UCC 201 FOR LAW FIRMS: ADVANCED FILING TECHNIQUES AND POST PERFECTION PITFALLS

Disclaimer: Please be advised that this recorded webinar has been edited from its original format, which may have included a product demo. To set up a live demo or to request more information, please complete the form to the right. Or if you are currently not on CSC Global, there is a link to the website in the description of this video. Thank you.

Annie: Hello, everyone, and welcome to today's webinar, "UCC 201 for Law Firms: Advanced Filing Techniques and Post Perfection Pitfalls." My name is Annie Triboletti, and I will be your moderator.

Joining us today is Binh Nguyen. Binh is the senior sales engineer for UCC Lien Perfect and has been with CSC since April 2014. He conducts training on CSC Lien Perfect and works alongside our customers to assist in the further development of the UCC platform for the law firm market. And with that, let's welcome Binh.

Binh: Thank you, Annie, for the introduction, and welcome everyone to today's webinar. Before we dive right into the webinar, I'd like to provide some background information about CSC as a whole. We support more than 10,000 law firms from coast to coast, and we have a presence in many major cities around the world.

We were founded in 1899 and have been serving law firms since then for more than 121 years. We process over six million UCC transactions annually, so we have an extensive amount of experience handling UCC filings and searches. We provide many other services as well, including registered agent, entity and litigation management, and digital brand services. 

In today's webinar, we continue our discussion of UCC filings, with particular focus on fixture filings and post filing pitfalls. I'll be providing a demonstration of our CSC Lien Perfect platform as well, to help you in preparing and filing fixture filings and avoiding those post filing pitfalls. We'll conclude with a Q&A session, so I would encourage all those attending to submit your questions throughout today's webinar using the Q&A widget located at the bottom of your screen.

Before we can discuss fixture filings, we need to first define what a fixture is. We'll then cover general fixture filing guidelines, and then we'll conclude with an example of a fixture filing.

Generally speaking, fixtures are goods that have become so related to particular real property that an interest in them arises under real property law, under UCC Article 9. Some things to take into consideration about the determination of a fixture include the ease of removal or degree of a fixation. In other words, how difficult is it to remove, or how attached is it? Secondly, the intention of the parties, and lastly, how essential the presence of the fixture is to the functioning of the real property, which is very important.

So what can be considered a fixture? As you can see on this slide, it's not very clear and apparent what is and is not a fixture. Ultimately, only the courts can determine a fixture on a case-by-case basis.

Therefore, when uncertain, the best practice is to treat goods as both fixtures and personal property. This entails two separate types of filings — filings on the fixture versus fixture filings. 

UCC fixture filings are generally filed in the county in which a mortgage would be recorded on the affected real property, whereas a filing on a fixture is done in the centralized filing office in the state which the debtor is located. Fixture filings will require both the UCC-1 form and the addendum, whereas a filing on a fixture only requires the UCC-1 form. In the upcoming demo, I'll showcase how CSC Lien Perfect aids in creating fixture filings.

To help demonstrate the previous slide, take the example given in this slide. The debtor is a Delaware corporation, and the fixtures are or will be located at the property in Harris County, Texas. The filing on fixtures will be filed with the Delaware Secretary of State Office, while the fixture filing will be filed with Harris County Clerk in Texas. 

In summary, here are the similarities and differences between a fixture filing and a filing on fixture. A filing on fixture is with the central office where the debtor is located, which is at the state level. The priority may be subordinated to recorded real estate interests, and the filing is effective for five years. A fixture filing is filed in the real estate records where a mortgage would be recorded on the related real property. A fixture filing is filed at the county level. The priority based on file date against both filing on fixtures and recorded real estate business. Fixture filings are also effective for five years. 

Now that we've covered creating standard filings as well as fixture filings, there are some things to be aware of once those filings have been filed. In this next portion of our webinar, we'll uncover common mistakes that we see once the UCC-1 or original financing statement has been filed. 

The most common mistakes include failing to continue filings with approaching expiration dates, submitting UCC-3s that are incomplete or incorrect, and filing multiple UCC transactions on the same form.

UCC filings typically lapse five years from the filing date. In order to maintain their security interest and position, secured parties must file a continuation before the filing lapses. Many filers that we had spoken to maintain filings in multiple places, and it could be a challenge to remember when their filings are coming up for expiration. As you'll see later in the demo, CSC Lien Perfect provides filers with advanced notice of filings that will soon expire. Expiration reports can be scheduled for recurring email delivery or run as needed.

A very common error that we see filers commit often is providing incomplete or incorrect information in their UCC-3 filings. A typo in the initial filing number, for example, or other fields within an amendment filing can introduce a costly mistake. Rejections often happen when an incorrect initial filing number is provided. Fortunately, CSC Lien Perfect has a solution to this common error. Instead of requiring the filer to re-key specific information, I'm sorry, specific pieces of information into an amendment filing, CSC Lien Perfect allows filers to seamlessly copy this information over from the initial financing statement while initiating UCC-3s. This applies to all amendment filings.

Another common error that we see is when filers try to complete multiple transactions within the same filing. Most filing offices will not accept multiple transactions on the same amendment filing. When manually preparing a UCC-3 form, a filer can inadvertently select multiple transaction types, leading to a potential rejection. CSC Lien Perfect helps to combat this by allowing the filer to select the intended transaction type, then displaying only the applicable filing fields. This ensures that the filing is as accurate as possible and will be recorded completely.

So now that we've covered fixture filings and common errors post filing, how do you stay up to date with the changing world of UCC? You can use CSC's blog and Resources page to ensure that you're keeping abreast of filing office closings and communications, pending and new legislation, and overall UCC updates. We publish insight reports and filing guides, and offer on-demand webinars as well. We're here to help you navigate through preparing, filing, and managing your UCCs.

I'd like to share with you some feedback that our users have provided. And as you can see here on this slide, we've gotten a lot of great feedback from our users, letting us know that it really cuts down the time to prepare a UCC, that it's helping them to manage and organize their filings, and the very last and my personal favorite feedback is that it is easy for someone who's 54 years old to use. Very user friendly.

If you're interested in using CSC Lien Perfect, then please contact your account manager, or complete the poll after this slide to request access to CSC Lien Perfect. Please know that there is no additional fee or subscription fee to use CSC Lien Perfect. Once we've provided you with access, you can immediately begin preparing and submitting your UCC filings. Of course, we want to make sure that your initial experience using our platform is as successful as possible, so we offer multiple forms of support, including chat, phone, and email. We're continuously improving upon our platform, so we encourage any and all feedback, suggestions, and recommendations from our customers.