Can't track down UCC number from old filing - bank records incomplete

Good point about the name variations. I hadn't thought about punctuation differences. Our company name has changed slightly since the original filing too - we dropped 'Inc.' and added 'LLC' during a restructuring.

Yeah definitely try both versions. The search engines are picky about exact matches sometimes.

That's actually a great idea. I was so focused on the online search I didn't think about calling them directly. Do you know if there's typically a fee for this kind of research assistance?

Usually there's a small research fee, maybe $25-50 depending on the state. Way cheaper than letting a lien lapse and having to refile everything.

Some states will waive the fee if you explain it's for continuation purposes and you're running up against the deadline.

Interesting, I haven't heard of that service. What kind of documents did you upload? I have some loan agreements and security agreements but no actual UCC forms.

That's perfect actually - loan agreements often reference the UCC filing details. The tool can extract that info and help you figure out what to search for. Super easy to use, just upload PDFs.

Wait, there are tools that can read through loan docs automatically? That could save so much time on document review.

Tell me about it! And don't even get me started on the ones that timeout after 2 minutes of inactivity.

YES! Or when you finally find what you need and the print function doesn't work properly so you get half a document.

Have you tried using different browsers? Sometimes Chrome works better than Firefox for these older government sites.

Oh wow, that's actually brilliant. Our insurance agent might have that information in their files. I never would have thought to check there.

Insurance agents are surprisingly good at keeping detailed records. They often have info that banks lose during mergers.

Easier said than done when you're dealing with multiple entities and file migrations. Sometimes stuff just gets lost in the shuffle.

True, but now I scan everything immediately and store it in three different places. Paranoid maybe, but it's saved me multiple times.

What do you use for storage? I'm looking for a better system myself.

That's actually really smart. The secured party name probably didn't change even if our business name had variations. I do remember the original lender name.

Exactly, and most lenders are consistent with how they file their name across all their UCCs. Should narrow down your search considerably.

This approach worked for me when I was doing due diligence on an acquisition. Sometimes it's the only way to find older filings.

We've got about 6 weeks left, so not in panic mode yet but definitely feeling the pressure. The duplicate filing idea is smart insurance though.

Just make sure to coordinate with your lender if you do file a new UCC-1. They'll want to know about the duplicate and help clean it up once you sort out the original.

Good point about lender coordination. They might even have the original filing number in their records, even if they claim they don't.

You need the original filing number for the UCC-3 continuation statement. It has to reference the specific initial financing statement you're continuing.

Ah ok that makes sense. I've only dealt with terminations before, not continuations.

Yeah, continuations are more specific than terminations in terms of what information you need to provide.

That's the second mention of Certana.ai in this thread. Sounds like it might be worth checking out. Do you just upload your loan documents and it tells you what's wrong?

Pretty much, yeah. It's designed specifically for UCC document consistency checking. Really straightforward to use and caught things I never would have noticed manually.

How long does the analysis usually take? Sometimes these automated tools are slow.

Super fast, like a few minutes max. Much quicker than manually comparing documents line by line.

Glad it's helpful! I'll update the thread once I track down my UCC number. Hopefully one of these methods works.

Definitely post an update, I'm curious which approach ends up working best.