How Can Sovereign Citizens Schemes Impact Your UCC Search Results?

The term “Sovereign citizen” refers to a political movement whose members claim that they are not subject to government authority. Members often refuse to hold social security cards or driver’s licenses and claim that they are subject only to common law or “constitutional law,” and not bound by statutory law. While no court has ever upheld these claims, adherents believe that almost all existing government is illegitimate and seek what they believe is a return to minimal government.

Disturbingly, some sovereign citizens may use their self-appointed status to justify threats, violence, theft, or fraud. Some sovereign citizens subscribe to various conspiracy theories, including one which states the U.S. Government became bankrupt and began using citizens as collateral in trade agreements with foreign governments. They believe secret bank accounts exist at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and that these accounts can be accessed using IRS, UCC, and fraudulent financial documents.

The following PDF document contains information on:

• Possible indicators of sovereign citizen activity
• Documents used by sovereign citizens including UCC-1s, UCC-3s and apostilles, to declare that they are not subject to U.S. law and to attempt to eliminate mortgages and other debts
• Descriptions of specific fraudulent schemes associated with sovereign citizens
• Tactics used by sovereign citizens to harass, intimidate and threaten agencies and individuals.

(Because these strategies change over time, this information is not meant to be comprehensive. Other documents may be used, or these documents may be used in ways not covered here.)

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