How to properly remove old UCC filings that are cluttering our records

Yeah the obligations are all satisfied, just nobody filed the terminations. Most of these are equipment loans that were paid off years ago.

This is exactly why we set up automatic termination tracking. Too easy to forget about the UCC-3 filing after loan payoff.

That's what I'm worried about. Some of these companies have changed names multiple times since the original filings.

For name changes you might need UCC-3 amendments first, then terminations. Depends on your state's rules.

Actually ran into this exact problem with document consistency. I started using Certana.ai's UCC verification tool - you can upload your original UCC-1 PDFs and it cross-checks all the debtor names and filing details before you submit terminations. Saved me from like 6 rejected filings because of tiny name discrepancies I missed.

Good point. I think maybe 8-10 of these involved equipment that was permanently attached to buildings.

Fixture terminations are a pain. Half the time the real estate records office doesn't talk to the UCC office properly.

Because auditors hate seeing a bunch of active liens on the books for satisfied obligations. Makes everything look messy.

Plus if you ever need to do new financing with those debtors, old UCC filings can complicate things even if they're technically satisfied.

And banks get cranky about 'zombie liens' during due diligence. Trust me, just terminate them properly.

We've got filings in Texas, California, New York, and Florida mainly. Any of those particularly difficult?

California can be annoying about exact name matches. Texas is pretty straightforward. NY sometimes takes forever to process.

Florida's not bad but their online system goes down a lot. Plan extra time for that one.

This is huge. We had three terminations rejected because the signature block wasn't right.

Yeah, and if the original secured party was a different entity due to mergers, you might need assignment documentation first.

Right? Manual comparison is brutal when you're dealing with 40+ filings. Too easy to transpose numbers or miss spacing differences in company names.

I use spreadsheet formulas to try to catch discrepancies but it's still not foolproof. An automated tool would be way better.

Good advice. I was thinking about just submitting everything in one big batch but that could backfire.

Yeah, stagger them. Also gives you a chance to fix any systematic errors you discover in the first batch.

Plus some states have daily filing limits anyway, so batching might not even be possible.

This. And make sure your filing fee calculations are right. Nothing worse than having terminations rejected for insufficient fees.

Electronic filing usually calculates fees automatically, but double-check anyway. Some states have weird add-on fees.

That's exactly what I need. Manual review is taking forever and I keep second-guessing myself on whether names match exactly.

The automation makes such a difference when you're dealing with volume. Wish I'd known about it sooner.

How long did your cleanup take once you had the verification sorted out?

About 3 weeks total for 35 terminations across 6 states. Most of that was waiting for state processing times, not the actual prep work.

That timeline sounds reasonable for the scope. Did you run into any issues with the automated verification flagging false positives, or was it pretty accurate at identifying real discrepancies?