How to Fill Out and File the Louisiana UCC-1 Financing Statement

A Louisiana UCC-1 financing statement is the one-page form a creditor files to give public notice of a security interest in a debtor’s personal property, and filing it correctly is what preserves the creditor’s priority against later claimants. The standard fee is $30 for one debtor. You can file electronically through the Secretary of State’s UCC portal at uccfilings.sos.la.gov or on paper at any of Louisiana’s 64 parish clerks of court.¹

What to Gather Before You Start

Louisiana law requires only three pieces of information for a valid UCC-1: the debtor’s name, the secured party’s name, and a description of the collateral.² The form asks for more than that, though: mailing addresses, tax identification numbers, entity type, jurisdiction of organization, and filer contact information.

Download the official form from the Secretary of State’s website or pick one up at any parish clerk’s office.³ Using the official Louisiana form or the nationally approved UCC-1 avoids a $15 non-standard form surcharge.

Debtor Information (Boxes 1 and 2)

The debtor’s name is the single most consequential field on the form. A name that doesn’t match the debtor’s exact legal name can render the filing seriously misleading, and a court may treat it as ineffective. Louisiana spells out what counts as the correct name based on the debtor type.⁴

Registered organizations, such as LLCs and corporations, use the exact name on the entity’s most recent public organic record (articles of incorporation or organization filed with the Secretary of State).
Individuals with a current Louisiana driver’s license use the name shown on the license, even if it differs from a birth certificate.
Individuals without a current Louisiana license use their legal name or their surname and first personal name.
Trusts use the trust name if the trust document specifies one; otherwise, use the settlor’s or testator’s name and indicate the collateral is held in trust.

A trade name or DBA is never enough on its own. Filing under “Joe’s Plumbing” when the debtor is “Joseph A. Smith” can strip your priority entirely.⁴

In Box 1, enter the first debtor’s full legal name in either 1a (organization) or 1b (individual), then the mailing address in 1c. For organization debtors, complete the tax ID number (1d), entity type (1e), jurisdiction of organization (1f), and organizational ID number (1g). Box 2 mirrors this layout for a second debtor. For more than two debtors, use the UCC-1Ad Addendum and add $10 per additional debtor name to your fee.⁵

Secured Party Information (Box 3)

Box 3 identifies the creditor. Enter the secured party’s full legal name in 3a (organization) or 3b (individual), and the mailing address in 3c. If you are recording an assignment at the same time, enter the assignee’s name here and file as a “Financing Statement with Assignment,” which costs $35 instead of $30.³

Collateral Description (Box 4)

Box 4 describes the property securing the loan. Louisiana requires that the description “reasonably identify” the collateral, which you can do by specific listing, by category, by UCC-defined type, by quantity, or by any other method that makes the collateral objectively identifiable.⁶ “All Caterpillar excavators bearing serial numbers X, Y, and Z” works. So does a broader “all equipment and inventory.”

On the financing statement itself, a supergeneric description covering “all assets” is permitted. The underlying security agreement between the parties is held to a stricter standard, and “all the debtor’s assets” does not reasonably identify collateral in the security agreement.⁶ Your UCC-1 can say “all assets,” but the security agreement backing it up needs to be more specific. If Box 4 runs out of space, use the UCC-1Ad Addendum and reference it (“See Exhibit A”).⁷

Some collateral types require more specific identification in the security agreement and cannot be described by UCC type alone: life insurance policies, tort claims, judgment interests, beneficial interests in trusts, interests in estates, and collateral mortgage notes.⁶

Fixture, Timber, and Mineral Filings (Box 5)

Most UCC-1 filings involve movable property with no connection to land, and Box 5 stays blank. When the collateral is timber to be cut, minerals to be extracted, or fixtures attached to a building, the filing doubles as a real-property notice and needs more detail. Check the appropriate box in 5a to indicate a fixture filing, as-extracted collateral, or standing timber.⁵

Include a legal description of the real property sufficient to work as a mortgage description so the filing is properly indexed in the parish mortgage records. If the debtor does not have an interest of record in the real property, enter the name of the record owner in Box 5b.² The fee for a fixture or as-extracted collateral filing is $40.³ Use the UCC-1Ad Addendum if the description and owner information won’t fit, and reference it in Box 4 or 5a.

Special Designations and Administrative Fields (Boxes 6–11)

Box 6a covers transmitting utilities and public finance transactions. A transmitting utility filing (a power company, pipeline operator, or similar entity) remains effective until a termination statement is filed rather than lapsing after five years. A public finance transaction filing is effective for 30 years.⁸

Box 6b applies if the debtor is a trust, a trustee acting for trust property, or a decedent’s estate. Box 7 handles alternative transaction types: check the appropriate pair if the arrangement is a lease (lessee/lessor), consignment (consignee/consignor), or bailment rather than a traditional secured loan.

Box 8 takes the filer’s name and phone number for any questions from the filing office. Box 9 is the acknowledgment address where the office sends confirmation, including the unique file number and timestamp. Box 11 lets you request a UCC search report on the debtor at the time of filing for an additional fee.

Where and How to File

Louisiana’s system is unusually flexible. You can submit a UCC-1 to any of the 64 parish clerks of court, regardless of where the debtor lives or where the collateral is kept.⁹ A creditor in Baton Rouge can file at the Orleans Parish clerk’s office without issue.

The fastest route is the Secretary of State’s online portal, which accepts credit card payment.¹ For paper submissions, mail or hand-deliver the completed form to any parish clerk and pay by check or money order.

Filing Fees

Louisiana’s fee schedule builds in a prepaid $5 termination fee, so terminating later costs nothing extra.³

Standard financing statement, one debtor: $30
Financing statement with assignment: $35
Fixture filing or as-extracted collateral: $40
Transmitting utility: $205
Public finance transaction: $105
Each additional debtor name: $10
Each attachment page: $2
Non-standard form surcharge: $15

A UCC-3 amendment or continuation statement costs $25. Termination filings carry no additional charge.¹⁰

Duration, Continuation, and Lapse

A standard UCC-1 is effective for five years from the filing date.⁸ If the obligation outlasts that period, file a UCC-3 continuation statement before the five years expire. The continuation window opens six months before expiration. File too early and it doesn’t count; file too late and the filing lapses.

When a financing statement lapses, the security interest becomes unperfected. Louisiana law then treats the interest as if it had never been perfected against anyone who bought the collateral for value.⁸ A missed continuation deadline can wipe out years of priority. Each timely continuation adds another five years, and you can renew indefinitely.

The continuation must be filed at the same parish clerk’s office as the original. That flexibility to pick any parish does not apply to continuations.⁸

When the Debtor’s Name Changes

If a debtor legally changes name after the UCC-1 is filed, through a corporate amendment, marriage, or court order, the filing can become seriously misleading because searchers looking under the new name won’t find it. Louisiana follows the UCC’s four-month rule: the existing filing continues to cover collateral acquired within four months of the change but stops covering collateral acquired after that window unless the creditor amends with the new name.¹¹

File a UCC-3 amendment updating the name within four months and the original priority carries forward. Wait longer and you’ll need a new UCC-1, with priority resetting to the new filing date for collateral acquired after the four-month window closed.

Terminating the Filing

When the debt is paid off or the secured party no longer claims an interest, file a UCC-3 termination statement. Louisiana collected the $5 termination fee upfront with the original filing, so there is no additional charge.¹⁰

A creditor that fails to file or send a termination statement when required faces real exposure. The debtor can recover actual damages, including increased borrowing costs caused by the lingering lien, plus a $500 statutory penalty per occurrence.¹²

1
Louisiana Secretary of State. File UCC Online
2
Justia. Louisiana Code 10:9-502 – Contents of Financing Statement; Time of Filing Financing Statement
3
Louisiana Secretary of State. Get Forms and Fee Schedule
4
Justia. Louisiana Code 10:9-503 – Name of Debtor and Secured Party
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Louisiana Secretary of State. Louisiana UCC-1 Financing Statement Form
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Justia. Louisiana Code 10:9-108 – Sufficiency of Description
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Louisiana Secretary of State. Instructions for UCC Financing Statement Addendum
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Justia. Louisiana Code 10:9-515 – Duration and Effectiveness of Financing Statement; Effect of Lapsed Financing Statement
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St Landry Parish. Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)
10
Louisiana Secretary of State. Frequently Asked Questions
11
Law.cornell.edu. UCC 9-507 – Effect of Certain Events on Effectiveness of Financing Statement
12
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 10:9-625