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General Information

About the UCC Division

The Uniform Commercial Code Division is the central filing office for the perfection of personal property liens.  These liens are perfected by filing a UCC-1 Financing Statement showing the name and address of the debtor and the secured party along with a description of the collateral.  These financing statements are effective for five years and may be continued for an additional five years.  Information on these filings, either by a listing or copies, is provided to any requesting party.

Each year, the U.C.C. Division receives more than 135,000 filings and fulfills 30,000 requests for filing information.

In July 2001, new laws affecting property liens went into effect and implemented the provisions of Revised Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code.  Soon thereafter, electronic resources were introduced for filing and researching UCC items online.

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UCC Fee Schedule

The filing fee for initial financing statements, amendments, assignments, continuations and terminations are $17.00 plus $1.00 per page.  Search requests are $27.00 plus $1.00 per page for copies.

Electronic online filings are only $10.00 per filing. Click here to view the entire fee schedule.

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Filings in the Recorder of Deeds Offices

Recorders of Deeds (the local county offices) only accept UCC filings for fixtures, standing timber and as-extracted collateral filings.  These real estate-related filings will be recorded in the real estate records at the county level.

All UCC filings that were effective in the Recorder of Deeds Offices on June 30, 2001 remain effective until their five-year duration expires.  Though terminations may still be filed at the local county office, all other filings, except real estate matters, must be filed with the Secretary of State.

Certain filings impacting existing filings on record at the county level may need to be made.  An original UCC-1 “In Lieu of Continuation” form must be filed with the Secretary of State for the following items:

  1. Amendment of an existing filing;
  2. Release of collateral;
  3. Assignment of secured party rights; or
  4. Continuation prior to standard expiration date.

This UCC-1 “In Lieu of Continuation”, along with copies of the original financing statement and all other related documents, including the last continuation on file with the local county office, should be submitted to the Secretary of State.  Upon receipt by the Secretary of State, the UCC-1 will be continued for five years from the date of filing.

Because local county filings made before July 1, 2001 remain effective, and because many of those filings remain unchanged over their five-year life spans, Recorder of Deeds Offices will continue to provide access to their UCC records for searches until June 30, 2006.  The fee for UCC searches in the local county offices should remain the same as they were prior to the new law.

Persons performing UCC searches should consider and determine whether they will need to continue performing searches at both the local and state level during this five-year transition period.

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New Filings in the State – Where to File

UCC filings should be made in the state where the debtor is located.  Filings where the debtor is a registered entity such as a corporation are to be filed in the state where the entity is organized.  Filings for a non-registered entity are to be filed in the state where the entity's chief executive office is located.

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UCC Forms

Missouri 's UCC forms are required to be in the format approved by the International Association of Corporate Administrators (Section 400.9-521, RSMo). Click here to view the available forms that can be downloaded for ease of processing.

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