Section 1-5 - Search Requests and Reports (a) General Requirements. - (i) The filing officer maintains a searchable index for all UCC records. The index shall provide for the retrieval of a record by the name of the debtor and by the file number of the initial financing statement and each filed UCC record relating to the initial financing statement.
- (ii) Search requests presented to the Secretary of State's Office shall be in written form which includes hard copy or electronic.
- (iii) Search requests shall contain the full name of the debtor to be searched and the request must specify whether the debtor is an individual debtor name or an organization debtor name.
(b) Rules Applied to Certified Search Requests. - (i) Certified search results are produced by the application of standardized search logic. Human judgment does not play a role in determining the results of the search. The following logic apply to certified searches:
- (A) There is no limit to the number of matches that may be returned in response to the search criteria.
- (B) No distinction is made between upper and lower case letters.
- (C) Punctuation marks and accents are disregarded.
- (E) The word "the" at the beginning of the search criteria is disregarded.
- (F) All spaces are disregarded.
- (G) For first and middle names of individuals, initials are treated as the logical equivalent of all names that begin with such initials.
- (I) Example: a search request for John A. Smith would cause the search to retrieve all filings against all individual debtor names with "John" as the first name, "Smith" as the last name, and the initial "A" or any name beginning with "A" in the middle name field.
- (II) Example: a search request for J. A. Smith would cause the search to retrieve all filings against all individual debtor names with the initial "J"" as the first name or any first name beginning with "J;" "Smith" as the last name; and the initial "A" or any name beginning with "A" in the middle name field.
- (H) First name and no middle name or initial is equated with all middle names and initials.
- (I) Example: a search request for "John Smith" (first and last names with no designation in the middle name field) would cause the search to retrieve all filings against individual debtor names with "John" as the first name; "Smith" as the last name and with any name or initial or no name or initial in the middle name field.
(c) Certified Search Request Responses. - (i) Results of certified search requests shall include:
- (A) The certification of the filing office;
- (B) Identification of the filing officer;
- (C) The typed name of the filing officer in lieu of a signature;
- (D) The date and time the report was generated;
- (E) Identification of the name searched;
- (F) The certification date and time for which the search is effective;
- (G) Identification of each unlapsed initial financing statement filed on or prior to the certification date and time corresponding to the search criteria; and
- (H) If requested, copies of all UCC records revealed by the search.