Three Good Reasons to Hire a Service Company to Perform Your UCC Searches
UCC, Due Diligence
There is a variety of options available for the web-savvy individual to perform their own UCC searches. Many state and county filing offices now provide a searchable index at low to no cost on their websites and private service companies purchase lien data in bulk to create and maintain their own online search systems. So, why would anyone hire a professional to search for UCCs these days? Herein, we offer three good reasons to hire a service company to perform your UCC searches.
1. Save the Headache
A lot of UCC information is available from various online systems, but getting search results from so many different sources can be a pain. Keeping track of all of the web addresses, logins, passwords, search logic differences, jurisdictional quirks, account balances and search report styles may be more trouble than it’s worth. Working with a service company to coordinate and carry out your UCC search requests streamlines your due diligence process and saves you the headache of having to manage the entire process internally.
2. Save the Heartache
Online search systems vary in their utility since they do not all offer the same features and benefits. For example, some systems include all lien types filed at a given filing office, while others may omit tax lien records and only show UCC information. Some offer broad-based searching features that help you locate similar names and others employ strict exact name search logic. Some online search sources don’t even list an index date to advise how current the lien data is. Search system deficiencies can cause trouble down the road as they make it easy to miss critical liens that could jeopardize your ability to collect on a bad debt.
3. Save some Money
In many cases, hiring a service company can actually save you money! Service companies are searching and jurisdictional experts so they have identified the most cost effective methods for performing lien searches. And because they conduct UCC searches in volume, they can negotiate reduced rates with vendors and combine requests in order to qualify for multi-name discounts which can then be passed on to you. Finally, service companies are adept at using broad-based name searching techniques to maximize results. An experienced searcher can combine similar names using a single search string while a novice searcher may need to perform multiple searches to get their desired results.
If you find that performing your own UCC searches is becoming a chore, save the headache, save the heartache and save a little money by trying a service company!