First Corporate Solutions Blog | UCC, Corporate, Lien, Litigation, Title | Search, Filing, Monitoring » Uncategorized

Coming Soon: Updated Website with New UCC & Corporate Risk Management Resources

First Corporate Solutions Team — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:10:44 +0000

Sneak Preview of First Corporate Solutions' New Website & Free Educational Resources

First Corporate Solutions is excited to announce that we are launching a brand new website on Monday, March 14, 2011. Visit us at www.ficoso.com to see the sleek new look and expanded resources.

The new site includes:

Reference library with 40+ FREE educational downloads
2011 Webinar and Live Appearance Schedules
Knowledge Center – a one-stop-shop for educational resources on due diligence and risk management

Next week, we will resume or blog series on the Three Phases of Due Diligence with a discussion of pre-funding due diligence search efforts.

Happy Holidays from First Corporate Solutions

First Corporate Solutions Team — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 00:29:12 +0000

We express our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for your contributions to our success this year.Best wishes to you and your family for a joyous holiday season and a happy new year.

Please note, in celebration of the holiday our offices will be closed December 24, 2010.

Be sure to check back next week for the final installment of the Evaluating State UCC Search Options blog series where we discuss the drawbacks of a proprietary database search!

Secured Party is Responsible for Accuracy and Completeness of a UCC Financing Statement

First Corporate Solutions Team — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 23:41:47 +0000

Financing Statements are filed as a means to protect a creditor’s investment and give them a mechanism to collect should the debtor default. However, a filed UCC Financing Statement is not necessarily enough. To provide priority protection for the creditor, a UCC1 must be properly filed in accordance with the Uniform Commercial Code (The Code) and the specific rules of the jurisdiction’s filing office. Since only a properly filed UCC will perfect a security interest, it can raise the question of responsibility. Essentially, who is responsible for making sure a UCC document is properly filed?

According to The Code, the filing officer’s duties are to be strictly administrative in nature. A document that is presented for filing must only satisfy a set of minimum requirements to be acceptable for filing. In many states, a filing need only list a debtor name and address, a secured party name and address and include a collateral statement.

Many UCC filers operate under the misapprehension that the filing officer will “catch” their mistakes reject a document that threatens to leave them unperfected. In truth, if the minimum statutory requirements are met and the correct filing fee accompanies the document, the filing officer is directed to file it into the public record.

When filing UCCs, please always keep in mind that it is not up to the filing officer to verify any of the information on the document; the burden for getting the information right falls to the Secured Party.

*Disclaimer

Expected Delay in Delaware SOS on 3/26/10

First Corporate Solutions Team — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:03:05 +0000

On Friday, March 26th, the Delaware Secretary of State will be holding an employee recognition lunch. If you’re wondering how this affects you, some of the filing cutoff times will change since the night staff will be working earlier hours that day.

Cutoff for half-hour and one-hour service will be 6pm, and cutoff for two-hour service will be 5pm. All other cutoff times will remain unchanged, and DCIS will be available for normal processing until 10:30pm that day.

“Become a Facebook Fan” Contest Winner Announced!

First Corporate Solutions Team — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:21:46 +0000

As our readers know, in 2009, First Corporate Solutions (FCS) became active on several social networking sites.

In addition to here on the blog, you can find FCS on:

Facebook

Become a fan on our Facebook page to track our trade show appearances and read insider industry tips on searching, filing and more!

Learn more about First Corporate Solutions by visiting our official company page

Twitter

Follow FCS on Twitter to receive the latest news on holiday schedules, filing office closures, jurisdictional delays, new legislation and other important changes that could affect your business.

In January, First Corporate Solutions sponsored a contest to encourage customers to become a fan on our Facebook page. Anyone who became a fan during the month of January was automatically entered into a drawing to win a fabulous prize!

We are excited to announce that we have drawn the winning name.

And the winner is…

Vincent Pitts from United Pacific Bank!

Congratulations to Vincent and thank you to everyone who participated!

The contest may be over, but you can still become a fan to receive the latest news and tips from First Corporate Solutions.

First Corporate Solutions introduces new results reports, enhances client communication

First Corporate Solutions Team — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:32:37 +0000

First Corporate Solutions (FCS) began circulating newly designed customer results reports last week. The enhanced reports feature a sleek new look and more in depth reporting of findings.

The updated report style is designed to communicate public records findings to our lending, legal and wholesale customers with improved clarity while maintaining the accuracy and integrity customers have come to expect from FCS.

Each new report contains a service recap followed by a results section with a comprehensive listing of findings. The expanded results portion now includes detailed party and lien information in an intuitive, logical layout.

FCS believes that results reports are one of the primary ways a service company communicates with its customers.

Bearing that in mind, we invested a lot of time creating the new reports to be complete and accurate as well as visually pleasing.

If you are our existing clients, feel free to leave us a comment and let us know if you like the new report style.

Top 10 Things to Look for in a Title Search Company

First Corporate Solutions Team — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:46:23 +0000

Creating a title report is a complex and detailed process. It requires experience and industry expertise to craft a comprehensive report that you can trust to assist you in making decisions.

Reliability

1. Does your search company keep their word? Do you get your reports when promised?

2. Do they have errors & omissions insurance?

3. How often do they communicate with you? If your work will be delayed, do they tell you before it is due, or when it is already late?

4. How long has your search company been in business? First Corporate Solutions has been around since 1987.

Quality

5. Is your search company knowledgeable about title norms and customs?

6. Do they have a detailed understanding of title documents?

7. Do they read and understand all legal descriptions? Most searchers rely on addresses or parcel numbers instead of carefully reviewing the legal description. This practice can lead to incomplete and inaccurate reporting.

Coverage

8. Does your search company cover the entire country?

9. Do they offer the full spectrum of public records research or title services only?

10. Finally, is your search company’s goal simply to sell you title reports?

First Corporate Solutions works with our customers to first understand their needs, then create a customized report that satisfies them.

*Disclaimer

New Massachusetts LP and LLC Regulations

First Corporate Solutions Team — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:53:01 +0000

As of October 30th, 2009, Massachusetts has approved new regulations pertaining to Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies. Copies of these regulations can be found here: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/COR/cornotice.htm

One of the perks: in the past, if you were merging a MA LLC and a MC Corp., you had to provide both a filing for the Corp as well as a filing for the LLC; according to the new regulations, now you only have to submit one filing (the fees remain the same as they were for both filings, so no break there).

Another nice change is that you will no longer be required to provide two originals for MA Limited Partnership filings when filing over the counter; one will suffice (e-filing will remain the same as there are no originals required). The MA SOS will also now begin issuing LP Good Standing certificates, which will list the LP’s general partners. This new, long-awaited certificate will replace the Long Legal Listing General Partners.

For a complete list of changes and updates, visit the URL above.

* Disclaimer

Common Mistakes on Filing UCC3 Change Statements

First Corporate Solutions Team — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 23:23:27 +0000

In a previous blog post, we discussed common errors on UCC1 Financing Statements. Here, we will focus on preventing common errors on UCC3 Change Statement filings. In order to fend of challenges to their priority position, UCC filers must keep their filing information accurate and up-to-date. This is accomplished by filing the appropriate UCC3 Statement.

There are five types of UCC3 Filings:

Continuations extend the term for a Financing Statement by an additional five years
Party Amendments add, delete or change debtor or secured party information
Collateral Amendments add, delete or restate collateral covered by the statement
Assignments convey rights in collateral to another secured party
Terminations cancel effectiveness of a filing prior to its lapse date

Here are a few common mistakes to watch for when filing UCC3 Change Statements:

Multipurpose Filings: most jurisdictions will not accept a UCC3 that includes multiple transactions on a single form. For example, if an original UCC1 filing needs to be continued and amended to include an additional debtor address, these changes must be submitted to the filing office via independent UCC3 Change Statement forms.
Incorrect Original Filing Information: a UCC3 must list the correct filing number and file date from the original UCC1 Financing Statement, even if the document has since been amended or continued. Note that many filing offices have strict rules about the formatting of file numbers. Be sure to list the filing number exactly as it is shown on the filed UCC1 including any spaces, hyphens etc.
Untimely Continuations: continuations can only be filed within six months of a Financing Statement’s lapse date and filing offices will reject a document that is submitted prematurely. Please see our previous blog post for more detailed information on when to file continuation statements.

Lastly, consider partnering with a service company that offers a web-based UCC filing and portfolio management system. Many have form-filler tools that pull information directly from filed UCC data to facilitate easy filing of error free UCC3 Change Statements.

* Disclaimer