---
title: "UCC-1 financing statement"
url: https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/ucc-1
description: "A UCC-1 financing statement is a public filing, usually with a state's secretary of state, giving notice that a lender or factor claims an interest in a debtor's assets."
---

# UCC-1 financing statement

**Definition:** A UCC-1 financing statement is a public filing, usually with a state's secretary of state, giving notice that a lender or factor claims an interest in a debtor's assets.

Also called: UCC-1, UCC filing, Financing statement, Lien filing. Category: Factoring.

Article 9 covers sales of accounts as well as loans against them (§9-109), so factors file UCC-1s to perfect their purchase of a carrier's invoices. Under §9-502, a filing needs only the debtor's name, the secured party's name and an indication of the collateral, such as all accounts. The carrier authorizes it by signing the factoring or security agreement (§9-509).

Priority among competing perfected interests generally goes to whoever filed or perfected first (§9-322). A UCC-1 stays effective for 5 years and lapses unless a continuation is filed in the 6 months before it expires (§9-515). For a registered organization such as an LLC, file and search in its state of organization (§9-307).

> **Red flag: Red flags** An existing UCC-1 covering accounts from another factor or a merchant cash advance lender. A filing made days before the carrier applied to you. A debtor name that doesn't exactly match the formation documents, since name errors can cause searches to miss filings. Search before you fund with the [50-state UCC directory](https://carrierkyc.com/tools/ucc-search).

See [UCC searches before funding](https://carrierkyc.com/guides/ucc-search-before-funding). General information, not legal advice: filing rules vary by state, so confirm with counsel.

## Related

- [UCC-3 amendment](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/ucc-3)
- [How to run a UCC lien search before you fund a carrier](https://carrierkyc.com/guides/ucc-search-before-funding)
- [50-state UCC search directory](https://carrierkyc.com/tools/ucc-search)
- [Double factoring](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/double-factoring)
- [Spot factoring](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/spot-factoring)

## Sources

- [UCC §9-109: Scope (sales of accounts)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/9/9-109) (Cornell LII)
- [UCC §9-307: Location of debtor](https://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/9/9-307) (Cornell LII)
- [UCC §9-322: Priorities among conflicting security interests](https://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/9/9-322) (Cornell LII)
- [UCC §9-502: Contents of financing statement](https://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/9/9-502) (Cornell LII)
- [UCC §9-509: Persons entitled to file a record](https://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/9/9-509) (Cornell LII)
- [UCC §9-515: Duration and effectiveness of financing statement](https://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/9/9-515) (Cornell LII)