Car title security agreement UCC-1 filing rejected twice - debtor name issues

Wait, can you actually amend a security agreement after it's been signed? I thought once the borrower signs, you're locked into those terms. Wouldn't that require the customer to come back in?

Good point - technically yes, you'd need the borrower to sign an amended agreement. But most customers are cooperative when you explain it protects both parties. The alternative is an unperfected security interest which is way worse.

That's what I was afraid of. Customer lives 2 hours away and works offshore. Getting them back in might be impossible before our deadline.

Which state are you in? That makes a huge difference. Some states are more flexible than others on debtor name variations.

We're in Texas. The UCC-1 portal is pretty strict from what I've seen.

Never heard of that service. How accurate is it compared to just manually checking everything yourself?

Way more thorough than manual checking honestly. It caught things I completely missed like a slight variation in how the collateral was described between docs. Plus it's instant rather than waiting for a rejection.

Interesting, might be worth trying. At this point I need all the help I can get before attempting another filing.

But what if the security agreement says Michael J. Rodriguez? Doesn't that create a legal issue if the UCC-1 shows a different name?

That's the risk. Ideally everything matches, but if you have to pick one name to use, go with what's on the title since that's the actual ownership document.

I disagree. The security agreement is the contract, so the UCC-1 should match that. Otherwise you're filing a lien against someone who didn't actually sign the agreement.

Hyphenated names are a nightmare for UCC filings. I always ask customers to use their "legal name as it appears on government issued ID" but even that doesn't guarantee consistency.

Right? And then you get the people who go by their middle name but their first name is on the title. Or married women who sometimes use maiden names, sometimes married names. It's chaos.

Good point. I used the address from our credit app but I should verify it matches the title exactly. Another thing to cross-check.

Address mismatches cause way more rejections than people realize. The systems are looking for exact matches down to abbreviations like St vs Street.

I tried calling but got transferred around and never reached someone who could help with specific filing questions. Maybe I'll try again with a different approach.

Ask to speak to the UCC filing department specifically. Regular customer service reps usually can't help with technical filing issues.

In my experience they won't give specific advice over the phone anyway. Liability issues or something. They just tell you to "follow the statute.

That's risky though. What if the customer refuses to sign the amended agreement? Then you have a UCC filing that doesn't match your actual contract.

True, but an imperfect lien is better than no lien at all when you're facing a bank deadline. Most customers will cooperate when you explain the situation.

I like this approach. Gets us protected first, then fixes the documentation. Going to try this route.

UCC-3 amendments for debtor name changes are tricky though. Some states require the original debtor to authorize the change, which brings you back to the same customer signature problem.

Plus amendment filings cost extra fees and take additional time. If you're already under deadline pressure, this might not be practical.

Will definitely post an update. Going to try the Certana verification tool first to make sure I'm not missing anything obvious, then attempt the filing with the exact title name. Fingers crossed!

Good luck! These name mismatch situations are always stressful but usually work out in the end. The important thing is getting that lien perfected before your bank deadline.