TN Secretary Of State Warns Of New Scam Targeting Tennesseans
Image Credit: TN Secretary of State
Press Release –
Secretary of State Tre Hargett is warning Tennesseans about an official-looking mailer from TN UCC Statement Service that incorrectly implies that businesses or individuals need a copy of the UCC-1 financing statement filed against them.
“Our Division of Business and Charitable Organizations and I were recently made aware of a new misleading mailer trying to take advantage of Tennesseans,” said Secretary Hargett. “The look and language used on this mailer tries to trick borrowers into paying an excessive amount for a document they will most likely never need.”
The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) is a comprehensive set of laws governing sales and other commercial transactions. A UCC-1 financing statement is a legal form that a creditor files to give notice that it has the right to take possession of and sell certain assets belonging to the debtor for the repayment of a specific debt.
UCC-1 financing statements are common in Tennessee, with the Secretary of State’s Division of Business and Charitable Organizations issuing around 200,000 each year.
The scam mailer, Tennessee UCC Statement Request Form, tries to get Tennesseans to pay $107 for the TN UCC Statement Service to request a copy of the UCC-1 financing statement on behalf of the debtor. The mailer implies that the recipient needs a copy of the UCC-1 financing statement. This is rarely the case.
Businesses and individuals that do want a copy of a UCC-1 financing statement can quickly and easily request one directly from the Secretary of State’s office for $15 by phone at 615-741-2286, mail or online at https://tnbear.tn.gov/UCC/Ecommerce/UCCInfoReqInstr.aspx.
“I encourage Tennesseans to be wary of any mailings they get from third-party companies that say they will work with my office on your behalf,” said Secretary Hargett. “These organizations are not affiliated with or authorized by my office in any way. They are charging excessive amounts for something you likely will never need and, if you do, can be easily obtained through our office.”
Secretary Hargett encourages businesses and individuals who receive suspicious mailers about a UCC-1 financing statement to report it to the Division of Business and Charitable Organizations and the Tennessee Attorney General’s office. Contact the Division of Business and Charitable Organizations by phone at 615-741-2286 or email at TNSOS.CERT@tn.gov and the Attorney General’s office by phone at 615-741-3491 or online, www.tn.gov/content/tn/attorneygeneral/working-for-tennessee/consumer/file-a-complaint.html.
This scam is no worse than the scams our own legislators are perpetrating on us. It’s not just the state legislators, our own local governments are scamming us daily. I don’t know the answer to stopping all this but I know the Democrats will be taking over if it’s not stopped. One thing that would help is a legalized state-wide means of recalling any and all legislators. Included in that would be school boards, County Commissions and the like. Too often a politician trades tit for tat to feather his own nest under the pretext of helping his own constituents. Compromise is one thing, selling out is a different matter entirely.
The other keypoint of this Scam Mailer is the Urgency factor. I received the notice on 12-12-22 and the Please Respond By date was 12-22-22. And, I was due to leave the state by the 19th which tightened this Due By date even more for me. I thought this Due By Date odd cuz government docs typically give way more leniency and weeks of notice before a due date. And another thing I thought odd, why would something the government had in it’s permanent filings have any sort of Due Date at all? Like if I contacted them AFTER the Due By date, that I wouldn’t be able to get this ephemeral document? That only government people would be able to see it and I would be out of luck?
Good thing I researched this document and found this post cuz it saved me $107… well actually $16 cuz I feel no need to pay for the real government document anyways… unless someone can come up with a legitimate reason I would need it? It just feels like Red Tape and Paperwork the government needs to unnaturally complicate things and that these Scam Mailer people are capitalizing on to rip people off with. There’s always someone to find the loophole… ;(