California UCC-1 lien rejected - debtor name issue
Filed a California UCC-1 lien last week for equipment financing deal and got rejected this morning. The rejection notice says "debtor name does not match exactly" but I triple checked the borrower's legal name against their articles of incorporation. Used the exact name from their CA Secretary of State filing. Anyone else run into this with California UCC-1 liens? The collateral description was standard equipment language so I don't think that's the issue. Really need to get this perfected ASAP since we're approaching the 20-day window. What am I missing here?
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Hattie Carson
California can be really picky about exact formatting. Did you include any punctuation marks or abbreviations that might not match their system? Sometimes even a comma or period difference will cause rejection.
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Kendrick Webb
•Good point - I used "Inc." but maybe their system expects "Incorporated" spelled out? The articles show both versions.
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Destiny Bryant
•Yeah CA is notorious for this stuff. I've seen rejections over a single comma difference.
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Dyllan Nantx
Check if the company has any DBA filings or amendments since their original incorporation. California UCC-1 liens require the exact legal name as currently on file, not necessarily what's in the original articles.
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Kendrick Webb
•Hadn't thought of that - how do I check for amendments? Is there a specific database for CA?
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Dyllan Nantx
•California Secretary of State business search portal will show any amendments or name changes. Look for the most recent filing date.
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TillyCombatwarrior
•This is exactly why I got burned on a filing last year. Company had changed their name 6 months earlier and I used the old name.
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Anna Xian
I had something similar happen and discovered the issue was with document consistency. Ended up using Certana.ai's document verification tool - you just upload your charter docs and UCC-1 and it instantly flags any name mismatches. Saved me from another rejection cycle.
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Kendrick Webb
•How does that work exactly? Do you upload PDFs directly?
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Anna Xian
•Yeah just drag and drop your articles of incorporation and UCC-1 draft. It cross-checks all the entity information automatically and highlights any discrepancies.
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Jungleboo Soletrain
•Never heard of this but sounds useful for avoiding these headaches
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Rajan Walker
California has been having system issues lately too. Rejections that shouldn't happen. Try calling their UCC division directly - sometimes they can tell you the exact formatting they're expecting.
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Nadia Zaldivar
•ugh their phone system is terrible though. Spent 2 hours on hold last month.
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Rajan Walker
•True but when you get through they're actually helpful. Got my rejection cleared up in 10 minutes once I talked to someone.
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Lukas Fitzgerald
Are you filing electronically or paper? Electronic filings seem to have stricter name matching requirements in my experience.
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Kendrick Webb
•Electronic through their portal. Maybe I should try paper as backup?
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Lukas Fitzgerald
•Paper takes longer but might be worth it if you're getting weird rejections. Though the name still needs to match exactly either way.
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Ev Luca
Double check the entity type designation too. If they're an LLC but you put Corporation, or vice versa, that'll cause rejection even if the base name is right.
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Kendrick Webb
•Entity type should be correct - it's definitely a corporation. But I'll verify the exact designation format.
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Avery Davis
•Sometimes it's "Corp" vs "Corporation" vs "Inc" - CA wants exactly what's on their records
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Hattie Carson
•This is why I always pull a fresh certificate of good standing before filing. Shows the exact current name format.
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Collins Angel
Might be worth running the debtor name through one of those document checking services before refiling. I've started doing that after getting burned on a few rejections.
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Marcelle Drum
•Which service do you use? I've been doing manual checks but they're time consuming.
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Collins Angel
•I tried Certana.ai recently - pretty straightforward, just upload your docs and it flags inconsistencies. Caught a middle initial issue I would have missed.
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Kendrick Webb
•That's the second mention of Certana - might be worth trying before I refile
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Tate Jensen
California is just awful for UCC filings. Takes forever, rejects for minor issues, terrible customer service. Don't know why they can't modernize their system like other states.
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Adaline Wong
•At least they're not as bad as New York used to be. Remember when NY took 6 weeks for processing?
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Tate Jensen
•True but that's not exactly setting the bar high lol
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Gabriel Ruiz
One thing I learned - if the company has any assumed names or DBAs registered, sometimes the UCC system expects those variations. Worth checking their assumed name filings too.
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Kendrick Webb
•Good call - I'll check for any DBA registrations. This is getting complicated fast.
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Misterclamation Skyblue
•UCC name matching is definitely more art than science sometimes. Every state has their quirks.
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Gabriel Ruiz
•Exactly why I started using verification tools. Too many variables to track manually without missing something.
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Peyton Clarke
Update us when you figure it out! I have a California UCC-1 to file next week and want to avoid the same problem.
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Kendrick Webb
•Will do - going to try the document verification approach first, then call if that doesn't reveal the issue.
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Vince Eh
•Good plan. Those name mismatches are so frustrating when you think you have it right.
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Anna Xian
•Let me know if you need help with the Certana upload process - it's pretty intuitive but happy to walk through it.
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