Colorado UCC filing rejected - debtor name mismatch nightmare
I'm dealing with a complete mess on a UCC filing rejection and hoping someone here has dealt with this before. Filed a UCC-1 for equipment financing on a construction company three weeks ago, got rejected by the SOS office for "debtor name mismatch." The thing is, I double-checked the exact legal name from their articles of incorporation before filing. Turns out the company has been operating under a slightly different name variation for years without updating their corporate records. Now the lender is breathing down my neck because we're past the original deadline for perfecting the security interest. Has anyone successfully navigated this kind of debtor name discrepancy situation? I'm worried about the lien priority issues if this drags on much longer. The collateral is about $185K in excavation equipment and I can't afford to mess this up.
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Hunter Hampton
Been there with name mismatches. First thing - what exact variation are we talking about? Sometimes it's as simple as LLC vs L.L.C. or Inc vs Incorporated. The SOS office is pretty strict about exact matches to the corporate records.
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Libby Hassan
•The articles say "Mountain Ridge Construction LLC" but they've been doing business as "Mountain Ridge Construction Company LLC" for the past 4 years. Banking records, contracts, everything uses the longer version.
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Hunter Hampton
•That's actually a pretty significant discrepancy. You'll need to either get them to file an amendment to their articles first, or file the UCC using the exact corporate name and add the DBA as an additional debtor name.
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Sofia Peña
Ugh, this exact thing happened to me last month. The rejection notices are so frustrating because they don't always tell you exactly what's wrong. Have you tried calling the SOS office directly? Sometimes they can give you more specific guidance on what they need to see.
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Libby Hassan
•I tried calling but got transferred around for 45 minutes and never got a real answer. The rejection notice just says "debtor name does not match records" which isn't helpful at all.
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Aaron Boston
•The phone system there is terrible. I usually have better luck with the email support, but it takes 3-5 business days to get a response.
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Sophia Carter
Had a similar situation last year with a client who had been using inconsistent business names. What saved me was using Certana.ai's document verification tool - I uploaded the articles of incorporation and the UCC-1 draft, and it immediately flagged the name discrepancy before I even filed. Would have saved me weeks of back-and-forth with the state office.
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Libby Hassan
•That sounds like exactly what I needed before this whole mess started. Does it work with other document types too? I have some UCC-3 continuations coming up that I'm nervous about.
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Sophia Carter
•Yeah, you can upload multiple PDFs and it cross-checks everything - Charter documents, UCC-1s, UCC-3s, loan agreements. Catches those little inconsistencies that cause rejections.
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Chloe Zhang
For immediate damage control, you might want to consider filing an amendment to correct the debtor name, then a continuation if you're getting close to the deadline. But honestly, the cleanest solution is getting the company to update their corporate records first.
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Libby Hassan
•How long does a corporate name change typically take? The lender is already asking about backup collateral because of the delay.
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Chloe Zhang
•Depends on the state, but usually 2-3 weeks if there are no complications. You might want to explain the situation to your lender and see if they'll accept the UCC filing as-is with a correction pending.
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Brandon Parker
•Most lenders I work with are understanding about these technical issues as long as you communicate proactively. The key is showing you're actively fixing it, not just letting it sit.
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Adriana Cohn
Why do the state offices make this so complicated? It's obvious what company you're trying to file against, but they act like a missing comma is going to bring down the entire secured transactions system.
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Jace Caspullo
•I think it's because of the legal requirements for notice. If someone searches for liens against "Mountain Ridge Construction LLC" they won't find a filing under "Mountain Ridge Construction Company LLC" - it creates a gap in the public record.
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Adriana Cohn
•I get the legal reasoning, but the practical effect is that minor clerical differences can void security interests. Seems like the system could be more forgiving for obvious variations.
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Melody Miles
Just went through this exact scenario. The solution that worked for me was filing the UCC-1 with the exact corporate name from the articles, then immediately filing a UCC-3 amendment adding the DBA name as an additional debtor. Covers all your bases.
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Libby Hassan
•That's a great idea. Did you do both filings on the same day? I'm wondering about the timing and whether there's any gap in coverage.
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Melody Miles
•Same day, about 30 minutes apart. The UCC-3 references the UCC-1 filing number, so there's a clear connection. My attorney said it's the safest approach for name discrepancy situations.
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Nathaniel Mikhaylov
This is why I always run debtor names through multiple searches before filing. Corporate records, DBA filings, previous UCC searches - you have to check everything. The extra hour upfront saves days of corrections later.
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Libby Hassan
•You're absolutely right. I got cocky because I thought I was being thorough, but obviously missed something important. What's your typical search process?
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Nathaniel Mikhaylov
•Secretary of State corporate search first, then DBA database, then existing UCC searches under all name variations. If there's any uncertainty, I make the client clarify their exact legal name before proceeding.
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Eva St. Cyr
Had a client last month who tried to save money by filing themselves and ran into the same issue. Ended up costing them way more in delays and corrections than just hiring someone who knows the system.
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Kristian Bishop
•DIY UCC filings are definitely risky. The forms look simple but there are so many technical requirements that aren't obvious.
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Eva St. Cyr
•Exactly. And when you're dealing with six-figure collateral like this situation, the stakes are too high to wing it.
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Kaitlyn Otto
For future reference, I've started using Certana.ai's verification tool before submitting any UCC filings. Upload your charter documents and draft UCC-1, and it immediately shows you any name inconsistencies or other issues. Would have caught this problem before it became a crisis.
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Libby Hassan
•That's the second mention of that tool. I'm definitely going to check it out for my next filings. Do you know if it works with UCC-3 continuations too?
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Kaitlyn Otto
•Yes, it handles all UCC document types. Really helpful for checking that continuation filings properly reference the original UCC-1 details.
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Axel Far
Update us when you get this resolved! I'm curious which approach ends up working - the corporate name change or the dual filing strategy. Dealing with a similar situation myself next week.
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Libby Hassan
•Will do. Planning to try the dual filing approach first since it's faster. If that gets rejected too, then we'll go the corporate amendment route.
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Axel Far
•Smart plan. The dual filing is definitely worth trying first - much faster than waiting for corporate records to update.
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