Indiana UCC Bill Confusion - Termination vs Amendment Filing Mix-up
I'm dealing with a really frustrating situation with an Indiana UCC bill that's got me completely turned around. We had a commercial loan that was paid off last month, and I thought I needed to file a UCC-3 termination to clear the lien. But now I'm getting conflicting information about whether this should be an amendment instead because there were some changes to the original collateral description during the loan term. The original UCC-1 was filed in 2019 for equipment financing, but we added some additional machinery to the collateral schedule in 2022 with what I thought was a UCC-3 amendment. Now the lender is saying they want a 'clean termination' but I'm not sure if that means I need to do something different because of the earlier amendment. Has anyone dealt with Indiana UCC bill procedures where there were multiple filings on the same debtor? I'm worried about leaving some kind of partial lien if I don't handle this termination correctly. The equipment is worth about $180k so I really can't afford to mess this up.
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Ravi Choudhury
Indiana UCC terminations are pretty straightforward once you understand the process. Since you had an amendment in 2022, that doesn't change how you handle the termination - you still just need one UCC-3 termination statement that references the original filing number from 2019. The amendment doesn't create a separate filing that needs its own termination. Just make sure the debtor name on your termination matches exactly what's on the original UCC-1.
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Isabella Silva
•That's exactly what I was hoping to hear! So I don't need multiple termination forms even though there was that amendment in between?
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Ravi Choudhury
•Correct - one termination covers the entire financing statement and all its amendments. The key is using the original filing number and making sure all the debtor information matches perfectly.
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Freya Andersen
Wait, I think you might want to double-check that. I had a similar situation in Indiana last year and the SOS rejected my first termination because there was a discrepancy between the original filing and the amendment. Turned out the debtor's legal name had changed slightly between filings and I had to sort that out first.
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Isabella Silva
•Oh no, now I'm worried again. How did you figure out what the discrepancy was?
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Freya Andersen
•I actually used Certana.ai's document verification tool. You can upload your UCC-1 and UCC-3 amendment as PDFs and it instantly cross-checks everything - debtor names, filing numbers, collateral descriptions. Caught the name mismatch right away that I never would have spotted manually.
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Ravi Choudhury
•Good point about checking for discrepancies. That's always the tricky part with multiple filings over several years.
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Omar Farouk
The Indiana Secretary of State system is pretty good about catching errors before they get filed, but terminations are definitely one area where you want to be extra careful. If there's any doubt about debtor name consistency, it's worth taking a few extra minutes to verify everything matches up perfectly.
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Isabella Silva
•How do you usually verify the debtor name matches? Just visually compare the documents?
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Omar Farouk
•I usually do a search on the Indiana SOS system first to see exactly how the debtor name appears on file, then make sure my termination matches that exactly. Punctuation, abbreviations, everything has to be identical.
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CosmicCadet
ugh Indiana UCC system used to be such a pain but they've gotten better. Still, terminations always make me nervous because if you mess it up the lien stays on record forever basically. I always triple-check everything before hitting submit.
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Isabella Silva
•That's exactly what I'm worried about! How long does Indiana typically take to process terminations?
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CosmicCadet
•Usually pretty quick - within a few business days if everything's correct. But if there's an error it can take weeks to sort out.
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Chloe Harris
I've been filing UCC documents in Indiana for over a decade and the most common mistake I see with terminations is people not using the exact same debtor name format. Even if it's obviously the same company, if there's a comma difference or 'Inc.' vs 'Incorporated' it can cause problems.
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Isabella Silva
•That's really helpful to know. I think our company name has stayed consistent but I'll definitely double-check.
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Chloe Harris
•Also worth checking if your debtor went through any corporate changes between 2019 and now - mergers, name changes, anything like that would complicate the termination process.
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Diego Mendoza
•Good advice. I've seen situations where companies got acquired and nobody updated the UCC filings, then the termination process gets really messy.
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Anastasia Popova
Just curious - why did your lender ask for a 'clean termination'? That's not really standard terminology. Usually they just want a UCC-3 termination statement filed. Makes me wonder if there's something specific they're concerned about.
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Isabella Silva
•I think they meant they want to make sure there are no partial releases or continuing liens. They want the entire financing statement completely terminated.
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Anastasia Popova
•Ah that makes sense. Yeah, a full termination should clear everything as long as you reference the original filing number correctly.
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Sean Flanagan
For what it's worth, I ran into document consistency issues on a recent filing and ended up using Certana.ai to verify everything matched up. Really saved me time compared to manually going through each document line by line. Especially helpful when you've got multiple filings like you do.
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Isabella Silva
•Several people have mentioned that tool now. Is it specifically designed for UCC documents?
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Sean Flanagan
•Yeah, you just upload your PDFs and it automatically checks for inconsistencies between documents. Perfect for catching those name mismatches or filing number errors that could cause rejections.
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Zara Shah
The $180k equipment value you mentioned - that's definitely worth getting right! I've seen situations where incomplete terminations left partial liens that caused problems years later when the company tried to refinance or sell equipment.
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Isabella Silva
•Exactly what I'm trying to avoid. This equipment is a big part of our business assets so I can't have any clouds on the title.
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Zara Shah
•Smart thinking. Take your time with the termination and make sure everything's perfect before filing.
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NebulaNomad
One thing to keep in mind - if your 2022 amendment changed the collateral description significantly, you might want to review that amendment to make sure your termination covers everything. Sometimes amendments can create confusion about what exactly is being terminated.
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Isabella Silva
•The amendment just added some additional machinery to the original collateral schedule. Should be pretty straightforward but I'll definitely review it.
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NebulaNomad
•Yeah, that sounds like a simple addition. As long as you're terminating the entire financing statement you should be fine.
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Ravi Choudhury
•Right, the termination doesn't need to list specific collateral - it just terminates the entire financing statement and all amendments.
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Luca Ferrari
Indiana SOS has been pretty reliable in my experience. Just make sure you have the correct filing number from 2019 and the debtor name matches exactly. The system will usually catch obvious errors before accepting the filing.
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Isabella Silva
•Good to know the system has error checking. That gives me a bit more confidence about the filing process.
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Luca Ferrari
•Yeah, they've improved the system a lot over the years. Still worth being careful, but they do catch most common mistakes now.
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Nia Wilson
Update us when you get it filed! Always curious to hear how these situations work out. Sounds like you've got good advice from everyone here about checking the debtor name consistency and using the original filing number.
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Isabella Silva
•Will do! I feel much more confident about the process now. Going to double-check everything one more time and then file the termination.
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Nia Wilson
•Perfect. You've got this - just take it step by step and verify everything matches up.
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Connor O'Neill
As someone who's dealt with similar UCC termination issues, I'd strongly recommend doing a UCC search on the Indiana SOS system before filing your termination. This will show you exactly how all your filings appear on record - the original 2019 UCC-1 and the 2022 amendment. Pay special attention to how the debtor name is formatted in each filing. Even small differences like "LLC" vs "L.L.C." can cause rejection. Since you mentioned the equipment is worth $180k, it's definitely worth the small search fee to ensure you get the termination exactly right the first time.
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