North Carolina: business records and regulators
Where to look a business up in North Carolina, where to search the UCC filings against it, and the offices that regulate banks, lenders and securities there.
Each link opens the state's own site in a new tab, so what you type there goes to that site, not to us. Some state searches charge a fee or ask you to make an account. Privacy
North Carolina records and regulators
Business search
Look a business up in the state's register of businesses.
UCC search
Find the UCC filings against a business: the financing statements lenders file to record a lien on its assets, such as a blanket lien.
Banking and lending regulator
Oversees the banks the state charters. Check its site for the lender and broker licenses the state requires.
North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks (NCCOB) (opens in a new tab)
It charters and regulates state banks, trust companies and mortgage companies, licenses other financial firms, and publishes the monthly maximum rate of interest.
Securities regulator
The state office for securities offerings, brokers and investment advisers.
Find a lender in North Carolina
Official lists of the lenders that work in North Carolina. Each opens on its own site, filtered to North Carolina where the list allows it.
SBA 504 lenders (Certified Development Companies) (opens in a new tab)
The nonprofit lenders that make SBA 504 loans for property and big equipment, from the SBA's own list, filtered to the state.
SBA microloan lenders (opens in a new tab)
Nonprofit lenders that make SBA microloans of up to $50,000, from the SBA's own list, filtered to the state.
SBA Lender Match (opens in a new tab)
The SBA's own matching tool: you answer a few questions about your business on its site, and two business days later it gives you a list of the lenders interested; some may contact you. It is not a loan application. What you type goes to the SBA and those lenders, not to us.
Certified CDFIs (community lenders) (opens in a new tab)
The CDFI Fund's list of every certified community development financial institution (CDFI): loan funds, banks and credit unions. Download the list and sort it by the State column.
The FDIC's BankFind: search for the banks with offices in the state.
Credit unions (opens in a new tab)
The NCUA's credit union locator. Credit unions lend to their members, so check who can join.
Before you sign with any lender, check it is licensed: see the banking and lending regulator above, and Check a lender or platform. A few national lenders and platforms are named, with how they were chosen, in the provider directory.
State rules for North Carolina on our route pages
- Business line of credit: Any rate can be agreed on a loan to a business entity, on a loan a person takes mainly for business, or on any loan of $300,000 or more, and the borrower cannot plead usury. Otherwise the limit on a loan of $25,000 or less is 16% a year, or more when Treasury bill rates are high. North Carolina's consumer finance license is needed only to charge more on a loan of $25,000 or less than the law otherwise allows, so it does not reach these business loans. A loan broker, anyone paid to find or help you get a loan, credit card, line of credit or lease, may not take any fee before the loan closes, except reasonable fees passed on to third parties for appraisals, surveys, title checks and credit reports. The same goes for a lender that charges you just to consider a loan, unless it lent more than $1 million in North Carolina the year before. The broker must give you a disclosure document at least seven days before you sign or pay anything, file it with the Secretary of State before advertising, hold a $10,000 bond or trust account, and put the contract in writing. If it misleads you, breaks the law or does not try hard to get you a loan, you can void the contract and recover what you paid, plus damages and attorney's fees. Attorneys, accountants, securities dealers, insurers and licensed mortgage firms on home loans are left out. (North Carolina General Statutes 24-9: loans exempt from rate and fee limitations; North Carolina General Statutes 24-1.1: contract rates and fees; North Carolina General Statutes 53-166: North Carolina Consumer Finance Act, scope; North Carolina General Statutes chapter 66, article 20: Loan Brokers (66-106 to 66-112))
- Equipment loans and finance agreements: Any rate can be agreed on a loan to a business entity, on a loan a person takes mainly for business, or on any loan of $300,000 or more, and the borrower cannot plead usury. Otherwise the limit on a loan of $25,000 or less is 16% a year, or more when Treasury bill rates are high. North Carolina's consumer finance license is needed only to charge more on a loan of $25,000 or less than the law otherwise allows, so it does not reach these business loans. A loan broker, anyone paid to find or help you get a loan, credit card, line of credit or lease, may not take any fee before the loan closes, except reasonable fees passed on to third parties for appraisals, surveys, title checks and credit reports. The same goes for a lender that charges you just to consider a loan, unless it lent more than $1 million in North Carolina the year before. The broker must give you a disclosure document at least seven days before you sign or pay anything, file it with the Secretary of State before advertising, hold a $10,000 bond or trust account, and put the contract in writing. If it misleads you, breaks the law or does not try hard to get you a loan, you can void the contract and recover what you paid, plus damages and attorney's fees. Attorneys, accountants, securities dealers, insurers and licensed mortgage firms on home loans are left out. (North Carolina General Statutes 24-9: loans exempt from rate and fee limitations; North Carolina General Statutes 24-1.1: contract rates and fees; North Carolina General Statutes 53-166: North Carolina Consumer Finance Act, scope; North Carolina General Statutes chapter 66, article 20: Loan Brokers (66-106 to 66-112))
- Online business loans: Any rate can be agreed on a loan to a business entity, on a loan a person takes mainly for business, or on any loan of $300,000 or more, and the borrower cannot plead usury. Otherwise the limit on a loan of $25,000 or less is 16% a year, or more when Treasury bill rates are high. North Carolina's consumer finance license is needed only to charge more on a loan of $25,000 or less than the law otherwise allows, so it does not reach these business loans. A loan broker, anyone paid to find or help you get a loan, credit card, line of credit or lease, may not take any fee before the loan closes, except reasonable fees passed on to third parties for appraisals, surveys, title checks and credit reports. The same goes for a lender that charges you just to consider a loan, unless it lent more than $1 million in North Carolina the year before. The broker must give you a disclosure document at least seven days before you sign or pay anything, file it with the Secretary of State before advertising, hold a $10,000 bond or trust account, and put the contract in writing. If it misleads you, breaks the law or does not try hard to get you a loan, you can void the contract and recover what you paid, plus damages and attorney's fees. Attorneys, accountants, securities dealers, insurers and licensed mortgage firms on home loans are left out. (North Carolina General Statutes 24-9: loans exempt from rate and fee limitations; North Carolina General Statutes 24-1.1: contract rates and fees; North Carolina General Statutes 53-166: North Carolina Consumer Finance Act, scope; North Carolina General Statutes chapter 66, article 20: Loan Brokers (66-106 to 66-112))
Sources
- North Carolina Secretary of State: home page (Search Business Entities) · checked October 20, 2026
- North Carolina Secretary of State: Uniform Commercial Code (the section gives notice of security interests in personal property under Chapter 25, Article 9) · checked October 20, 2026
- North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks: home page · checked November 1, 2026
- North Carolina Secretary of State: Securities (Securities Division) · checked October 20, 2026