Using UCC data for marketing: what's allowed
UCC filings are public, but how you use them still has rules. FCRA, calling and email rules, and why to leave individuals out.
By Ayman Tai, Founder, UCC Scout · Updated September 26, 2026 · Colorado figures as of November 11, 2026
UCC filings are public records, and using them to find businesses to market to is long-standing practice in commercial lending. Public doesn't mean unregulated, though. These are the rules that matter. This is general information, not legal advice; talk to your counsel about your program.
Keep it to businesses
Many UCC filings name people: sole proprietors, consumer solar customers, individuals who signed personal guarantees. Leave them out. Marketing consumer credit to individuals brings in consumer-protection law that business lending doesn't, and it's not your market anyway. UCC Scout flags any debtor that looks like a person and never shows, exports or sends it.
It's a prospecting list, not a credit report
The Fair Credit Reporting Act governs consumer reports used for credit, employment, insurance and housing decisions about individuals. Use UCC-derived data to decide whom to call, not whether to approve anyone. Pull a proper credit report for underwriting.
Calling
- The TCPA restricts autodialed or prerecorded calls and texts to mobile numbers without consent, business or not. Many small-business numbers are owners' cell phones. Dial by hand, and don't text without consent.
- The national Do Not Call registry protects residential numbers; business-to-business calls are largely exempt from the Telemarketing Sales Rule, but a sole proprietor's home or cell number may be listed. Scrub against it.
- State rules vary; some add calling-hour limits or registration for telemarketers.
CAN-SPAM applies to business email: accurate headers and subject lines, a physical address, a working unsubscribe honored within ten business days. Keep emails specific and useful and you'll get fewer complaints anyway.
Accuracy
A filing shows a lien, not a loan balance. Don't tell a business its loan is ending; ask. “Your filing with Cat Financial is from 2022; is that machine close to paid off?” is both accurate and a better opener.
More on the conversation itself in calling a business whose loan is ending.