DECEMBER 19, 2005

Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land today announced that half of all the Department of State’s Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) transactions are completed online, making it an extremely popular service. The UCC law governs commercial transactions such as sales, negotiable instruments, bank deposits and collections, and investments and securities.

"UCC Online is proof that online services are catching on because of their straightforward functionality and around-the-clock availability," said Land, whose commitment to enhancing efficiency and customer convenience through the greater use of technology is a central focus of her administration. "The beauty of UCC Online is that financial statements can be processed at any time – even on weekends and holidays. Users are no longer dependent on the constraints of a 9-to-5 workday world."

In fiscal year 2005, the department’s UCC Unit processed a total of 183,863 financing statements and 80,021 search requests. The Unit processes about 1,200 total transactions daily, with roughly half of those submitted and completed online. About 3,500 customers access UCC Online and the number of registered users continues to grow.

UCC Online has made life easier for customers and employees. Prior to its introduction, mail and fax machines, as well as a great deal of manual labor and time, were required to process the hundreds of thousands of debtor name searches and financial filings submitted annually.

The online system processes and retrieves information electronically, eliminating the need to send paper documents through the mail. Acknowledgement copies confirming entry of customer filings are generated automatically and e-mailed by the system. Filings are immediately included in the UCC database used to generate searches for named debtors.

The online application also provides customers with the option of conducting a debtor name "quick search" of its database at no charge. The search enables customers to verify that a name is in the database – and test for variant spellings. This cost-effective and timesaving measure helps customers accurately structure any further searches or filings so that they request and receive exactly what they need.

For more information about UCC Online, visit the department’s Web site at www.Michigan.gov/sos or contact the UCC Unit at (517) 322-1144.