Article 9 UCC secured transactions perfection issue - equipment lease confusion

That's exactly what I'm worried about. We haven't filed anything yet because legal keeps going back and forth on whether it's even necessary. The original lease was filed under the old corporate name.

Wait, if the debtor name changed TWICE, you definitely need to address that. Each name change requires its own consideration for UCC purposes.

This is why I hate equipment leases that convert. Too many moving parts and everyone assumes someone else handled the UCC implications.

Exactly! And now we're 6 months into the purchase conversion with potentially zero perfection. Lender compliance is having a fit.

How does that work exactly? We've got like 15 different documents and I can't tell which names match what anymore.

You just upload PDFs and it cross-checks everything - debtor names, filing numbers, dates. Shows you exactly where the disconnects are. Super helpful for complex entity situations.

Never heard of Certana but that sounds like exactly what we need for our merger-related UCC cleanup project.

Illinois. Equipment stayed put but ownership went from ABC Corp to ABC Holdings LLC to ABC Manufacturing LLC. All related entities but technically different debtors.

Illinois SOS is pretty strict about debtor name accuracy. You'll need to address each name change separately. Consider filing continuation statements if any of the original filings are approaching their 5-year mark too.

Good point - I should probably start there before panicking further. Just dreading what we might find.

Always start with searches. Sometimes you find filings you forgot about or discover someone else already handled part of the problem.

Because lawyers need job security? 😅 But seriously, the complexity is partly due to trying to protect both secured parties and other creditors.

I get the purpose but the execution is painful. One small name discrepancy and your entire security interest could be worthless.

Good catch. It was entity restructuring within the same corporate family. No actual acquisitions by outside parties.

That helps. Internal restructuring is usually easier to handle than third-party acquisitions. Still need proper documentation though.

Even internal restructuring can create perfection issues if not handled properly. I've seen related-entity assumptions bite people.

Another vote for document verification tools. Manual review of complex entity changes is too error-prone.

At this point I'm willing to try anything. The stress of potentially having an unperfected security interest is killing me.

That's reassuring. I keep imagining worst-case scenarios where we lose our security interest entirely.

Worst case is usually just filing additional UCC-1s or amendments. Expensive and annoying but not catastrophic if you catch it reasonably quickly.

Agreed. I've never seen a situation that was completely unfixable, just varying degrees of paperwork and fees.

Spreadsheets are your friend. Track debtor names, filing dates, continuation deadlines, and any entity changes. Review quarterly.

I do spreadsheets but they get overwhelming fast. Maybe I need a better system.

Some people use specialized UCC tracking software. Depends on your volume but might be worth it if you're doing lots of equipment financing.

Will do! Hopefully I'll have good news to report. This thread has been super helpful for getting my head straight on next steps.

These kinds of detailed discussions are why I love this forum. Real-world UCC problems with actual solutions.