# Merced County CA Lien Filings: UCC, Tax & Mechanics (`lienintel/merced-county-ca-lien-filings`) Actor

Search Merced County, California recorded UCC filings, tax liens, mechanics liens, judgments and lis pendens. Get debtor and secured-party names, document numbers, dates and lien categories in clean JSON. $0.03 per record.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/lienintel/merced-county-ca-lien-filings.md
- **Developed by:** [LienIntel - UCC & Secured Lending Intelligence.](https://apify.com/lienintel) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $30.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Merced County CA Lien Filings: UCC, Tax, Mechanics & Judgments

Search the Merced County, California Assessor-Clerk-Recorder public index and get clean, structured lien records for secured-lending, credit, collections and due-diligence workflows. One row per recorded UCC filing, tax lien, mechanics lien, judgment, lis pendens or other statutory lien, with the debtor and the secured party or claimant already separated.

Merced County is a Central Valley agricultural and commercial recording jurisdiction. Its county index carries the recorded lien families that the California Secretary of State UCC system does not: federal and California tax liens, mechanics liens, judgment recordings, lis pendens, assessment liens and other statutory liens.

### What you get

- **Document identity**: document number, all published document types, recorder type code, recording date and page count.
- **Debtor side**: every debtor, defendant, owner or grantor name, with counts and the raw grantor list.
- **Secured-party side**: every secured party, plaintiff, judgment creditor, tax agency or lien claimant, with counts and the raw grantee list.
- **Lien classification**: normalized `ucc`, `tax_lien`, `mechanics_lien`, `judgment_lien`, `lis_pendens` and `other_lien` categories, plus a normalized filing type such as `ucc_initial`, `ucc_amendment`, `tax_lien` or `lis_pendens`.
- **Release handling**: explicit lien releases, removals, cancellations and UCC terminations are flagged. Set `includeReleases` to `false` to keep only new liens and active filings.
- **Clean JSON**: flat snake_case keys, no nested objects, no HTML, stable record IDs and semicolon-separated party lists.
- **Exact document lookup**: pull one known document number without a date range.

The county's public detail page publishes the document number, page count, recording date, document types and the grantor/grantee parties. It does not publish lien amounts, property descriptions or a prior-instrument number, so this actor does not invent them.

### Who it is for

- **MCA and ISO brokers** who want new UCC-1 filings and UCC-3 activity in California's Central Valley.
- **Equipment finance, factoring and commercial lenders** monitoring competitor secured-party activity.
- **Credit, collections and recovery teams** tracking tax liens, judgments and mechanics liens against a business or property.
- **Construction suppliers and contractors** finding mechanics-lien filings and the owner/claimant pair.
- **KYB, legal and due-diligence teams** checking whether a counterparty already has recorded secured debt.
- **Tax-lien and real-estate researchers** working Merced County recordings.

### How to use it

Add one or more of the following:

| Input | What it does |
|---|---|
| `debtorNames` | Search the debtor, defendant or owner side. Partial names work from the start of the name, for example `SMITH` or `PATEL`. |
| `securedPartyNames` | Search the lender, claimant, plaintiff or creditor side, for example `GOODLEAP`, `UNITED STATES` or a contractor name. The county matches from the start of the name. |
| `documentNumbers` | Look up exact recorder document numbers, for example `2025000004`. |
| `lienTypes` | Keep only the categories you need: `ucc`, `tax_lien`, `mechanics_lien`, `judgment_lien`, `lis_pendens`, `other_lien`. |
| `includeReleases` | Set to `false` for new liens and active filings only. |
| `dateFrom` / `dateTo` | Recorded-date window in `YYYY-MM-DD`. Empty dates mean the last 30 days on a browse run and the last five years on a name or document search. |
| `maxFilings` | Maximum unique records to return and charge. Free Apify users receive up to 10 results per run. |

Leave all search fields empty to browse the newest recordings in the selected categories.

#### Example input

```json
{
  "debtorNames": ["SMITH"],
  "lienTypes": ["ucc", "tax_lien", "mechanics_lien", "judgment_lien", "lis_pendens"],
  "dateFrom": "2026-01-01",
  "maxFilings": 25
}
```

#### Example output

```json
{
  "record_id": "2025000004",
  "document_number": "2025000004",
  "doc_type": "TAX LIEN (FED/STATE/CNTY/CTY)",
  "doc_type_code": "TLN",
  "filing_type": "tax_lien",
  "lien_category": "tax_lien",
  "is_release": false,
  "recorded_date": "2025-01-02",
  "debtor_name": "ORTIZ ORCHARD BRUSH SHREDDING",
  "secured_party_name": "STATE OF CALIFORNIA EMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT",
  "party_direction": "grantor_debtor",
  "county": "Merced",
  "state": "CA"
}
```

### Coverage and freshness

- **Jurisdiction**: Merced County, California.
- **Record families**: UCC-1, UCC-2, UCC-3, financing statements and fixture filings; federal tax liens; California state, county and city tax liens; mechanics liens and amendments; judgment recordings and assignments; lis pendens and amendments; claim, assessment, abatement and other statutory liens; explicit lien releases, removals and cancellations.
- **Source**: Merced County Assessor-Clerk-Recorder public recorded-document index.
- **Freshness**: the public index is updated as documents are recorded. A browse run reads the most recent recordings first, so you get the newest liens without maintaining a date cursor.
- **History**: the public index covers recordings from 1963 to present.

#### Scope guard

Only lien, judgment, lis-pendens and UCC families are requested. Deeds, deeds of trust, mortgages, mortgage releases, plats, marriage records, military discharges, death certificates and other non-lien instruments are never requested. Child-support, family-support, CSE, welfare, divorce, custody, paternity and protection-order names are filtered out. Generic `RELEASE`, `CANCELLATION` and `DISMISSAL` codes are not requested because they can release deeds of trust or other non-lien instruments. The dataset is public-record research, not an FCRA consumer report.

### Pricing

- **$0.03 per returned record** on the `result` event.
- **$0.003 actor-start event**.
- **$0.033 minimum** charge.
- No charge for a run that returns no matching records: the actor emits one uncharged error row instead.
- Free Apify users are capped at 10 returned records per run.

### FAQ

**Does this return lien amounts?** No. Merced County's public detail page does not publish the lien amount, so the actor leaves amount fields out rather than guessing.

**Can I search by lender or secured party?** Yes. Use `securedPartyNames`. The actor checks the secured-party side after it maps the county's grantor/grantee convention for each document type.

**What is a UCC-3?** It is the amendment form used for continuations, assignments, amendments and terminations. Merced County publishes a single `UCC-3` type, so the actor returns the filing with its published parties and marks the release status `unknown` instead of guessing the subtype.

**Why are some releases missing?** The actor includes explicit lien releases, removals and cancellations. It deliberately excludes generic release codes that can release mortgages or deeds of trust.

**Is this a consumer credit report?** No. It is public-record research for business, legal and due-diligence workflows. Do not use it for credit, employment, tenant or other FCRA-regulated decisions.

### Related LienIntel actors

LienIntel publishes other dedicated county recorder indexes and state UCC feeds, including Orange County CA, Utah County UT, Nassau County NY, Suffolk County NY, Tompkins County NY, Kent County DE, Berks County PA, Stark County OH, Wayne County MI, Arapahoe County CO, Pitkin County CO, Harris County TX and Johnson County TX. Each actor covers one distinct public source.

# Actor input Schema

## `debtorNames` (type: `array`):

Names to search on the debtor, defendant or owner side, up to 20. Partial names work from the start of the name, for example SMITH, PATEL or a business name. Each name is searched separately and results are deduplicated.

## `securedPartyNames` (type: `array`):

Names to search on the secured-party, plaintiff, grantee or creditor side, up to 20. The county matches from the start of the name, for example GOODLEAP, UNITED STATES or a contractor name.

## `documentNumbers` (type: `array`):

Exact Merced County recorder document numbers, up to 20, for example 2025000004. Spaces and hyphens are ignored.

## `lienTypes` (type: `array`):

Categories to include. Allowed values: ucc, tax_lien, mechanics_lien, judgment_lien, lis_pendens, other_lien. Leave empty for all categories.

## `includeReleases` (type: `boolean`):

Include explicit lien releases, removals, cancellations and UCC terminations. Turn off to return only new liens and active filings. UCC-3 filings are included because the county publishes one UCC-3 code for continuations, amendments, assignments and terminations.

## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):

Earliest recorded date in YYYY-MM-DD format. Leave empty for the last 5 years on a name or document search, or the last 30 days on a browse run.

## `dateTo` (type: `string`):

Latest recorded date in YYYY-MM-DD format. Leave empty for today.

## `maxFilings` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of unique lien, judgment, lis-pendens or UCC records to return and charge. Free Apify users receive up to 10 results per run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "lienTypes": [
    "ucc",
    "tax_lien",
    "mechanics_lien",
    "judgment_lien",
    "lis_pendens",
    "other_lien"
  ],
  "includeReleases": true,
  "maxFilings": 25
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One row per recorded Merced County lien, judgment, lis pendens or UCC filing with document number, type, recorded date, debtor and secured party.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("lienintel/merced-county-ca-lien-filings").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("lienintel/merced-county-ca-lien-filings").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call lienintel/merced-county-ca-lien-filings --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,lienintel/merced-county-ca-lien-filings"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/nvAok6uFX7xDl4dhC/builds/sZ9JnDGepCrVdCcaG/openapi.json