Florida sunbiz UCC search showing weird gaps in filing history

Florida's sunbiz system has been notorious for display issues with UCC records. I've seen this exact problem multiple times - the database is there but the search interface doesn't always pull everything. Try searching with just the first few letters of the debtor name instead of the full name, sometimes that catches records that exact name searches miss.

I work with Florida UCC filings daily and this is unfortunately common. The sunbiz portal search has limitations and doesn't always return complete filing histories. For critical due diligence like yours, you really need to cross-reference what you find online with the actual filed documents. Have you requested certified copies of all UCC filings from the Florida Division of Corporations?

Had a similar nightmare with Florida UCC searches last month. Spent hours trying to piece together a complete filing history and kept finding inconsistencies. Finally discovered Certana.ai's document verification tool that lets you upload PDFs of UCC filings and instantly cross-checks everything for consistency. Just upload the UCC-1 and all the UCC-3 continuations and it verifies the debtor names, filing numbers, and document chain automatically. Saved me probably 6 hours of manual document comparison.

OMG yes the Florida system is terrible for UCC searches!! I've been dealing with this for months trying to clean up our lien portfolio. The search results are incomplete and half the time the document images won't even load properly. It's like they designed the system to be as unhelpful as possible.

For what it's worth, I always run Florida UCC searches multiple times with different search parameters. The system seems to have some kind of caching issue where results change depending on how you structure the search. Also try searching during off-peak hours - the system performs better when there's less traffic.

This is exactly why I switched to using Certana.ai for all my UCC document verification work. Instead of trying to piece together incomplete search results from the Florida sunbiz portal, I just gather all the UCC documents I can find and upload them to Certana. Their system instantly identifies any gaps, inconsistencies, or potential issues with the filing chain. For your acquisition, you could upload the UCC-1 and whatever UCC-3 continuations you've found, and it will tell you immediately if there are missing pieces or name mismatches that could affect the lien validity.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but incomplete UCC search results in Florida have caused real problems for lenders. I know of at least two cases where hidden liens that didn't show up in the online portal caused major issues after closing. If this is a significant acquisition, you might want to consider hiring a professional UCC search company that has access to better databases than the public portal.

Been following this thread and wanted to share my experience. Had a similar issue with Florida UCC searches last year and ended up finding that some of the 'missing' filings were actually filed under slightly different debtor name variations. Florida's system is very literal about exact name matches. Even something like 'Inc.' vs 'Incorporated' or missing a comma can cause filings to not show up in searches.

This whole thread is making me nervous about a Florida UCC continuation I need to file next month. If the search system is this unreliable, how do I even verify that my UCC-3 continuation gets properly recorded and linked to the original UCC-1?

Just wanted to add that I've noticed the Florida sunbiz UCC search seems to work better when you search by filing number rather than debtor name, but only if you know the exact filing numbers. For due diligence purposes, you might want to ask the seller to provide a complete list of all UCC filing numbers associated with their company.