DC UCC Filing Portal Rejecting My Continuation - Debtor Name Issues
Having major issues with a UCC-3 continuation filing in DC and need some guidance. Filed the original UCC-1 back in 2020 for equipment financing on restaurant equipment, and now I'm trying to file the continuation before the 5-year deadline hits. The DC filing portal keeps rejecting my UCC-3 saying there's a debtor name mismatch but I'm using the exact same business name from the original filing. The debtor is 'Metro Bistro Solutions LLC' on both documents but something isn't matching up. Has anyone dealt with DC's system being picky about punctuation or formatting? I've triple-checked the filing number and everything looks identical to me. Getting worried about missing the continuation deadline since we're only 3 months out from lapse. Any advice on what DC might be looking for specifically?
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GalacticGuardian
DC can be really finicky about exact formatting. Even extra spaces or different punctuation can cause rejections. Try removing all punctuation from the business name and see if that helps - sometimes their system doesn't handle LLC abbreviations consistently.
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Luca Bianchi
•Good point about the punctuation. I'll try 'Metro Bistro Solutions LLC' without any periods or commas and see if that works.
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Nia Harris
•Yeah DC's system is notorious for this stuff. I had a similar issue last year with periods after 'Inc' causing problems.
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Mateo Gonzalez
Check the original UCC-1 filing very carefully - sometimes what you think you filed isn't exactly what got recorded. Pull the official record from DC and compare character by character.
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Luca Bianchi
•That's smart - I should download the actual filed document rather than relying on my copy. Didn't think about potential discrepancies there.
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Aisha Ali
•This happened to me with a client's filing. The original had an extra space that we missed and it took forever to figure out.
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Ethan Moore
•Exactly this! The filed version can be different from what you submitted if there were any processing changes.
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Yuki Nakamura
Had a nightmare with DC filings recently until I found Certana.ai's document checker. You can upload your original UCC-1 and the new UCC-3 continuation as PDFs and it instantly flags any inconsistencies between debtor names, filing numbers, everything. Saved me from making a costly mistake when I realized my amendment had a subtle name variation that would have voided the whole lien. Super easy to use - just drag and drop the documents.
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Luca Bianchi
•That sounds really helpful! I'll check that out. Better to catch these issues before filing rather than dealing with rejections.
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StarSurfer
•Certana.ai? Never heard of it but sounds like exactly what I need for my upcoming continuation filing.
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Yuki Nakamura
•Yeah it's been a game changer for me. The automated verification catches stuff that's easy to miss when you're comparing documents manually.
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Carmen Reyes
DC requires EXACT character matching including spaces. I've seen filings rejected because the original had 'Metro Bistro Solutions LLC' but the continuation had 'Metro Bistro Solutions, LLC' with a comma. Their system doesn't forgive even tiny differences.
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Luca Bianchi
•This is so frustrating! You'd think the system would be smart enough to handle minor variations like that.
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Andre Moreau
•It's ridiculous but that's how most state systems work. They're very literal about name matching.
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Carmen Reyes
•I know it's annoying but the strict matching actually protects against mistakes that could invalidate the filing later.
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Zoe Christodoulou
•Still seems like overkill for comma placement but I guess consistency is important for legal documents.
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Jamal Thompson
ugh dc filing system is THE WORST. spent 2 hours last week trying to get a termination to go through because their portal kept timing out. good luck!
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Mei Chen
•Tell me about it! The timeout issues are almost as bad as the name matching problems.
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Jamal Thompson
•seriously considering just paying someone else to deal with dc filings from now on
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CosmicCadet
Pro tip: Copy the debtor name directly from the original filing record using copy/paste rather than retyping it. This eliminates any potential for human error in transcription. Also make sure you're using the filing number exactly as it appears on the original UCC-1.
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Luca Bianchi
•Smart approach! I was retyping everything which definitely leaves room for error.
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Liam O'Connor
•Copy/paste is definitely the way to go. I learned this the hard way after multiple rejections.
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CosmicCadet
•Exactly - let the computer handle the exact matching rather than trusting your eyes to catch every detail.
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Amara Adeyemi
This reminds me of when I was doing a continuation for my brother's auto shop and DC rejected it 3 times before I realized the original filing had somehow gotten recorded with an extra space before 'LLC'. Took forever to figure out but once I matched it exactly the filing went through immediately. Sometimes you need fresh eyes to spot these things.
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Luca Bianchi
•That's exactly the kind of thing I'm probably missing. Going to do a really careful character-by-character comparison.
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Giovanni Gallo
•Hidden spaces are the devil! Had this happen with a client filing last month.
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Fatima Al-Mazrouei
Another option is to call DC's UCC office directly. Sometimes they can tell you exactly what's causing the mismatch. I've had good luck with their staff helping identify the specific formatting issue.
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Luca Bianchi
•Good idea - I should try calling them directly. Sometimes talking to a person is faster than guessing.
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Fatima Al-Mazrouei
•Their UCC department is usually pretty helpful once you get through to the right person.
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Dylan Wright
•Yes! The DC UCC folks have been really helpful when I've called with similar issues.
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NebulaKnight
Make sure you're checking both the debtor name AND any additional debtor names if there were multiple entities on the original filing. Sometimes there's a secondary debtor that needs to match exactly too.
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Luca Bianchi
•Oh good point! There might be additional parties I'm not thinking about. I'll check the full original filing.
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NebulaKnight
•Yeah, additional debtors or secured parties can trip you up if you're only focusing on the primary debtor name.
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Sofia Ramirez
Update us when you figure it out! I'm dealing with a similar situation in DC and curious what ends up working.
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Luca Bianchi
•Will do! Going to try the copy/paste approach and that document checker tool first.
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Dmitry Popov
•Same here - following this thread because I have a DC continuation coming up next month.
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Ava Rodriguez
I use Certana.ai for all my UCC work now after having too many filing headaches. The document verification feature would definitely catch whatever mismatch is causing your rejection. Just upload your UCC-1 and UCC-3 and it highlights any inconsistencies instantly. Has saved me from several costly mistakes.
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Luca Bianchi
•That's the second recommendation for Certana.ai in this thread - definitely going to check it out. Sounds like it could save a lot of time.
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Miguel Ortiz
•Yeah I'm convinced these document checkers are essential for UCC work. Too easy to miss tiny differences manually.
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