. Former names are searched for 5 years by default.
Yes. The title and tax lien checker reads lienholders on certificates of title and federal and state tax liens at the county recorders. In the sample deal it found two dump trucks still showing a lender on the Ohio titles and a $186,420 federal tax lien in Franklin County.
No. The agents draft the clearance memo, the release and payoff requests and UCC-3 continuations. A person approves before anything is sent or filed, and every step is on the audit trail.
Yes. The collateral and closing officer signs the clearance memo, counsel co-signs whenever a live prior claim was found, and the credit officer approves any change to the advance. A held asset is released only on the document that clears it.
Yes. Our filings shows every financing statement you hold with its lapse date. Continuations are prepared at the opening of the six-month window and filed only when you approve, and a debtor’s name change is flagged for an amendment.
The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements — your search rules, credit policy, clearance memo and a sample of past collateral schedules and searches — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on one of your own deals first.
We’ll run UCC Lien Search on one of your own collateral schedules and the searches behind it.