No, you are not required to obtain an Illinois driver’s license when filing a financing statement for an Illinois resident.

Under the Illinois version of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), ordinarily you would provide the debtor’s name as it appears on the debtor’s most recent Illinois driver’s license. However, because the debtor does not have an Illinois driver’s license, the financing statement instead should provide “the individual name of the debtor or the surname and first personal name of the debtor.”

You should be aware that using this alternative description on the financing statement exposes your bank to some risk if the debtor is using variations of his or her name in different situations. For example, in one Illinois case, a debtor used the name from his birth certificate (“Ben”) for certain bank documents but used a different name (“Bennie”) on his driver’s license, social security card, bank signature card and other documents. That discrepancy led to litigation over whether a financing statement had sufficiently stated the debtor’s name.

When the debtor does obtain an Illinois driver’s license at a later date, if there is a discrepancy between the name on your original financing statement and the name on the debtor’s Illinois driver’s license, we would recommend filing an amendment to the financing statement that contains the debtor’s name as shown on the Illinois driver’s license.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Illinois Uniform Commercial Code, 810 ILCS 5/9-503(a)(4) (“A financing statement sufficiently provides the name of the debtor: . . . (4) subject to subsection (g) [regarding multiple driver’s licenses], if the debtor is an individual to whom this State has issued a driver’s license that has not expired, only if the financing statement provides the name of the individual which is indicated on the driver’s license”)

• Illinois Uniform Commercial Code, 810 ILCS 5/9-503(a)(5) (“A financing statement sufficiently provides the name of the debtor: . . . (5) if the debtor is an individual to whom paragraph (4) does not apply, only if the financing statement provides the individual name of the debtor or the surname and first personal name of the debtor”)

• In re Miller, 2012 WL 3589426 (C.D. Ill. Aug. 17, 2012) (“At trial, Mr. Miller testified that he has gone by the name ‘Bennie Miller’ for much of his adult life, and that he is generally known by this name in the community. ‘Bennie A. Miller’ is also the name listed on his unexpired driver's license, his Social Security card, the deed to the Millers’ home, his federal income tax returns, the signature card he signed when the Millers opened their original account with the bank in 1995, all of the loan documents with the Bank, a Capital One credit card account, and the bill of sale from the purchase of the Power Plus business. In contrast, ‘Ben Miller’ is the name listed on Mr. Miller’s birth certificate, on a letter from another creditor, on two proofs of claim filed by Mr. Miller’s accountant and his doctor, and on his American Express account.”)