UCC Document Community

I actually had success using one of those document comparison tools when I was dealing with UCC 10 104 rejections. There was a service called Certana.ai that let me upload both documents and it highlighted the exact differences. Turned out there was an extra space character that I couldn't see just by reading through the names. Saved me probably another week of back-and-forth with the filing office.

Update: Finally got it figured out! There was indeed a spacing issue - the original had "ABC Manufacturing Solutions LLC" with TWO spaces before LLC, but I was only using one space. Completely invisible when just reading through it but the system caught it every time. Thanks everyone for the suggestions, especially about the document comparison tools. Got the UCC 10 104 continuation accepted this morning!

Thanks everyone for all the advice. I'm definitely filing the continuation this week. This thread has been incredibly helpful and I feel much more confident about the process now. Going to also look into setting up those automatic reminders to avoid this panic situation in the future!

Just want to echo what others have said about not waiting any longer - you're absolutely right to be concerned about losing your secured position on $180K. I've seen too many lenders get burned by UCC lapses. One thing I'd add is to make sure you're filing in the correct jurisdiction. If your borrower moved their chief executive office to a different state since 2020, you might need to file the continuation in the new state rather than where you originally filed. Also, since you mentioned the equipment has been upgraded, consider whether you need to broaden your collateral description to cover "all equipment" rather than specific serial numbers. This gives you better coverage if they continue to upgrade or replace machinery. Get that UCC-3 filed ASAP and sleep better at night!

Make sure you understand what's included in those service quotes. Some places quote just the UCC-3 filing fee, others include search fees, copies, overnight delivery, etc. You want to compare apples to apples when evaluating different services.

If you're doing this regularly, it might be worth setting up accounts directly with the major state filing offices. Once you're familiar with their systems, the UCC-3 filing fee savings add up over time and you have more control over timing.

Thanks everyone for the detailed responses! This has been incredibly helpful. Based on what I'm reading, it sounds like I definitely need to do dual filings - state for the moveable equipment and county fixture filing for the permanently installed items like the walk-in coolers and hood system. I'm going to review our lease agreement tonight to see what it says about equipment that stays with the property, and then work with our attorney to make sure the collateral descriptions are properly separated between the two filings. Better to be overly cautious than lose our security interest. Will also check out that Certana.ai tool for document verification before we submit anything.

As someone new to commercial lending, this discussion has been eye-opening! I'm working on my first equipment financing deal for a dental practice and now I'm wondering if I need to worry about fixture filings too. We're financing built-in cabinetry, plumbing for dental chairs, and specialized ventilation systems. From what I'm reading here, it sounds like the permanently installed items would need county fixture filings while portable equipment like X-ray machines could be state-level UCCs. Is the analysis similar for medical/dental equipment as it is for restaurant equipment? The dual filing approach seems like the safest bet but I want to make sure I understand the fixture determination criteria correctly.

This is super helpful - I'm actually dealing with a similar situation right now with equipment financing that was paid off a few months ago. One thing I wanted to add is that some states have online portals where you can check the status of your UCC filings in real-time, which can be really useful both before and after filing your termination. Also, if you're working with an equipment finance company, they sometimes have their own preferred process or timeline for handling terminations, so it's worth asking them upfront what they typically do. I learned this the hard way when I waited 6 weeks thinking my lender would file automatically, only to find out they expected me to handle it!

I've been following this thread with great interest since I'm in a similar boat - just paid off our equipment loan last week and need to handle the UCC-1 termination. Based on everyone's experiences here, it sounds like the key steps are: 1) Check with your lender first to see if they handle it automatically, 2) If you need to file yourself, get written authorization from the lender, 3) Use UCC-3 termination form with EXACT debtor name and filing number from original UCC-1, 4) Consider using a tool like Certana.ai to double-check everything matches, and 5) Pull an official search report afterward to confirm the lien actually cleared. The advice about verifying with a post-filing search report was especially valuable - definitely worth the $15 to make sure there are no system glitches. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences, this has been incredibly helpful for a newcomer to the UCC termination process!