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Sofia Morales

UCC lien continuation filing rejected in California - debtor name issue

Been dealing with a nightmare situation for weeks now. Filed a UCC-3 continuation for a client's equipment financing deal worth about $275K, and the California SOS system rejected it THREE times. The original UCC-1 was filed back in 2020 with debtor name as 'Advanced Manufacturing Solutions LLC' but apparently there's some discrepancy with how the business name appears on their current articles of incorporation. The rejection notices keep saying 'debtor name does not match records' but I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure out exactly what they want. Original filing shows as active when I search the UCC database, but something about the exact name format is tripping up the continuation. Anyone else run into this California-specific quirk with debtor name matching? This lien lapses in about 6 weeks and I'm running out of time to get this sorted.

When all else fails, you might need to file a UCC-3 amendment to correct the debtor name first, then file your continuation. It's an extra step and extra fees but sometimes that's the only way to get around these matching issues.

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That's actually not a bad backup plan if I can't get the continuation to go through with the current name. At least it would buy me some time to sort out the exact formatting issue.

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Just make sure if you go that route that you file the amendment before the original lien lapses. You can't amend a lapsed UCC-1.

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Quick update - finally got through to someone at California SOS and they told me the issue was that the original UCC-1 had the debtor name in ALL CAPS but I was filing the continuation in mixed case. Apparently their matching algorithm is case-sensitive! Re-filed with everything in caps and it went through immediately. Thanks everyone for the suggestions, especially about checking the actual filed document image rather than relying on my copies.

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This is exactly the kind of thing that automated document checking catches. Good reminder to always verify against the actual filed documents!

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Thanks for posting the resolution! This will definitely help someone else who runs into the same issue.

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Mateo Rodriguez

West Virginia UCC search showing weird results - need help understanding what I'm seeing

Been trying to run searches on the WV Secretary of State portal for existing liens before we file our UCC-1. The search results are confusing me - some show as 'Active' but when I click through the filing details don't match what I expected. Is there a trick to reading these results properly? I'm seeing continuation filings that reference original UCC-1s I can't locate, and some debtor names that seem like they should match but the system says no results found. This is for a equipment financing deal and I really need to make sure we're not missing any prior liens. Anyone else had issues with the WV search functionality?

West Virginia has some weird rules about fixture filings too if your equipment is going to be attached to real estate. Make sure you're not missing a fixture filing requirement that could affect your priority.

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Mobile equipment can still have fixture issues if it gets attached to customer facilities. Just something to keep in mind during the loan monitoring phase.

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This is why we always include language in our security agreements about notification if equipment becomes fixtures. Covers you if the debtor moves equipment to real estate later.

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Update us when you figure out what was causing the search issues! Always helpful to know what worked for future WV filings.

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Will do. Going to try the name variations suggested here and probably order certified results to be safe.

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Smart approach. Better to over-search than miss something that could affect your lien priority.

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Melina Haruko

UCC 9-316 perfection lapse question - equipment financing mess

So I'm dealing with a situation where we had equipment financed across state lines and I think we might have a UCC 9-316 issue brewing. The debtor moved their main operations from Ohio to Tennessee about 8 months ago, and we filed the original UCC-1 in Ohio back in 2021. I just realized we might have missed the 4-month window to refile in Tennessee to maintain continuous perfection. The equipment is worth about $180K and I'm freaking out because if our lien isn't perfected anymore, we could be in serious trouble if the debtor defaults. Has anyone dealt with UCC 9-316 continuation requirements when a debtor relocates? I'm trying to figure out if we can still fix this or if our security interest has already lapsed. The debtor hasn't defaulted yet but their payments have been getting later and later.

I ran into a similar UCC 9-316 issue last year and ended up using one of those document verification services to make sure my refiling was done correctly. There are tools that can cross-check your original filing against the new state requirements to catch potential issues before they become problems. Worth looking into if you want to be extra careful with the Tennessee filing.

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Which service did you use? I want to make sure this Tennessee filing is bulletproof since I already messed up the timing.

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I used Certana.ai - you just upload your documents and it flags any inconsistencies or potential issues. Really helped catch things I would have missed.

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UCC 9-316 is one of those provisions that seems simple until you actually have to deal with it. Four months sounds like plenty of time until you realize you weren't even tracking the debtor's entity status. File in Tennessee this week and put systems in place to prevent this from happening again on future deals.

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Absolutely. This has been an expensive lesson but at least the debtor hasn't defaulted yet so I have time to clean things up.

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Sofía Rodríguez

California UCC financing lien causing issues with equipment loan refinancing

Running into problems with a california ucc financing lien that's blocking our equipment refinancing. We have a $285K loader that was financed in 2021, and the original lender filed a UCC-1 but now we're trying to refinance with a different bank and they're saying there's still an active lien showing up in the california system. The original loan was paid off 6 months ago but apparently no termination was filed. New lender won't proceed until this gets cleared up. Has anyone dealt with getting old california ucc financing lien records cleaned up? Our equipment is sitting idle while we sort this mess out and it's costing us jobs. What's the fastest way to get this resolved?

One thing to watch out for - make sure your new lender is searching correctly. We had a situation where the new bank was doing a sloppy UCC search and missing terminated liens. They kept saying there were active filings when there weren't. Sometimes the problem is on their end, not yours.

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Ask them to provide copies of their search results. If they can't show you specific UCC filing numbers and dates, they might not be doing thorough searches.

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Good point. A proper UCC search should show filing numbers, dates, and current status of each lien.

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Update us when you get this resolved! These california ucc financing lien situations are always learning experiences for the rest of us dealing with equipment financing.

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Will do! Hoping to get movement on this by next week. The suggestions about document verification and certified searches are really helpful.

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Definitely interested in hearing how it turns out. These kinds of lien clearance issues seem to be getting more common.

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Noland Curtis

UCC 9-515 Lapse Prevention - Missing Continuation Deadlines

Got burned by a UCC 9-515 lapse situation last month and wondering if anyone else has dealt with this nightmare. We had a $750K equipment loan secured by manufacturing equipment, and somehow our UCC-1 filing expired without us catching it in time. The original filing was from 2019, so the 5-year mark hit us in September 2024. What makes this worse is that we thought we had filed a UCC-3 continuation statement, but when we checked the SOS records, there's no record of it. Our borrower's competitor filed a UCC-1 on the same equipment just weeks after our lapse, and now we're dealing with a priority dispute. Under UCC 9-515, once that filing lapses, we lose perfection as if we never filed at all. The equipment is worth about $900K, so this isn't just a paperwork problem. Has anyone successfully challenged a lapse situation or dealt with similar timing issues? Our legal team is exploring options but I'm curious if others have been through this mess.

Update us on how the legal challenge goes. I'm dealing with a potential lapse situation myself and curious how these disputes typically resolve.

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Will do. Meeting with our attorney next week to review all the filing records and see if we have any viable arguments.

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Hope you find something. UCC 9-515 cases are tough but not impossible if you can prove filing office errors.

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The harsh reality is that UCC 9-515 exists for a reason - to clear old filings and prevent perpetual liens. The system assumes lenders will track their own deadlines. Courts generally don't have much sympathy for missed continuations unless there's clear filing office error.

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The filing system isn't perfect, but the burden is on us to verify our filings. That's just the reality of secured transactions.

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Agreed. The UCC puts the risk on the secured party to maintain perfection. It's not the state's job to remind us about deadlines.

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