Revised Article 9 UCC Non-Standard Search

Welcome to the UCC index search. This service is offered free-of-charge, 24 hours a day and is updated as filings are made on the system.  The database includes the complete UCC index of the Secretary of State.

The UCC index can be searched by the name of the debtor or by the file number.

For filings made before June 29, 2001, there was no requirement that the exact legal organization or individual name be used in the filing. Therefore, a Non-Standard search may be necessary to discover the name used on a particular filing.

Click here to go to the Standard Search page.

If data is entered in more than one section of the above form, the filing number will be given first priority, then the organization name, then the individual name.

The new Kentucky UCC law, Revised Article 9, took effect July 1, 2001. RA9 provides for only one type of search, the Standard Search, which matches the complete organization name, or matches a complete individual name, using the standard search logic. This type of search would be certified, if it was done by the Secretary of State's UCC division. On the standard search page, any percent (%) characters entered are removed before the database is searched.

Kentucky allows an additional Non-standard search which allows partial matches on the name. Use the percent (%) character as a wildcard character to match anything; for example, entering bluegrass% in the organization name field will find all debtor organizations whose name begins with "bluegrass", and entering %bluegrass% will find all organizations whose name contains "bluegrass" anywhere within the name. On the non-standard search page, the percent character is automatically added to the end of any name field entered. This type of search, which is outside the search rules of RA9, would not be certified if done by the Secretary of State.

A copy of the data from the Kentucky Lien Information System, which was maintained from January 4, 1999 through July 13, 2000, can be obtained by contacting the Information Technology section of the Secretary of State's office.

Standard Search Logic

The following rules apply to standardized searches. They are taken from the Secretary of State's administrative regulations.

(1) There is no limit to the number of matches that may be returned in response to the search criteria.

(2) No distinction is made between upper and lower case letters.

(3) Punctuation marks and accents are disregarded. the character '&' is treated as an alphabetic character.

(4) Words and abbreviations at the end of a name that indicate the existence or nature of an organization are disregarded.

(5) The word "the" at the beginning of the search criteria is disregarded.

(6) All spaces are disregarded.

(7) For first and middle names of individuals, initials are treated as the logical equivalent of all names that begin with such initials, and first names and no middle name or initial is equated with all middle names and initials.

(8) After using the preceding rules to modify the name to be searched the search shall reveal only names of debtors that are contained in active financing statements and exactly match the name requested, as modified.

Changes to file number

RA9 has required changes to the format of filing numbers used for documents filed with the Secretary of State. Documents filed with us before June 29, 2001 were given a 4- to 7-digit numeric filing number. RA9 requires the file number to consist of a 4-digit year, followed by a 7-digit filing number, followed by a 2-digit check digit number. Previous filings have had their numbers modified to comply with the new requirements, by making the previous filing number into a 7-digit number by adding leading zeroes, and by assigning the special check digit sequence 00. For example, the existing filing 2365, filed originally in 1972, has had its filing number  changed to 1972-0002365-00. New filings made on or after June 29 have been assigned a file number in the new format.