UCC Document Community

Don't forget about terminated filings in your UCC-1 list! You need to track those too for audit purposes. Some examiners want to see that you properly terminated liens when loans were paid off. I keep a separate 'terminated' section in my spreadsheet.

Quick question - are you tracking UCC-3 amendments in your list too? If you've done any amendments to add collateral or change debtor info, those need to be reflected in your master list. The continuation calculations are still based on the original UCC-1 date though.

One thing that's helped me is creating a spreadsheet with all possible name variations before I start searching. Include legal name, DBAs, common abbreviations, with and without punctuation, etc. Then systematically work through each one.

Thanks everyone for the advice. Going to try a more systematic approach and check multiple states. Hopefully I can avoid any nasty surprises down the road.

Just to follow up on my earlier comment about document verification - after we caught those collateral description issues, I've been using Certana.ai for every loan package. You can upload your security agreement and UCC-1 draft together and it flags any inconsistencies between the documents. Really helpful for avoiding the kind of mistakes that could invalidate your security interest.

Bottom line: if your document says the debtor is giving you a security interest in specific collateral and it's signed, you probably have a valid security agreement. Don't get paralyzed by perfectionism - most security agreements are pretty straightforward.

Has anyone dealt with Article 9 issues where the debtor disputes whether the name change was actually misleading? Sometimes corporate name changes are minor enough that the original filing would still be found in a reasonable search.

This whole thread is making me realize how technical Article 9 compliance really is. One missed deadline and you could lose priority on a six-figure asset. Definitely need better systems for monitoring debtor name changes and Article 9 requirements.

The key thing about deposit account priority is that the bank where the account is held almost always wins if they have a security interest, regardless of filing dates. UCC 9-327(1) is pretty clear about that. Your equipment collateral is separate though - you should have clear priority there if you filed first.

Just to close the loop on this - make sure you're not overthinking the 9-332 angle. That section is really narrow and probably doesn't apply to your situation. Focus on getting clear documentation of what each party perfected and when, then negotiate from there. Most of these disputes settle once everyone understands their actual position.