The Colorado Secretary of State recently announced that it will soon become the first state to mandate electronic filing of UCC records. The filing office will no longer accept written UCC records after it implements its new UCC filing and search system on May 29, 2012. Beginning on that date, the filing office will accept written records only in narrowly defined hardship cases.
The new UCC system will have the capability to allow all the same actions permitted with written forms. It also allows the filer to submit electronic attachments, including in PDF format.
County real estate recording offices inColoradoare not affected by these changes. Those offices will continue to accept written forms.
Most financial institutions already embrace electronic filing due to the benefits of speed and cost efficiency. However, the legal profession has been slower to adopt electronic filing of UCC records.
The newColoradorules will require legal professionals to become acquainted with the UCC electronic filing process, but there is another reason as well. It is likely that other state-level filing offices will mandate electronic UCC filing in the future as a means of dealing with reduced personnel resources and state budget pressures.