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I've had good luck contacting the Utah SOS office directly when I have questions about debtor names. They're usually pretty helpful about clarifying what's acceptable for UCC filings. Might be worth a quick call before you file the amendment.
Good suggestion - do you have a direct number? Sometimes it's hard to get through to someone who actually knows UCC rules.
I usually call their main business services line and ask to speak with someone about UCC filings. They transfer you to the right department.
Update us on what you decide to do! I'm dealing with a similar name variation issue in Colorado and curious how this plays out.
Will do! Planning to file the amendment this week after I verify there's no DBA filing that resolves this.
I'd be interested in the outcome too. These name consistency issues seem to be getting more common.
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Just a thought - have you checked if any of these companies have DBA (doing business as) names filed? Sometimes that can explain name variations in UCC filings. Wisconsin businesses often file under their DBA names rather than their formal legal names.
I hadn't thought of that. I'll check the DBA registrations as well. That could definitely explain some of the name inconsistencies.
DBA names are definitely a factor in UCC filings. Good catch on that possibility.
Whatever you do, make sure you document your search methodology and results thoroughly. If questions come up later about due diligence, you'll want to show that you identified and investigated all potential UCC filings. I always save screenshots of search results and keep copies of all the filing documents.
Good practice. Your attorney will appreciate having complete documentation if any issues arise.
I always recommend creating a due diligence checklist for UCC searches to make sure nothing gets missed.
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I went through something similar two years ago. Borrower's attorney sent a repudiation letter claiming our security interest was invalid because of a minor discrepancy in the entity name. We fought it for six months and won, but it cost us a fortune in legal fees. In hindsight, I wish we'd just negotiated a settlement early on. Sometimes it's cheaper to compromise than to be right.
We looked at reducing the collateral scope or allowing them to pay down a portion of the loan to release some equipment. Anything that would have been cheaper than litigation.
But then you're rewarding bad behavior. If you settle, other borrowers will think they can pull the same trick.
Update us on how this turns out. I'm curious whether their attorney actually found a real issue or if this is just posturing. The fact that they're still making payments suggests they're not completely confident in their position. If they really thought your security interest was invalid, why would they keep paying?
That's a good point. I'll definitely post an update once we know more. Meeting with our attorney tomorrow to review the documentation.
Yeah please keep us posted. These repudiation cases are always educational for the rest of us dealing with UCC issues.
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For a $2.8M loan, I'd definitely recommend getting a professional UCC search done by a service company. They can parse through the Michigan system's quirks and give you a clean report.
That's probably overkill for a continuation filing if you have the original UCC-1 details. But for initial filings on large loans, agreed.
Professional searches are expensive but worth it for high-value transactions. Depends on your risk tolerance and timeline.
Just make sure you file that continuation at least 6 months before the 5-year deadline. Michigan can be slow processing filings and you don't want to risk your security interest lapsing.
Smart approach. I always file continuations at least 60-90 days early to account for any processing delays or rejection issues.
Good planning. Nothing worse than scrambling at the last minute with a lapsed filing on a multi-million dollar loan.
Reginald Blackwell
Quick question - you mentioned the equipment is losing value in storage. How long do you have to wait between sending 9-608 notices and actually disposing of the collateral? Is there a minimum waiting period?
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Jungleboo Soletrain
•Generally 10 days after sending notice, but check your state's version of 9-608. Some states have variations. The key is that disposal must occur within a reasonable time after default, but you can't rush the notice period.
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Aria Khan
•And remember that "reasonable time" for disposal depends on the type of collateral. Perishable goods need faster disposal than equipment, but depreciating assets like CNC machinery shouldn't sit indefinitely either.
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Everett Tutum
We actually started using that Certana document checker tool someone mentioned earlier for our UCC compliance reviews. Really helpful for complex disposal situations where you need to verify all the secured party filings and make sure there are no debtor name mismatches that could affect notice requirements. Uploaded our UCC-1 and found a minor discrepancy in how we'd formatted the debtor's business name compared to their charter documents. Could have caused problems with 9-608 notice validity if we hadn't caught it.
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Anna Xian
•That's exactly the kind of detail that could derail a disposal process. Might be worth checking our filings too before we send notices.
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Sunny Wang
•Yeah debtor name accuracy is critical for 9-608 notice requirements. Any mismatch gives them grounds to challenge the whole disposal process.
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