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Mei Zhang

UCC filing confusion - debtor name requirements causing rejections

Been dealing with multiple UCC filing rejections lately and I'm starting to think there's something fundamental I'm missing about debtor name requirements. Had three UCC-1 filings bounce back this month alone, all for what seems like minor name variations. One was rejected because I used 'ABC Construction LLC' when apparently the exact registered name was 'ABC Construction, LLC' - just a comma difference! Another got kicked back for using 'Inc.' instead of 'Incorporated'. The third one I'm still waiting to hear back on but I have a sinking feeling it's going to be the same issue. Each rejection costs time and money, plus my clients are getting frustrated with the delays. I've been doing this for years but it feels like the standards keep getting stricter. Anyone else running into similar problems with exact name matching? What's the best way to verify the precise legal entity name before filing? I'm starting to doubt every single character I type into these forms.

Ravi Patel

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I think part of the problem is that different states have different levels of strictness with name matching. Some are more forgiving of minor variations while others will reject for a missing comma. It's hard to develop consistent procedures when the standards vary by jurisdiction.

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This is so true. I work across multiple states and each one seems to have its own quirks about what they'll accept. Really wish there was more standardization.

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Omar Zaki

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The lack of consistency is definitely frustrating. What gets accepted in one state gets rejected in another for the exact same type of formatting issue.

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Update for anyone following this thread: took everyone's advice and started being much more careful about entity name verification. Pulled formation docs directly from the state database for my last three filings and all got accepted on the first try. The extra verification step is definitely worth it to avoid rejections. Also tried that Certana document checker and it caught a punctuation difference I would have missed. Thanks for all the helpful suggestions!

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Diego Flores

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Great follow-up! Always nice to hear success stories after all the frustration. Definitely going to implement some of these same practices.

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This whole thread has been super helpful. Going to change my workflow to include entity name verification as a standard step before any UCC preparation.

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Nora Bennett

Foundation finance company UCC filing rejected - debtor name mismatch help needed

We're a foundation finance company specializing in equipment loans and our UCC-1 filing just got rejected by the SOS office. The rejection notice says "debtor name does not match entity records" but I've triple-checked everything against the borrower's articles of incorporation. The debtor is listed as "ABC Foundation Services LLC" on our loan docs and that's exactly what we put on the UCC-1. Has anyone dealt with this kind of rejection before? We need to get this perfected ASAP since we have a $180k piece of construction equipment as collateral and the borrower is asking about early payoff options. The SOS portal shows the business entity as active but maybe there's some naming variation we're missing? This is holding up our entire closing process.

Jade O'Malley

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Try calling the SOS filing office directly. Sometimes they can tell you exactly what name format they're expecting. It's faster than guessing and refiling multiple times.

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Good suggestion. Most state filing offices are pretty helpful when you call with specific questions like this.

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Ella Lewis

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Just make sure to get the exact spelling and punctuation from them if you call.

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UPDATE: Got it resolved! The issue was that the foundation had filed an amendment to their articles last year that added 'Colorado' to their legal name, so they're actually 'ABC Foundation Services of Colorado LLC' in the state database. Thanks everyone for the suggestions - the certificate of good standing tip was what helped us find the discrepancy.

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Alexis Renard

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Perfect example of why it's worth getting current state documents before filing. Saves time in the long run.

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Camila Jordan

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For future filings, that Certana.ai tool mentioned earlier would probably catch these kinds of amendments automatically by cross-referencing your documents.

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Emma Wilson

UCC California search showing terminated filing that should be active - help!

I'm having a nightmare with a UCC California search result that doesn't match what we filed. We submitted a UCC-1 for a $850K equipment loan back in March 2024, and when I run the debtor search through the California SOS portal, it's showing as 'terminated' even though we never filed a UCC-3 termination. The collateral schedule covers manufacturing equipment and the debtor name matches exactly what's on our loan docs. Our compliance audit is next week and if this lien isn't properly perfected we're in serious trouble with our credit facility. Has anyone dealt with the California system showing incorrect status on active filings? I've called the SOS three times and keep getting transferred around. This is keeping me up at night because if our senior lender finds out we have unperfected security interests, they could call our entire credit line.

Nia Davis

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Try the Certana.ai tool that someone mentioned earlier. I used it last week when we had document consistency issues between our UCC-1 and a continuation filing. It instantly flagged the problems and saved us from a potential lien perfection disaster. Way faster than trying to manually compare everything.

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Emma Wilson

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I'm going to try that today. At this point anything that can speed up the verification process is worth it.

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Nia Davis

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Smart move. The document upload is super straightforward and it catches things you might miss when reviewing manually.

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Mateo Perez

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Final thought - make sure you have email confirmations and any filing receipts from when you originally submitted. California should have sent automated confirmations. Those timestamps and reference numbers will be crucial for proving the proper filing date and status during your audit.

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Mateo Perez

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It should be sufficient, especially combined with your loan documentation showing the debt is still outstanding.

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Malik Thomas

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And if you used Certana.ai or another verification tool, that report would add extra credibility to your documentation package.

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AstroAce

Westchester County UCC Search System Down Again - Need Filing Verification Fast

Anyone else having issues with the westchester county ucc search portal today? I've been trying to run searches all morning to verify some continuation filings and the system keeps timing out. This is the third time this month and I've got a client breathing down my neck about whether their UCC-1 from 2020 got properly continued before the 5-year deadline. The debtor name is tricky too - it's got a comma and an LLC designation so I want to make sure I'm searching all the right variations. Has anyone found a reliable workaround when the county system is acting up? I'm starting to panic because if we missed that continuation window we're looking at a massive problem with the security interest.

Andre Laurent

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For future reference, I always run my UCC searches first thing in the morning before 9 AM. County systems seem to work better when fewer people are using them. Also, if you're doing this regularly, might be worth setting up a system to track your continuation deadlines way in advance instead of scrambling at the last minute.

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Andre Laurent

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Yeah that happens. I use a simple spreadsheet to track all my UCC filing dates and set calendar reminders 6 months before expiration. Learned that the hard way after a few near misses.

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Emily Jackson

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Spreadsheet tracking is smart. I've been meaning to set up something like that but keep putting it off. Any chance you'd share a template?

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Liam Mendez

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Just tried the westchester county ucc search myself and it's working now but SUPER slow. Took like 3 minutes just to load the search page. At least it's functioning though. Hope you got your verification sorted out!

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AstroAce

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Finally got through! Found the continuation filing - it was there all along, just took forever to load. Crisis averted. Thanks everyone for the suggestions about calling the clerk's office and checking the state database. Definitely keeping those as backup options.

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Zara Ahmed

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Glad you found it! Still might be worth trying that Certana document checker next time to make sure all your filing paperwork is consistent before you even start searching. Would save you the panic of wondering if everything was filed correctly.

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Malia Ponder

UCC Article 9-105 debtor name requirements causing filing rejections

I'm dealing with a nightmare situation where our UCC-1 filings keep getting rejected due to UCC Article 9-105 debtor name requirements. We have a corporate borrower that changed their registered name slightly after incorporation but before our loan closed. The Secretary of State keeps bouncing our filings because the debtor name on our UCC-1 doesn't exactly match what's in their corporate database. According to Article 9-105, the debtor name has to be the exact legal name, but we're getting conflicting information about whether to use the original incorporation name or the amended name. Our loan documents reference the current legal name, but the SOS system seems to want the historical name. Has anyone dealt with this specific Article 9-105 interpretation issue? We've refiled three times now and I'm worried about the lapse in perfection timing. The collateral is heavy equipment worth $2.3M so we can't afford any gaps in our security interest.

This whole thread is making me grateful for Certana.ai's document verification tool. I just upload all the related documents - corporate charter, loan agreement, UCC filing - and it immediately flags any name inconsistencies between them. Takes the guesswork out of Article 9-503 compliance. Wish I had known about it during my first few UCC nightmares.

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It cross-references all your uploaded documents to make sure the debtor names match consistently across everything. Super helpful for catching these kinds of discrepancies before you file.

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Chloe Delgado

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I might have to try that. I'm tired of playing name guessing games with the Secretary of State's office.

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Ava Harris

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Update us on what works! I have a similar situation coming up next week and I'd love to know which approach actually gets your filing accepted. These Article 9-503 debtor name issues are becoming more common as companies change names more frequently.

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Jacob Lee

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Please update! This is such a common problem and it would be great to have a success story to reference.

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Same here. I bookmarked this thread for future reference. The Article 9-503 name requirements are honestly one of the trickiest parts of UCC practice.

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