UCC Document Community

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Aiden O'Connor

UCC 9 320 priority rules causing confusion with our equipment financing deals

We're running into some serious headaches trying to understand how UCC 9 320 priority rules work in practice. Our company does a lot of equipment financing for manufacturing businesses, and we keep getting conflicting advice about when our security interests take priority over other creditors. Last week we had a deal where the borrower had existing equipment loans, and now there's a dispute about who has first position. The debtor filed bankruptcy and suddenly everyone's pointing to different subsections of 9-320. Our legal team says we should have filed continuation statements differently, but I'm not even sure that's the real issue here. Has anyone dealt with UCC 9 320 priority disputes recently? I'm trying to figure out if we messed up our original UCC-1 filings or if this is just how these priority rules work. The whole situation is making me question whether we're handling our secured transactions correctly.

Been there done that with priority disputes. UCC 9-320 is one of those sections that seems straightforward until you're in the middle of a fight about it. Document everything - loan proceeds, purchase dates, filing dates. The bankruptcy trustee will scrutinize every detail.

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For future deals, consider using automated verification tools. I started using Certana.ai after a similar situation and it catches document inconsistencies that could affect priority claims.

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Good advice. These priority disputes are expensive to litigate, so prevention is worth the investment.

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Update: talked to our bankruptcy attorney and she confirmed the PMSI issue is the main problem. Since our loan proceeds didn't directly purchase the collateral we're claiming, we're probably just a regular secured creditor. Still fighting it but not optimistic about our priority position.

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That's unfortunate but not surprising. PMSI rules are pretty strict about the proceeds going directly to acquire the collateral.

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At least you know where you stand now. Better to find out during the case than after a judgment against you.

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Diego Mendoza

UCC-1 filing instructions needed - debtor name variations causing rejections

I'm working on a UCC-1 filing instructions issue and getting frustrated with the state portal. Our equipment financing company has been dealing with multiple rejections because of debtor name formatting problems. The borrower's legal name on their articles of incorporation shows 'ABC Manufacturing Solutions, LLC' but their bank account and loan docs sometimes show 'ABC Mfg Solutions LLC' or just 'ABC Manufacturing Solutions'. We've had three UCC-1s rejected in the past month because the Secretary of State system is flagging name inconsistencies. Each rejection costs us time and creates lien gaps. I'm trying to understand the exact UCC-1 filing instructions for how strict the debtor name matching requirements really are. Does anyone have clear guidance on whether we need to match the exact punctuation and abbreviations from the charter documents? The SOS website has basic instructions but doesn't cover these edge cases. We're dealing with about $2.3M in equipment loans where perfect lien priority is critical.

The timing issue is what kills me. Every rejection adds 5-7 days to the process, and meanwhile you're sitting there with an unperfected security interest. On competitive deals, that delay can be the difference between getting paid and getting nothing.

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What do you mean by pre-verification?

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Tools like Certana.ai that check document consistency before you submit to the state. Catches errors that would cause rejections.

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Thanks everyone for the advice. Going to implement the charter document verification step and look into the automated checking tools. Can't keep dealing with these rejection cycles on time-sensitive deals.

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Good luck! The name matching thing is frustrating but once you get a system down it becomes routine.

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Let us know how it works out. Always interested to hear about solutions that actually work in practice.

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Layla Sanders

Cook County UCC Search Portal Down Again - Need Alternative Way to Find Filing Numbers

Our compliance team has been trying to run a cook county ucc search for the past two days but the portal keeps timing out or showing maintenance messages. We have a client acquisition closing next week and need to verify there are no existing liens on equipment collateral located in Chicago. The debtor entity has operations across multiple counties but the primary assets are warehoused in Cook County. Has anyone found a reliable workaround when the official search function isn't working? We've tried different browsers and clearing cache but still getting errors. This is holding up a $2.8M equipment financing deal and our client is getting frustrated with the delays.

This happens way too often with government filing systems. They never seem to have adequate server capacity for normal business volumes.

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It's 2025 and we're still dealing with government websites that crash under normal load. Ridiculous.

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The problem is they don't budget for proper IT infrastructure. Then businesses suffer when systems fail during critical transactions.

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UPDATE: The Cook County portal came back online this morning around 8 AM. Managed to complete our search and found two existing UCC-1s that we need to address before our filing. Thanks everyone for the suggestions - definitely going to look into backup verification tools for future situations like this.

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Good to hear it's back up. Did you end up trying any of the alternative approaches while waiting?

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We started looking into the document verification options mentioned here. Definitely want to have a backup plan for next time this happens.

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James Martinez

1st global systems ucc lien issues with rejected continuation filing

Has anyone dealt with 1st global systems ucc lien complications? I'm handling a commercial equipment loan where the original UCC-1 was filed back in 2020 for $875,000 in manufacturing equipment. The continuation deadline is coming up in March and I submitted the UCC-3 continuation last week but it got rejected for "debtor name inconsistency." The original filing shows the debtor as "1ST GLOBAL SYSTEMS LLC" but our current corporate records show "FIRST GLOBAL SYSTEMS, LLC" (spelled out). The SOS portal is saying these don't match closely enough for automatic acceptance. This is a critical lien that secures multiple pieces of CNC machinery and if it lapses we're looking at a major perfection issue. Anyone know if there's a way to fix this without having to file a whole new UCC-1? The borrower is getting nervous about the lien gap and honestly so am I.

Just went through something similar with a client last month. Filed UCC-3 amendment first to standardize the debtor name, then the continuation went through without any issues. Took about a week total but gave everyone peace of mind.

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That's reassuring to hear. A week timeline works with my deadline. Did you file both documents simultaneously or wait for the amendment to be accepted first?

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I waited for the amendment to be accepted first, then filed the continuation. Wanted to make sure the corrected name was in the system before trying the continuation again.

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For what it's worth, most Secretary of State offices are pretty good about processing amendments quickly, especially when it's obviously the same entity (like 1ST vs FIRST). The key is making sure your amendment form clearly explains the correction and references the original filing number correctly.

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Smart plan. And double-check that filing number - one wrong digit and you'll have a whole new set of problems.

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This is exactly why I always triple-check filing numbers. One transposition error can create a nightmare.

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Zara Malik

UCC security agreement requirements - which of the following is mandatory?

Hey everyone, I'm prepping for my secured transactions exam and keep getting confused about the basic requirements for a valid security agreement under Article 9. My study materials list several potential requirements but I'm having trouble identifying which ones are actually mandatory versus just best practices. The question format is "which of the following is a requirement of a security agreement" and I keep second-guessing myself on the fundamentals. I know there's the writing requirement, but what about authentication? Description of collateral? Are there specific formatting rules? Anyone have experience with security agreement drafting who can clarify the core statutory requirements? I don't want to overthink this but also don't want to miss something basic that could invalidate the whole agreement.

honestly I've been practicing commercial law for 15 years and still double-check the basic requirements sometimes. There's no shame in verifying the fundamentals especially when the stakes are high.

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That's reassuring to hear from someone with experience. Makes me feel less stupid for asking basic questions.

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Never feel stupid about getting the basics right. I've seen multi-million dollar deals fall apart because someone skipped a basic requirement they thought they knew.

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Final thought - once you nail down those three core requirements, the rest of security agreement drafting is really about practical considerations and specific deal terms. But those three are your foundation that everything else builds on.

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Thanks everyone, this really helped clarify things. Writing + debtor authentication + collateral description = the holy trinity of security agreement requirements.

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Good luck on your exam! You've got this.

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