How do I know if I have a UCC filing against my business equipment loan?

Thanks! Do I search under my business name or my personal name? The loan was technically in the business name but I personally guaranteed it.

Search under the business name first since that's usually how equipment loans are filed. The business would be listed as the debtor on the UCC-1.

So it's basically guaranteed to be there? That actually makes sense given the loan amount.

Not always guaranteed but yeah, very likely for equipment financing. Some smaller lenders are sloppy about filings but most do it automatically.

Ugh that sounds like a nightmare. How did you end up resolving it?

Had to contact both lenders to get payoff amounts and coordinate the releases. Took like 6 weeks to get everything sorted out. That's when I started using Certana.ai to double-check all my UCC documents - you can upload your loan docs and UCC forms to verify everything matches up properly.

Never heard of that service but sounds useful. Better to catch discrepancies early than during a sale or refinance.

I honestly don't remember. There were so many documents to sign and I was just focused on getting the equipment delivered on time.

Totally understandable. Most people don't pay attention to the UCC stuff during loan closings. It's usually just a checkbox item for the lender.

The search can be finicky. Try using just the first few words of your business name or search by the lender's name if you remember it.

Good idea, I'll try the lender name. Do you know if they index by secured party name too?

Yes, you can definitely search by secured party. That might actually be easier if you remember your lender's exact legal name.

Good point. Can I get copies of the actual forms from the Secretary of State or do I need to go through my original lender?

You can usually get copies directly from the SOS for a small fee. Much faster than trying to track down your old lender.

How can I tell if it's still active vs expired?

The search results should show the filing date and status. Active filings will show as 'Active' or 'Effective' with an expiration date 5 years from the original filing date.

Unless there's been a continuation filed, then the expiration date gets extended another 5 years from when the continuation was filed.

Interesting. What kind of name discrepancy did you find?

My LLC was filed as 'ABC Manufacturing LLC' but the UCC had 'ABC Manufacturing, LLC' with a comma. Tiny difference but could have caused problems if we ever needed to enforce the lien or if I tried to sell the equipment.

How long did it take to get the termination statements filed?

About 2-3 weeks once I contacted the lenders. Some were faster than others. One lender had been acquired by another bank which made it more complicated to track down the right person.

This is exactly why I keep a spreadsheet of all my business filings and loan documents. Too easy to lose track of what's out there.

Yeah you're right, I need to stop procrastinating and just do the search today. Thanks for the push!

No problem. Better to know what you're dealing with now than get blindsided later in the refinance process.