This guide explains how Terre Haute and Vigo County owners can check Indiana UCC filings before applying for business funding: what a UCC financing statement is, what a search returns, how to read a filing and what to do about stale ones. Brookmont Funding, a small-business funding broker in Terre Haute, Indiana, provides it as general information; lending partners make credit decisions.
UCC-1 filings in plain English
When a lender or funder takes a security interest in a business's assets, it usually files a short public notice called a UCC financing statement, often referred to as a UCC-1. The filing names the business as debtor, names the secured party and describes the collateral. It does not show the amount owed or the terms; it simply tells the world that someone claims an interest in those assets.
Equipment loans, inventory lines, many working capital loans and most merchant cash advances leave a filing behind. So can a supplier that sold on credit terms.
Where Indiana filings are searched
Owners in Indiana commonly look for an "Indiana UCC search", a free UCC lookup and the Indiana UCC filing office. Filings against Indiana businesses are kept in a state-level index that can be searched online by debtor name.
Searching by the exact legal name
Search under the business's exact registered legal name, letter for letter, including the entity ending (LLC, Inc.). Then search the variations a filer might have used: the name without punctuation, an old name, and any trade name the business uses. A filing made under a slightly different name may not appear in an exact-name search, and a partner may run broader searches than you did.
If the business uses a name other than its legal one, read the Indiana assumed business name guide as well; mismatched names are one of the commonest causes of confusing search results.
Reading a filing
| Field | What to check |
|---|---|
| Debtor | Is it your business, spelled the way you expect? Is an owner named personally? |
| Secured party | Do you recognize the lender, funder or supplier? Has that debt been paid off? |
| Collateral description | Specific equipment, or "all assets"? A blanket description covers everything the business owns. |
| Filing date and number | Note both; you will need them if you ask for a termination. |
| Amendments or continuations | Has the filing been extended, assigned or partly released? |
Blanket liens and why they matter
A filing that covers "all assets" tells a new partner that another creditor already has a claim on everything, including the equipment or stock the new partner would want as collateral. Some partners will still proceed in second position; others will not. Knowing about a blanket filing before you apply lets you raise it up front instead of having it surface mid-review.
Old or paid-off filings
A filing often stays on the record after the debt is repaid, until it lapses or is terminated. If you find one for a loan or advance you have paid off, contact the secured party and ask it to file a termination, and keep proof of the payoff.
Searching someone else: sellers and suppliers
A UCC search is not only about your own business. If you are buying used equipment from another business, or buying a business outright, search the seller's name too. A filing against the seller that covers the equipment means a lender may still claim it after you have paid. Ask the seller to have the filing released, or to pay off the debt from the sale proceeds, before you hand over money.
The same check is worth doing on a key supplier that offers to finance your inventory, so you understand what it has already pledged elsewhere.
Checklist before you apply
- Search under the exact legal name and common variations
- Download or print each filing you find
- Match every open filing to a current loan, lease, advance or supplier account
- Ask secured parties on paid-off debts to terminate their filings
- Note any blanket ("all assets") filings to mention up front
- Keep payoff letters with the search results
Equipment purchases usually create a new filing on the item; see equipment financing. Stock-secured funding does the same; see inventory financing. Merchant cash advance funders commonly file against receipts too; the advance page explains why that matters. The rest of our guides sit on the guides page.
By Brookmont Funding ยท Updated