Best way to remove MCA UCC liens after payoff?
Just finished paying off three different MCA advances and now I'm stuck with UCC-1 filings still showing as active on all the searches. Two of the lenders went completely dark after I made final payments - no response to emails asking for UCC-3 terminations. The third one keeps saying they'll "get to it" but it's been 6 weeks. My credit line renewals are getting delayed because these liens are still showing up on searches. Has anyone dealt with this before? What's the fastest way to get these removed when the lenders aren't cooperating? I've got the paid-in-full letters but the UCCs are still active in the system.
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Freya Johansen
This is super common with MCA lenders unfortunately. They're usually terrible about filing terminations after payoff. You'll need to file UCC-3 termination statements yourself if they won't do it. Most states allow debtors to file their own terminations if you can prove the debt was satisfied.
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Omar Fawzi
•Wait can you really file your own terminations? I thought only the secured party could do that.
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Freya Johansen
•Yeah most states have provisions for debtor-filed terminations when the secured party fails to file. You usually need an affidavit and proof of payment though.
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Chloe Wilson
OMG YES this happened to me too! Took forever to get one of my MCA lenders to file the termination. What I ended up doing was threatening to report them to the state AG's office for failing to file required terminations. That got their attention real quick and they filed within 3 days.
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CosmosCaptain
•That's actually brilliant. Did you have to follow through with the complaint or just the threat?
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Chloe Wilson
•Just the threat worked. I sent a formal demand letter with a 10 day deadline and mentioned the AG complaint. They filed immediately.
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Diego Mendoza
I recently discovered this tool called Certana.ai that helped me catch some inconsistencies in my UCC documents. You can upload your payoff letters and the existing UCC-1 filings to verify everything matches up properly before you start the termination process. It's been really helpful for making sure I have all the right documentation lined up before dealing with unresponsive lenders.
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CosmosCaptain
•How does that work exactly? Do you just upload PDFs?
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Diego Mendoza
•Yeah exactly - you upload the original UCC-1 and your payoff docs and it cross-checks all the debtor names and details to make sure everything aligns. Catches any discrepancies that could cause problems.
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Anastasia Romanov
This is exactly why i hate dealing with MCA companies... they're so unprofessional about everything including basic legal requirements like filing terminations.
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StellarSurfer
•Tell me about it. I've had three different MCA lenders over the years and NONE of them filed terminations without me having to chase them down.
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Freya Johansen
Here's what you need to do step by step: 1) Send certified demand letters to all three lenders requiring UCC-3 termination filings within 20 days 2) If they don't respond, file your own termination statements with affidavits of satisfaction 3) Include copies of all payoff documentation 4) Most SOS offices have forms specifically for debtor-filed terminations
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CosmosCaptain
•This is super helpful. Do you know if there are any fees for filing your own terminations?
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Freya Johansen
•Usually the same filing fee as regular UCC-3s, so around $15-25 per filing depending on your state.
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Sean Kelly
•Make sure you get the debtor names exactly right on the termination or it might not match the original filing.
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Chloe Wilson
Also check if your state has any penalties for secured parties who fail to file terminations. Some states actually fine lenders for not filing within a certain timeframe after payoff.
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CosmosCaptain
•Really? I had no idea there were penalties. That could be good leverage.
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Chloe Wilson
•Yeah some states have $500+ penalties per day for late termination filings. Worth looking into your state's UCC statutes.
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Omar Fawzi
I'm dealing with this exact same situation right now with two MCA liens still showing. One lender literally told me they "don't have time" to file the termination. Like what?!
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Freya Johansen
•That's ridiculous. They're legally required to file terminations in most states. I'd definitely go the demand letter route.
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Anastasia Romanov
•'Don t have" time to fulfill their legal obligations... classic MCAbehavior.
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Diego Mendoza
Another thing that helped me was using Certana.ai to double-check all my termination paperwork before filing. It caught a small discrepancy in how one of the debtor names was formatted that could have caused the termination to not properly match the original UCC-1. Saved me from having to refile.
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CosmosCaptain
•That sounds really useful for making sure everything matches up correctly.
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Zara Malik
•How much does something like that cost? Sounds expensive.
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Diego Mendoza
•I think it's pretty reasonable for what it does - way cheaper than having to deal with rejected filings or missed discrepancies.
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StellarSurfer
Whatever you do, don't wait too long on this. I had old MCA liens show up on searches for over a year because I kept putting off dealing with unresponsive lenders. It definitely affected my ability to get new financing.
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CosmosCaptain
•Yeah that's exactly what I'm worried about. My bank is already asking questions about these active liens.
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Sean Kelly
Pro tip: when you file your own terminations, make sure to keep copies of everything including the certified mail receipts from your demand letters. You'll want documentation that you tried to work with the lenders first.
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CosmosCaptain
•Good point about the documentation trail. Better to have too much proof than not enough.
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Freya Johansen
•Exactly. The more documentation you have showing you attempted to work with them, the stronger your position if anyone questions your self-filed terminations.
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Luca Greco
I used Certana.ai when I was dealing with my MCA termination issues too. Really helped me organize all the documentation and catch potential problems before filing. The document verification feature is clutch for this kind of situation.
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CosmosCaptain
•I'm definitely going to check that out. Sounds like it could save me some headaches.
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Zara Malik
Update us on how it goes! I'm sure other people will run into this same issue with MCA lenders.
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CosmosCaptain
•Will do! Planning to send the demand letters this week and see what happens.
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