File and terminate a lien

Middesk’s Lien Filing service enables you to file UCC liens with state authorities and terminate existing liens programmatically. This capability is essential for lenders, financing companies, and creditors who need to secure their interests in business assets or release those interests when obligations are satisfied.

Filing a UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) lien establishes a legal claim against a debtor’s assets as collateral for a loan or other financial obligation. This public record:

Secures your interest in business assets
Establishes priority among creditors
Provides legal protection for your financial interests
Creates a public record of the security agreement

When the debt is satisfied or the security interest is no longer needed, you can file a termination to release the lien and clear the debtor’s record.

Understand lien status

Liens and terminations progress through different states during the filing process:

Lien filing statuses

Status	Description	When it occurs
`created`	Lien request has been created	When you submit the filing request
`pending`	Middesk is processing the filing	When Middesk begins fulfillment
`filed`	Filing has been submitted to the state	After state submission
`open`	Filing has been reflected in state records	After Lien Reflection confirms the filing (if enabled)

Termination statuses

Status	Description	When it occurs
`created`	Termination request has been created	When you submit the termination
`pending`	Middesk is processing the termination	When Middesk begins fulfillment
`completed`	Termination has been filed with the state	After successful state submission

Once a termination is completed, the associated lien status changes to closed.

How to file a lien

Filing a lien is a straightforward process that involves submitting debtor and secured party information to Middesk. But you must first create the business in your Middesk account, which triggers the business verification process.

Create a business

Create the business in Middesk, if it doesn’t already exist. You can do this in the Dashboard or through the API.

$ curl -X POST https://api-sandbox.middesk.com/v1/businesses \
>   -u <YOUR_API_KEY>: \
>   -H "Accept: application/json" \
>   --data '{
>     "name": "Example Business Inc",
>     "addresses": [
>       {
>         "address_line1": "123 Main Street",
>         "city": "San Francisco",
>         "state": "CA",
>         "postal_code": "94105"
>       }
>     ],
>     "tin": {
>       "number": "123456789"
>     }
>   }'

The response includes a business_id that you’ll use to order the liens filing:

1 {
2   "id": "2c6bcf81-21c8-4f71-b6c0-1e738338dadf",
3   "object": "business",
4   "name": "Example Business Inc",
5   "status": "pending",
6   ...
7 }

Prepare the lien filing data

Before filing, gather the required information:

Debtor information, business or individual owing the debt (name, address)
Secured party information, your organization’s details as the creditor
Collateral description, description of assets securing the debt
Loan details, principal amount and terms
State-specific requirements, additional fields based on filing jurisdiction

File the lien

Once the business is verified and approved in your Middesk account, submit the lien filing using the Dashboard or a create a lien API call.

Required parameters:

debtors, array of debtor objects with name and address information.
secured_parties, array of creditor objects with contact details (Only required if you would like to override the default secured parties set on your account.)
collateral, description of the collateral. If not provided, Middesk will use the default collateral description for your account. Maximum 10,000 characters.
loan_principal_amount_cents, principal amount in cents.
state, two-letter state code where the lien will be filed.

Each debtor object should include at most one address. State-specific limits apply to the number of debtors per filing.

$ curl --X POST https://api.middesk.com/v1/businesses/{business_id}/liens \
>   -u <YOUR_API_KEY>: \
>   -H "Accept: application/json" \
>   --data '{
>     "debtors": [
>       {
>         "name": "Example Business Inc",
>         "addresses": [
>           {
>             "address_line1": "123 Main Street",
>             "city": "San Francisco",
>             "state": "CA",
>             "postal_code": "94105"
>           }
>         ]
>       }
>     ],
>     "secured_parties": [
>       {
>         "name": "First National Bank",
>         "addresses": [
>           {
>             "address_line1": "456 Bank Street",
>             "city": "San Francisco",
>             "state": "CA",
>             "postal_code": "94104"
>           }
>         ],
>         "email": "liens@firstnationalbank.com"
>       }
>     ],
>     "collateral": {
>       "description": "All inventory, equipment, and accounts receivable",
>       "type": "Blanket"
>     },
>     "loan_principal_amount_cents": 50000000,
>     "state": "CA"
>   }'

How to terminate a lien

When a debt is satisfied or you need to release your security interest, you can file a termination to close the lien.

Verify lien eligibility

Before terminating a lien, ensure it has one of these statuses:

open, the lien is active and reflected in state records
filed, the lien has been filed but not yet reflected
unknown, the lien status cannot be determined

You cannot terminate liens with status created, pending, or closed.

Submit the termination request

Terminate a lien using the Dashboard or a create a termination for a lien API call:

$ curl POST https://api.middesk.com/v1/liens/{lien_id}/termination \
>   -u <YOUR_API_KEY>: \
>   -H "Accept: application/json" \

State-specific requirements

Different states have varying requirements for lien filings.

Debtor limits by state

State code	Maximum debtors
OR	20
MN	25
OK	8
GA	8
NH	100

New York entity type requirement

When filing liens in New York, you must include an entity_type parameter with one of these values:

CORPORATION
LLC
NON_PROFIT
SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP
PARTNERSHIP
TRUST
AGENT

Tennessee no tax liability designation

For filings in Tennessee, if your Middesk account is configured to file with an alternative designation for no tax liability, the submission must include loan_principal_amount_cents of 0.

Understand collateral types

When filing a lien, you must specify the collateral type:

Type	Description	When to use
`Blanket`	All-assets lien covering all business property	General security interests, broad collateral coverage
`Collateral`	Specific assets or property types	Targeted security interests in particular assets
`Unknown`	Collateral type cannot be determined	Rare cases where classification is unclear

Get a demo

Contact your account manager or contact sales to inquire about access.