Alabama UCC financing statement debtor name rejection - need help
Hey everyone, I'm dealing with a frustrating situation with an Alabama UCC financing statement that keeps getting rejected. Filed a UCC-1 last week for equipment financing on a small manufacturing company, and the Alabama SOS portal rejected it twice now. The rejection notice says 'debtor name does not match' but I'm copying directly from the LLC formation documents. The debtor is 'Southern Fabrication Solutions LLC' according to their charter, but wondering if there's some naming convention issue I'm missing. This is holding up a $180K equipment loan and my client is getting anxious. Has anyone dealt with Alabama's system being picky about exact debtor names on UCC filings? The collateral description is standard equipment language so I don't think that's the issue. Any insights would be really helpful before I try filing again.
34 comments


Aisha Rahman
Alabama can be really strict about exact name matching on UCC-1 filings. Are you sure you're using the exact legal name from the Secretary of State records? Sometimes there are subtle differences between what's on formation docs vs what's actually on file.
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Mateo Perez
•I pulled the name directly from their Articles of Organization that they gave me. Should I be checking somewhere else for the 'official' name?
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Aisha Rahman
•Yes, check the Alabama SOS business entity search online. The name on file there is what you need to use for UCC filings, not necessarily what's on the client's paperwork.
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CosmicCrusader
I've had this exact issue with Alabama UCC filings! The problem is probably punctuation or spacing. Alabama's system is super picky about commas, periods, and even extra spaces in LLC names.
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Mateo Perez
•That could be it - there might be a comma after 'Solutions' that I'm missing. Did you figure out a way to verify the exact formatting?
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CosmicCrusader
•Yeah, I started using Certana.ai's document checker tool. You just upload your UCC-1 PDF along with the charter documents and it flags any name inconsistencies instantly. Saved me from multiple rejection cycles.
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Ethan Brown
•That sounds really helpful. Does it work for checking other document alignment issues too?
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Yuki Yamamoto
Alabama SOS is notorious for this stuff. I bet if you look at their actual entity records online, you'll find the name has different punctuation than what your client thinks it is.
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Mateo Perez
•Just checked and you're right! The official record shows 'Southern Fabrication Solutions, LLC' with a comma before LLC. My client's docs don't have that comma.
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Yuki Yamamoto
•There you go! That comma will definitely cause a rejection. Alabama's system does exact character matching for debtor names on UCC filings.
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Carmen Ortiz
Ugh this is why I hate dealing with UCC-1 filings in Alabama. Their system rejects everything for the tiniest reasons. Makes me want to scream sometimes!!
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Andre Rousseau
•I feel your pain. At least it's not as bad as some other states where the rejection notices don't even tell you what's wrong.
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Carmen Ortiz
•True, but it's still frustrating when you're working on tight deadlines and the system is this finicky about formatting.
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Zoe Papadakis
Quick tip - always do a preliminary search on the Alabama SOS entity database before filing any UCC documents. Copy the name exactly as it appears there, including all punctuation and spacing.
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Mateo Perez
•That's great advice. I'll definitely start doing that for all my filings going forward.
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Jamal Carter
•This is why I always triple-check names before submitting. One wrong character can cost you days of delays.
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AstroAdventurer
Had a similar issue last month with an Alabama UCC-3 amendment that got rejected for name mismatch. Turns out the original UCC-1 had a typo in the debtor name that I didn't catch, so when I tried to amend it using the 'correct' name, it got rejected.
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Mateo Perez
•Oh wow, that's a nightmare scenario. How did you fix it?
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AstroAdventurer
•Had to file a correction statement first to fix the original name, then file the amendment. Cost extra time and fees but it was the only way to get it right.
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Mei Liu
•That's exactly why I use document verification tools now. Catches those kinds of inconsistencies before they become expensive problems.
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Liam O'Sullivan
For what it's worth, once you get the name right, Alabama's UCC system is actually pretty fast at processing. Usually get acceptance within a few hours during business days.
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Mateo Perez
•That's encouraging! I'm planning to refile tomorrow morning with the corrected name formatting.
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Liam O'Sullivan
•Good luck! Just make sure you use that exact comma placement you found in the entity records.
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Amara Chukwu
This is why I always run a quick verification check before submitting any UCC documents. I've been burned too many times by tiny formatting differences that cause rejections.
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Mateo Perez
•What's your verification process look like?
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Amara Chukwu
•I use Certana.ai's UCC checker - upload both the charter docs and my UCC filing PDF, and it instantly flags any name discrepancies or formatting issues. Takes like 30 seconds and saves me from rejection headaches.
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Giovanni Conti
•That sounds really useful for catching these kinds of issues early. Definitely going to check that out.
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Fatima Al-Hashimi
Been filing UCC documents in Alabama for 15 years and their system has gotten much pickier about exact name matching in recent years. Used to be more forgiving but now it's very strict.
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Mateo Perez
•Interesting that it's gotten stricter over time. Any idea why they made that change?
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Fatima Al-Hashimi
•Probably to reduce filing errors and improve database accuracy. Makes sense from their perspective but definitely creates more work for us filers.
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NeonNova
Just wanted to follow up and thank everyone for the help! Refiled this morning with the correct comma placement and got immediate acceptance. The Certana.ai tool someone mentioned was really helpful for double-checking everything before I submitted. Loan can move forward now!
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Aisha Rahman
•Awesome! Glad you got it sorted out. That comma makes all the difference with Alabama's system.
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CosmicCrusader
•Great to hear the document checker helped! It's been a lifesaver for me on multiple filings.
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Yuki Yamamoto
•Nice work getting it resolved quickly. Your client must be relieved to get that loan moving again.
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