How to Fill Out and File a Texas UCC-1 Financing Statement

A Texas UCC-1 financing statement is the document a creditor files to put the public on notice of a security interest in a debtor’s personal property. You file it electronically through the Texas Secretary of State’s SOS Portal for a $5 fee; paper filings have not been accepted since August 29, 2025.¹ Once accepted, the filing lasts five years, fixes your priority against later claimants to the same collateral, and appears in the state’s searchable database.

Where the Filing Goes

Most UCC-1 filings in Texas go to the Secretary of State, which is the central filing office for financing statements.² The exception is fixture filings, along with filings on timber to be cut and as-extracted collateral like minerals. Those go to the county office that records real property mortgages in the county where the real property sits.³ If your collateral will become a fixture but you choose not to make a fixture filing, a standard filing with the Secretary of State still perfects your interest; you just lose priority against a later real property interest.

Before filing in Texas at all, confirm Texas is the correct state under Article 9’s location rules. An individual debtor is located at their principal residence. A registered organization such as a corporation or LLC is located in the state where it was organized. A non-registered organization with more than one office is located at its chief executive office.⁴ You file in the debtor’s state, not yours. A Texas lender financing a Delaware LLC files in Delaware, even if every piece of collateral sits in Texas.

Filling Out the Form

The prescribed form is the national standard UCC Financing Statement (Form UCC1) published by the International Association of Commercial Administrators. It is available on the Secretary of State’s UCC Forms page.⁵ Even though you submit electronically, working from the paper form helps you organize the data before you enter it in the portal. Four fields carry almost all the legal risk.

Debtor Name (Field 1)

A financing statement is legally sufficient only if it provides the debtor’s name, the secured party’s name, and a description of the collateral.⁶ Of the three, the debtor’s name causes the most problems. The name must match the debtor’s exact legal name closely enough that a searcher using the state’s standard search logic will find it. A minor misspelling or the wrong entity suffix can make the filing “seriously misleading,” which effectively means it does not exist.

For an individual debtor, enter the name exactly as it appears on the debtor’s current unexpired driver’s license or state-issued ID card. If the debtor has no such ID from any state, use the debtor’s legal surname and first personal name. For a registered organization, use the exact name on file in the state where it was formed, not a trade name, DBA, or shortened version. Enter only one debtor in Field 1; the instructions direct you to complete either the organization line (1a) or the individual line (1b), never both.⁷

Additional Debtor (Field 2)

If the transaction involves more than one debtor, such as co-borrowers or a guarantor whose assets also secure the loan, enter the second debtor in Field 2 using the same naming rules. Any additional debtor beyond two requires a separate UCC1Ad addendum.⁷

Secured Party (Field 3)

Enter the name and mailing address of the creditor whose interest the filing protects. If the rights have already been assigned by the time of filing, enter the assignee here instead. Whoever appears in Field 3 becomes the secured party of record, and only that party or someone the party authorizes can later file amendments, continuations, or terminations.⁷

Collateral Description (Field 4)

Describe the personal property covered by the security interest. The description can be broad, such as “all inventory,” “all equipment,” or “all assets,” as long as a reasonable reader can identify the types of property covered. Overly vague language risks a court finding the description inadequate; overly narrow language may leave some intended collateral unperfected. Many commercial lenders pair an “all assets” clause with specific categories like accounts, chattel paper, equipment, general intangibles, and inventory.

Extra Content for Fixture Filings

A fixture filing needs more than a standard UCC-1. It must indicate that it covers fixture collateral, state that it is to be filed in the real property records, include a legal description of the property adequate for constructive notice of a mortgage, and, if the debtor does not have an interest of record in the property, name the record owner.⁶ Fixture filings go to the county clerk where the real property sits, not the Secretary of State.³

Submitting Through the SOS Portal

All UCC filings with the Secretary of State go through the SOS Portal, which replaced SOSDirect. Create an account first, then work through the guided prompts for debtor and secured party information, the collateral description, and any addenda.⁸ The portal validates certain required fields as you go, which catches some errors before submission, but it cannot tell you that you spelled a debtor’s name wrong.

The fee for a standard UCC-1 is $5.¹ After the office accepts the filing, you receive an acknowledgment showing the file number, date, and time of acceptance. That timestamp fixes your priority against other creditors who file against the same debtor. Acceptance is not a stamp of legal approval, though. The office does not review your filing for legal sufficiency; a filing that clears every administrative check can still be found seriously misleading later and stripped of effect.

Why the Office Will Reject a Filing

The Secretary of State will refuse a filing on specific administrative grounds under Section 9.516 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code.⁹ A refused filing is treated as if it was never submitted, leaving your security interest unperfected. The most common grounds:

No debtor name, or an individual debtor’s surname is not separately identifiable.
No mailing address for a newly added debtor.
No name or mailing address for the secured party of record.
Payment less than the applicable fee.
Submission through a method the office does not accept, which now means anything other than the SOS Portal.
A form other than the IACA industry standard or one otherwise approved by the Secretary of State.¹⁰
Information the office cannot read; illegibility counts as not providing the information.
The same person named as both debtor and secured party. The office refuses these under a longstanding Attorney General opinion aimed at fraudulent filings.¹⁰

Searching Before You File

Before you file, search the Secretary of State’s UCC database to see what liens are already recorded against the debtor. This shows whether the collateral is already encumbered and where your filing would rank. Searches run through the SOS Portal and cost $1 each, payable whether or not the search returns records.¹¹

Specify whether you are looking for an individual or organizational debtor, and enter the name exactly as it would appear on a filing. Results depend on the state’s matching algorithm, so a slight name variation can hide an existing filing. Running the search under a few reasonable variations of the debtor’s name is a sensible safeguard.

How Long the Filing Lasts

A standard UCC-1 is effective for five years from the date of filing. If you do nothing before the five-year mark, the filing lapses. A lapsed filing ceases to be effective entirely, and the security interest it perfected becomes unperfected. Against purchasers of the collateral for value, the lapse is retroactive: your interest is treated as if it had never been perfected.¹²

To keep the filing alive, file a continuation (Form UCC-3) during the six-month window before the five-year expiration. A continuation filed before that window opens has no effect, and a continuation filed after the lapse is too late. Each timely continuation adds another five years, with no cap on the number of continuations.

Amendments, Assignments, and Terminations

Changes after the initial filing go on Form UCC-3, the Financing Statement Amendment. One form covers several actions; you check the one that applies. The fee is $5, same as the initial filing.¹

Continuation, extending the filing for another five years, filed during the six-month pre-lapse window.
Assignment, transferring some or all of the secured party’s rights to a new party.
Party information change, updating a name or address, adding a new party, or removing one. If a debtor’s legal name changes, the filing may become seriously misleading unless you amend within four months.
Collateral change, whether adding, removing, or restating the description.
Termination, ending the effectiveness of the financing statement.

When a secured debt is fully paid, the secured party must file a termination statement, or send one to the debtor for filing, within 20 days of receiving a signed demand from the debtor. For consumer goods, meaning property bought primarily for personal, family, or household use, the secured party has to file the termination without waiting for a demand. Failing to file a required termination can expose the secured party to liability.

Purchase Money Security Interest Timing

A purchase money security interest arises when a lender finances the debtor’s acquisition of specific collateral, or when a seller retains a security interest in goods sold on credit. A PMSI can achieve super-priority over an earlier-filed security interest in the same type of collateral, but only if you hit strict timing and notice requirements.

For collateral other than inventory and livestock, the PMSI must be perfected by filing no later than 20 days after the debtor takes possession. That grace period lets you file shortly after delivery and still outrank a creditor who filed an “all assets” statement years earlier.¹³

Inventory is harder. To get PMSI priority in inventory you must perfect before the debtor receives the goods; the 20-day grace period does not apply. You also have to send an authenticated written notice to every holder of a conflicting security interest already filed against the same type of inventory. The notice must state that you have or expect to acquire a PMSI and describe the inventory, and the other secured party must receive it before the debtor takes possession.¹³ Miss any step and the PMSI collapses into an ordinary security interest, ranking behind the earlier filer.

1
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Uniform Commercial Code – Fees
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Office of the Texas Secretary of State. About the Uniform Commercial Code
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Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Information on the Texas Business and Commerce Code
4
Legal Information Institute. Section 9-307 Location of Debtor
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Office of the Texas Secretary of State. UCC Forms
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Justia Law. Texas Business and Commerce Code Section 9.502 – Contents of Financing Statement
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Texas Secretary of State. Instructions for UCC Financing Statement Form UCC1
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Office of the Texas Secretary of State. UCC Filing How-To Guides
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State of Texas. Texas Business and Commerce Code Section 9.516 – What Constitutes Filing
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Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Uniform Commercial Code Section Reasons for Refusal
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Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Frequently Asked Questions
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Legal Information Institute. Section 9-515 Duration and Effectiveness of Financing Statement
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Cornell Law School. Section 9-324 Priority of Purchase-Money Security Interests