Texas: business records and regulators
Where to look a business up in Texas, 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
Texas records and regulators
Business search
Look a business up in the state's register of businesses.
Texas Secretary of State: SOSPortal business filings (opens in a new tab)
Searches are made through SOSPortal, which the Secretary of State says carries a $1.00 fee for each search.
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.
Texas Secretary of State: Uniform Commercial Code (opens in a new tab)
The Secretary of State's new UCC portal needs an SOSPortal account.
Banking and lending regulator
Oversees the banks the state charters. Check its site for the lender and broker licenses the state requires.
Securities regulator
The state office for securities offerings, brokers and investment advisers.
Find a lender in Texas
Official lists of the lenders that work in Texas. Each opens on its own site, filtered to Texas 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 Texas on our route pages
- Business line of credit: Interest on a business loan may not go above a ceiling the Consumer Credit Commissioner sets each week, which by law is never below 18% or above 28% a year; it was 18% for October 19 to 25, 2026. Banks are not bound by it: federal law lets a bank charge the rate allowed in the state where it is located. Texas's lender license (Finance Code chapter 342) covers only loans mainly for personal, family or household use, not business loans. (Texas Finance Code chapter 303: optional rate ceilings (303.009: never below 18% or above 28% a year for business credit); Texas Finance Code chapter 306: commercial transactions; Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner: interest rates (weekly ceiling); 12 U.S.C. 85: rate of interest on loans by national banks; 12 U.S.C. 1831d: interest rates of state-chartered insured banks; Texas Finance Code chapter 342 (342.005: loans the chapter covers; 342.051: license required))
- E-commerce and payment platform finance: Since September 1, 2025, providers and brokers of commercial sales-based financing, which includes financing repaid as a percentage of revenue, must register with the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner; those already in business then have until December 31, 2026. Offers of less than $1 million need cost and payment disclosures that you sign. Confessions of judgment are void, and a provider can set up automatic withdrawals from your bank account only if it holds a first-priority security interest in that account. (Texas HB 700 (2025), enrolled: Finance Code Chapter 398, commercial sales-based financing)
- Equipment loans and finance agreements: Interest on a business loan may not go above a ceiling the Consumer Credit Commissioner sets each week, which by law is never below 18% or above 28% a year; it was 18% for October 19 to 25, 2026. Banks are not bound by it: federal law lets a bank charge the rate allowed in the state where it is located. Texas's lender license (Finance Code chapter 342) covers only loans mainly for personal, family or household use, not business loans. (Texas Finance Code chapter 303: optional rate ceilings (303.009: never below 18% or above 28% a year for business credit); Texas Finance Code chapter 306: commercial transactions; Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner: interest rates (weekly ceiling); 12 U.S.C. 85: rate of interest on loans by national banks; 12 U.S.C. 1831d: interest rates of state-chartered insured banks; Texas Finance Code chapter 342 (342.005: loans the chapter covers; 342.051: license required))
- Invoice factoring: When a business sells its invoices at a discount, Texas law says the discount is not interest, and an agreement that calls the deal a purchase settles that it is not a loan, so the state's interest ceilings do not apply to it. (Texas Finance Code chapter 306: commercial transactions)
- Merchant cash advance: Since September 1, 2025, providers and brokers of commercial sales-based financing must register with the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner; those already in business then have until December 31, 2026. Offers of less than $1 million need cost and payment disclosures that you sign. Confessions of judgment are void, and a provider can set up automatic withdrawals from your bank account only if it holds a first-priority security interest in that account. (Texas HB 700 (2025), enrolled: Finance Code Chapter 398, commercial sales-based financing)
- Online business loans: Interest on a business loan may not go above a ceiling the Consumer Credit Commissioner sets each week, which by law is never below 18% or above 28% a year; it was 18% for October 19 to 25, 2026. Banks are not bound by it: federal law lets a bank charge the rate allowed in the state where it is located. Texas's lender license (Finance Code chapter 342) covers only loans mainly for personal, family or household use, not business loans. (Texas Finance Code chapter 303: optional rate ceilings (303.009: never below 18% or above 28% a year for business credit); Texas Finance Code chapter 306: commercial transactions; Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner: interest rates (weekly ceiling); 12 U.S.C. 85: rate of interest on loans by national banks; 12 U.S.C. 1831d: interest rates of state-chartered insured banks; Texas Finance Code chapter 342 (342.005: loans the chapter covers; 342.051: license required))
- Revenue-based finance: Since September 1, 2025, providers and brokers of commercial sales-based financing, which includes financing repaid as a percentage of revenue, must register with the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner; those already in business then have until December 31, 2026. Offers of less than $1 million need cost and payment disclosures that you sign. Confessions of judgment are void, and a provider can set up automatic withdrawals from your bank account only if it holds a first-priority security interest in that account. (Texas HB 700 (2025), enrolled: Finance Code Chapter 398, commercial sales-based financing)
- Spot factoring (single invoices): When a business sells its invoices at a discount, Texas law says the discount is not interest, and an agreement that calls the deal a purchase settles that it is not a loan, so the state's interest ceilings do not apply to it. (Texas Finance Code chapter 306: commercial transactions)
Sources
- Texas Secretary of State: SOSPortal, Business Filings (a $1.00 statutorily authorized fee for each search) · checked October 20, 2026
- Texas Secretary of State: About the Uniform Commercial Code Section (the SOS UCC Portal needs an SOSPortal account) · checked October 20, 2026
- Texas Department of Banking: home page · checked October 20, 2026
- Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner: home page (regulates non-bank financial services) · checked October 20, 2026
- Texas State Securities Board: home page · checked October 20, 2026