UCC and equipment finance glossary
Plain-English definitions of UCC-1, UCC-3, secured party, debtor, lapse date, continuation, blanket lien, captive finance and more.
By Ayman Tai, Founder, UCC Scout · Updated September 26, 2026 · Colorado figures as of November 12, 2026
Plain-English definitions of the terms that come up when you read UCC filings or talk equipment finance.
UCC-1 (financing statement)
The public notice a secured party files to perfect a security interest in a debtor's personal property. Names the debtor, the secured party and the collateral.
UCC-3
The form for changing a filed UCC-1: continuation, termination, assignment, or an amendment to parties or collateral.
Secured party
The lender, lessor or other creditor that holds the security interest and files the financing statement.
Debtor
The business (or person) whose property is the collateral. On a UCC filing, the borrower or lessee.
Collateral
The property securing the obligation: a machine, a fleet, inventory, accounts, or all assets.
Security interest
A creditor's interest in personal property that secures payment of a debt, created by a security agreement.
Perfection
The step, usually filing a UCC-1, that makes a security interest effective against other creditors and a bankruptcy trustee.
Lapse date
The date a financing statement stops being effective: five years after filing unless continued.
Continuation
A UCC-3 that extends a financing statement for five more years from its lapse date. Only effective if filed in the six months before lapse.
Termination
A UCC-3 that ends a financing statement's effectiveness, usually filed after the debt is paid.
Blanket lien
A security interest in all or nearly all of a business's assets, often securing a bank line of credit, SBA loan or merchant cash advance.
Purchase-money security interest (PMSI)
A security interest taken by the lender that financed the purchase of the collateral. Filed on time, it has priority over earlier blanket liens on that equipment (UCC 9-324).
Captive finance
A finance company owned by an equipment manufacturer, like Caterpillar Financial or John Deere Financial, that finances the maker's products through its dealers.
Independent lessor
An equipment finance company not owned by a bank or manufacturer, such as Navitas or LEAF.
True lease
A lease where the lessor keeps real ownership. Lessors file a precautionary UCC-1 anyway, often marked 'information filing only'.
Filing agent
A service company such as CSC or CT Corporation that files UCC documents for lenders, sometimes as the named secured party.
Lien search
A search of the UCC index for filings against a debtor name, done before lending to see what's already pledged.
Put them to work with the Colorado UCC lookup, or start with what a UCC-1 filing is.