Washington Administrative Code › Title 308 - Licensing, Department of (See also Titles 36, 98 and 196) › Chapter 308-391 - Uniform Commercial Code, Article 9 › Section SECTION 5 - SEARCH REQUESTS AND REPORTS › Section 308-391-503 - Search methodology

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
Search results are produced by the application of search
				  logic to the name presented to the filing office. Human judgment does not play
				  a role in determining the results of the search.
(1) Standard search logic. The following
				rules describe the filing office's standard search logic and apply to all
				searches except for those where the search request specifies that a nonstandard
				search logic be used:
(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) The character "&" (the ampersand) is
				deleted and replaced with the characters "and" in each place it appears in the
				name.
(d) Punctuation marks and
				accents are disregarded. Punctuation and accents include all characters other
				than the numerals 0 through 9 and the letters A through Z (in any case) of the
				English alphabet.
(e) The following
				words and abbreviations at the end of an organization name that indicate the
				existence or nature of the organization are "disregarded" to the extent
				practicable as determined by the filing office's programming of its UCC
				information management system:
ATTORNEYS AT LAW, MEDICAL DOCTORS PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION,
				  PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, SAVINGS ASSOCIATION, MEDICAL
				  DOCTORS PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION, PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION, SERVICE
				  CORPORATION, PROFESSIONAL LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY"
				  & ", PROFESSIONAL LIMITED LIABILITY CO, REGISTERED LIMITED LIABILITY
				  PARTNERSHIP, LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIP, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, GENERAL
				  PARTNERSHIP, AS TRUSTEE, REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST, BUSINESS TRUST, FEDERAL
				  CREDIT UNION, CREDIT UNION, FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK" & ", NATIONAL BANK, SOLE
				  PROPRIETORSHIP, GEN PART, PROF ASSN, PROF CORP, INCORPORATED, ASSOCIATION,
				  CORPORATION, PARTNERSHIP, ASSOCIATES, CHARTERED, CHARTER, COMPANY, PARTNERS,
				  RAILROAD, LIMITED, PARTSHP, TRUSTEE, AGENCY, ASSOC, TRUST, ASSN, ASSC, BANK,
				  CORP, LTEE, L T E E" & ", MDPA, M D P A, MDPC, M D P C, PLLC, P L L C,
				  REIT, R E I T, RLLP, L L L P, DBA, D B A, FCU, F C U, FSB, F S B, INC, LLP, L L
				  P, LLC, L L C, LTD, SPA, S P A, CO, CU, C U, GP, G P, LC, L C, LP, L P, NA, N
				  A, PA, P A, PC, P C, P S, PS, RR, SA, S A, SC, SP, S P
(f) The word "the" at the beginning of an
				organization debtor name is disregarded.
(g) All spaces are disregarded.
(h) For first and middle names of individual
				debtor names, initials are treated as the logical equivalent of all names that
				begin with those initials. For example, a search request for "John A. Smith"
				would cause the search to retrieve all records against all individual debtors
				with "John" or the initial "J" as the first name, "Smith" as the last name, and
				with the initial "A" or any name beginning with "A" in the middle name field.
A first name with no middle name or initial is equated with
				  all middle names and initials. For example, if the search request were for
				  "John Smith" (first and last names with no designation in the middle name
				  field), the search would retrieve all records against an individual with "John"
				  or the initial "J" 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.
(i) If the name being searched is
				the last name of an individual name without any first or middle name provided,
				the search will retrieve from the UCC information management system all
				unlapsed records or, if requested by the searcher, all active records with
				individual names that consist of only that last name.
(j) After using the preceding rules to modify
				the name being searched, the search will retrieve from the UCC information
				management system all unlapsed records, or, if requested by the searcher, all
				active records with names that, after being modified as provided in this rule,
				exactly match the modified name being searched.