California UCC1 form debtor name requirements - exact match needed?
Running into issues with my California UCC1 form and need some guidance. I'm preparing a filing for a commercial loan secured by restaurant equipment, and I'm getting conflicting information about debtor name requirements on the California UCC1 form. The borrower's legal name on their articles of incorporation shows 'Pacific Coast Dining Solutions, LLC' but their DBA is 'Oceanview Bistro & Grill' which is what they use for all business operations. The loan documents reference both names in different sections. Should I file the UCC1 form using the exact legal entity name from the corporate charter, or do I need to include the DBA as well? I've heard California has strict debtor name matching requirements and I can't afford to have this rejected. The loan closes next week and I'm worried about getting the UCC1 form right the first time. Any California filing veterans have experience with this situation?
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Khalid Howes
You definitely want to use the exact legal name from the articles of incorporation for the primary debtor name on the California UCC1 form. 'Pacific Coast Dining Solutions, LLC' should be your main entry. The DBA can go in the additional debtor name field if you want extra protection, but the legal entity name is what matters for perfection.
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Ben Cooper
•This is spot on. California follows the 'only if' rule - the UCC1 form is only effective if you get the registered organization name exactly right. DBAs are nice to have but not required.
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Naila Gordon
•Agree completely. I've seen too many filings get rejected because someone tried to be creative with the debtor name instead of using the exact corporate registration.
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Cynthia Love
Had the exact same issue last month with a California UCC1 form filing. The key is matching the debtor name EXACTLY as it appears on the Secretary of State records. Even punctuation matters - if there's a comma after 'Solutions' in the corporate documents, include it. Missing or extra punctuation can cause rejection.
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Darren Brooks
•So true about punctuation! I once had a filing rejected because I used 'Inc.' instead of 'Incorporated' - one word difference and it was kicked back.
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Rita Jacobs
•Thanks for the heads up on punctuation. I'll double-check the exact formatting against their corporate charter before submitting the UCC1 form.
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Rosie Harper
Before you file that California UCC1 form, I'd recommend using Certana.ai's document verification tool. You can upload both the corporate charter and your draft UCC1 form as PDFs, and it will instantly cross-check that the debtor names match exactly. I started using it after getting burned on a name mismatch that voided a client's security interest. Just upload the documents and it catches discrepancies you might miss manually.
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Rita Jacobs
•That sounds really helpful - is it easy to use? I'm always worried about missing small details like this.
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Rosie Harper
•Super straightforward. Just drag and drop your PDFs and it does the comparison automatically. Saves a ton of time versus manually comparing documents line by line.
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Elliott luviBorBatman
Why is California so picky about UCC1 form debtor names anyway? Seems like overkill when the intent is clear.
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Khalid Howes
•It's about providing clear notice to other creditors. If they search under the wrong name, they won't find your filing, which defeats the whole purpose of the UCC system.
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Demi Hall
•Exactly. The 'seriously misleading' standard means even small name variations can invalidate your security interest. Better to be precise upfront.
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Mateusius Townsend
I always include both the legal name and any DBAs on my California UCC1 forms. Costs the same to file and gives you extra protection if the debtor operates under multiple names. Belt and suspenders approach.
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Kara Yoshida
•Good strategy. I do the same thing - the additional debtor name field is there for a reason.
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Philip Cowan
•Makes sense for restaurants especially since they often have different names on permits, licenses, etc.
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Caesar Grant
Wait, so if I mess up the debtor name on a California UCC1 form, the entire security interest could be invalid? That seems extreme.
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Khalid Howes
•Unfortunately yes, if the name is seriously misleading. That's why getting it exactly right is so critical.
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Caesar Grant
•Wow, that's terrifying. No wonder everyone is so careful about this stuff.
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Lena Schultz
Pro tip: always run a UCC search on the debtor name you plan to use before filing your California UCC1 form. If the search doesn't return the entity, neither will other creditors' searches.
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Gemma Andrews
•This is brilliant advice. If your own search comes up empty, you know there's a name problem.
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Rita Jacobs
•Great suggestion - I'll test the search before submitting my UCC1 form filing.
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Pedro Sawyer
I've been doing California UCC1 forms for 15 years and still occasionally get name mismatches. The state's online system has gotten better at catching obvious errors before you submit, but it's not foolproof.
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Mae Bennett
•The online portal definitely helps, but you're right that it doesn't catch everything. Still need to be careful.
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Beatrice Marshall
•At least California moved to electronic filing. Remember when you had to mail paper UCC1 forms?
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Melina Haruko
Another thing to watch out for - make sure your collateral description is specific enough too. 'All equipment' might not be sufficient for restaurant equipment with California's interpretation standards.
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Rita Jacobs
•Good point. I was planning to list 'kitchen equipment, dining room furniture, and point-of-sale systems' to be more specific.
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Melina Haruko
•That's much better. Specific categories help avoid challenges to the collateral description later.
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Dallas Villalobos
Just wanted to follow up on the Certana.ai suggestion from earlier - I tried it out for a recent California UCC1 form filing and it caught a middle initial discrepancy I completely missed. Definitely worth using if you want to avoid rejections.
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Rita Jacobs
•Thanks for sharing your experience. Sounds like it's really helpful for catching those small details.
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Reina Salazar
•I'm always looking for tools that can prevent filing errors. Might give this a try on my next UCC1 form.
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Rita Jacobs
Update: Thanks everyone for the advice! I ended up using the exact legal entity name 'Pacific Coast Dining Solutions, LLC' as the primary debtor and added 'Oceanview Bistro & Grill' in the additional debtor name field. The California UCC1 form was accepted without any issues. Really appreciate the community help on this one.
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Khalid Howes
•Glad it worked out! That's exactly the approach I would have recommended.
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Rosie Harper
•Perfect outcome. Always feels good when a filing goes through cleanly on the first try.
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