IRS or state liens, blanket UCC, prior lender filings
Manufacturing financing with a tax lien or existing UCC filing
These are 2 different problems that get treated as 1. A tax lien is about whether a taxing authority can reach the money. A UCC filing is about who holds first position on the collateral. Each has a specific, mechanical fix, and neither is automatically fatal.
Manufacturing financing with a tax lien or existing UCC filing: the short answer
A tax lien is workable once it is on a documented payment plan the funder can verify as current, because the concern is interception of funds rather than the lien itself. An existing UCC filing requires either a subordination agreement or a release from the prior secured party before a new funder can take its position.
What still qualifies
- A federal or state lien on a signed installment agreement, paid current
- A prior lender UCC that the lender will subordinate in writing
- A stale UCC from a paid-off obligation that can be terminated
- A lien small enough to be paid from the funding proceeds at closing
- A blanket filing that can be carved out to exclude the financed asset
What does not
- An unresolved lien with no plan and no communication with the authority
- A prior funder who refuses to subordinate or release
- Multiple stacked short-term positions filed within the last 90 days
- A lien that exceeds the realistic value of the collateral being pledged
- Payroll tax exposure that is still accruing
Which programs actually fit this file
Invoice factoring
Most workable, because the funder can often pay the lien from proceeds or work inside a subordination. Requires first position on receivables.
Equipment financing
A purchase money security interest in the specific machine can sit alongside a blanket filing with a carve-out.
Working capital
Available on a paid-current plan, though pricing reflects the added position risk.
What the underwriter will ask
Plan documentation
The signed agreement plus proof of the last 3 payments. Verbal arrangements do not count.
Lien balance and trend
A shrinking balance reads as control. A growing one reads as an ongoing operating problem.
Who holds first position
A UCC search runs on every file. Know what is filed against you before the funder tells you.
Whether the prior party will cooperate
Subordination is a negotiation between funders. Getting the prior lender's contact ready shortens the timeline materially.
What to fix in the next 90 days
- 1.Sign an installment agreement and make 3 documented on-time payments
- 2.Run your own UCC search and list every active filing
- 3.Request terminations on filings tied to obligations already satisfied
- 4.Ask the prior secured party, in writing, whether it will subordinate
- 5.Stop taking new short-term positions, which compound the problem
How placement works
Start with a short email or a call. We identify the right program and institution at no charge, send a tailored secure application, and the institution underwrites the file. You review offers side by side, sign directly with the institution, and funds land.
Manufactor Finance is an independent commercial finance broker. We are not a bank, lender, or investor, and we charge no application, origination, or closing fees. We do not help with grants, grant writing, or grant applications.
Other situations we place
Tax lien or UCC filing funding questions
Frequently, once the lien is on a written installment agreement and you can show the payments are current. Some deals resolve it differently, with the lien paid directly from funding proceeds at closing. An unresolved lien with no plan is one of the few genuine hard stops.
A UCC filing records that a funder holds a security interest in your assets. A subordination is a written agreement in which an existing secured party steps behind a new one for specific collateral. Factoring generally requires first position on receivables, so subordination is often the whole gating item.
Anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks, driven entirely by how responsive the existing secured party is. Identifying the right contact early is the single biggest lever on that timeline.
Mechanically similar, with different remedies and filing behavior by state. The underwriting question is identical: is there a documented plan and is it current.
It can, because it adds position risk and administrative work. On factoring the effect is usually modest, since the receivable carries the file. On unsecured working capital the effect is larger.
Ready to keep production moving?
Start with a quick app or a phone call. We'll tell you exactly what the right program requires. At no charge.
Apply. Fund. Deliver. No obligation.
AI-assistedDepending on live availability, calls may be answered by Mary, our AI Assistant, who takes a message and books a callback. Or email us instead.