Financing Statement (UCC-1)

A financing statement (commonly called a "UCC-1" after the standard form number) is the public record filed by a secured party to give notice of a security interest in the debtor's personal property. Once the security interest has attached, filing perfects it for most types of collateral, and priority among competing secured parties generally dates from the earlier of filing or perfection. Some collateral, such as deposit accounts, can be perfected only by control.

Required contents

Under § 9.502, a financing statement is sufficient only if it provides: (1) the name of the debtor; (2) the name of the secured party (or representative); and (3) an indication of the collateral covered by the financing statement. The collateral description may be specific or by category, including a "supergeneric" description such as "all assets" of the debtor (§ 9.504(2)). That description is not sufficient in the security agreement itself (§ 9.108(c)), and the filing office may refuse a record that lacks mailing addresses for the debtor and secured party (§ 9.516(b)).

Debtor name requirements (§ 9.503)

For an individual with an unexpired Texas driver's license, or an unexpired Texas personal identification card issued in place of one: the name on that license or card. For any other individual: the individual name, or the surname and first personal name. For a registered organization: the name on the public organic record most recently filed with the state of organization that states or amends the name (usually the certificate of formation or a later name amendment). Trade names, abbreviations, and misspellings can render the financing statement seriously misleading and ineffective against third parties.

Filing location

For a debtor located in Texas under § 9.307, the Texas Secretary of State. An individual is located at the individual's principal residence, and a registered organization is located in its state of organization, so a Delaware LLC based in Texas is filed against in Delaware. Fixture filings and filings for as-extracted collateral or timber to be cut go in the county real property records (§ 9.501(a)(1)). Effective August 29, 2025, the Texas SOS no longer accepts paper UCC filings, all filings must be submitted through the SOS online system.

Duration and continuation (§ 9.515)

A financing statement is effective for five years from filing. The secured party may continue effectiveness for additional five-year periods by filing a continuation statement within six months before lapse. If no continuation is filed, the financing statement lapses. The security interest becomes unperfected unless perfected another way, and it is deemed never to have been perfected as against a purchaser of the collateral for value, a term that includes a competing secured party.