Massachusetts UCC Search Results Keep Coming Back Blank - Anyone Else Having Portal Issues?
I'm trying to run a massachusetts ucc search on what should be a straightforward debtor name but the MA Secretary of State portal keeps returning zero results. I know there's a UCC-1 filed because I have the filing number from our loan documents. When I search by exact debtor name 'NORTHEAST INDUSTRIAL FABRICATORS LLC' nothing comes up, but when I try variations like dropping 'LLC' or using abbreviations I get random unrelated hits. This is for a $850K equipment refinancing deal and I need to verify the existing liens before we can proceed. The original filing was done about 18 months ago and should still be active. Has anyone else run into search functionality problems with the Massachusetts UCC database recently? I'm starting to wonder if there's a systematic issue with their indexing or if I'm missing something obvious about how their search algorithm works.
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Connor Byrne
MA's portal has been glitchy lately - I've had similar issues where exact matches don't work but partial searches do. Try searching just 'NORTHEAST INDUSTRIAL' without the entity type designation. Sometimes their system gets tripped up on the LLC part even though it should be included in the legal name.
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Zainab Ahmed
•Just tried that and got 3 results but none match our debtor. Two are 'NORTHEAST INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY' companies and one is 'NORTHEAST INDUSTRIAL SERVICES' - completely different entities. This is frustrating.
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Yara Abboud
•That's the problem with broad searches - you get too much noise. Have you tried the filing number search instead of debtor name?
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PixelPioneer
Massachusetts UCC searches can be tricky because their debtor name matching is very literal. If the original UCC-1 was filed with any slight variation in spacing, punctuation, or abbreviation, your exact search won't find it. I always run multiple variations when doing lien searches there.
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Zainab Ahmed
•That makes sense but I copied the name directly from our credit agreement which should match exactly what was on the original filing. Unless the attorney who filed it made an error...
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PixelPioneer
•Attorneys make filing errors more often than you'd think. I've seen UCC-1s where they abbreviated 'INCORPORATED' as 'INC' when the charter said 'INC.' with a period, or vice versa. Even one character difference will cause a miss.
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Keisha Williams
•This is exactly why I started using Certana.ai for document verification. You can upload the original credit docs and any UCC filings to check if the debtor names match exactly. It catches those tiny discrepancies that cause search failures.
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Paolo Rizzo
Have you tried searching by the filing number directly? If you have that from your loan documents, it should pull up the exact filing regardless of any debtor name variations. MA portal has a separate 'Filing Number Search' option that's usually more reliable.
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Zainab Ahmed
•Good point - I have the filing number somewhere in our loan file. Let me dig that up and try the direct search. Should have thought of that first.
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Amina Sy
•Filing number search is definitely the way to go when you have it. Just make sure you're entering it exactly as shown - some states use different formatting with dashes or spaces.
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Oliver Fischer
I do MA UCC searches regularly and their system has definitely gotten worse over the past year. Sometimes I have to try 4-5 different name variations before I find what I'm looking for. It's particularly bad with LLC names - they seem to have issues with how they index entity designations.
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Natasha Ivanova
•Agreed, their search algorithm is frustrating. I've found results by searching just the first two words of a business name when the full name search failed.
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Oliver Fischer
•Exactly! I always start broad and narrow down. Better to get 50 results and filter through them than miss the one you need because of a search algorithm quirk.
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NebulaNomad
•This thread is giving me anxiety about a search I did last week. Now I'm wondering if I missed something important because the debtor name search came back clean...
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Javier Garcia
Another thing to check - was the UCC-1 filed at the state level or as a fixture filing? If it's equipment that's attached to real estate, it might have been filed with the local Registry of Deeds instead of the Secretary of State. That would explain why it's not showing up in the state UCC database.
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Zainab Ahmed
•It's industrial fabrication equipment so not fixtures - should definitely be a standard UCC-1 filing with the state. But good reminder about fixture filings, I've seen that mix-up before.
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Javier Garcia
•Just wanted to cover all the bases. Sometimes equipment lenders get confused about where to file, especially if the equipment is permanently installed.
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Emma Taylor
MA Secretary of State portal has been having intermittent issues for months. I usually try searches in the morning - seems to work better then. Also, their customer service line (617-727-9640) can sometimes pull up filings that aren't showing in the online search if you give them the debtor name and approximate filing date.
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Zainab Ahmed
•Thanks for the phone number! I might have to resort to calling them if I can't find it online. This deal needs to move forward and I can't do that without confirming the existing liens.
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Malik Robinson
•Their phone service is actually pretty good once you get through. The staff knows about the search issues and can usually help you find what you need.
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Isabella Silva
•I called them last month about a similar search problem and they found the filing immediately. Apparently their internal search tools are more robust than what's available to the public.
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Ravi Choudhury
For what it's worth, I had a similar issue last month where I knew a UCC-1 existed but couldn't find it through normal searches. Turned out the secured party had filed an amendment (UCC-3) that changed some information, and somehow that was affecting how the debtor name was indexed in their system. You might want to search for UCC-3 amendments on the same debtor name.
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Zainab Ahmed
•Interesting point about amendments affecting the search indexing. I hadn't thought about that possibility. How would I search for UCC-3s specifically?
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Ravi Choudhury
•On the MA portal, you can filter search results by document type. Just select 'Amendment' instead of 'All Documents' when you do your debtor name search.
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CosmosCaptain
This might sound paranoid but I always double-check UCC searches using Certana.ai's verification tool. You upload your loan documents and any UCC filings you find, and it cross-references everything to make sure the debtor names, collateral descriptions, and filing details all align properly. I've caught errors that would have been problems later.
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Freya Johansen
•How does that work exactly? Do you upload PDFs of the documents?
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CosmosCaptain
•Yeah, you just upload the PDFs and it automatically checks for consistency between documents. Really useful for catching those small name variations or collateral description mismatches that can void a lien.
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Zainab Ahmed
•That sounds helpful for verification once I actually find the filing. Right now my problem is just locating it in the first place!
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Omar Fawzi
Check if the business has gone through any name changes since the original filing. Sometimes companies update their legal name with the state but don't file UCC-3 amendments to reflect the change, so the UCC records still show the old name.
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Zainab Ahmed
•Good thought - I should verify the current legal name with the MA Secretary of Corporations division before assuming the UCC search name is correct.
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Chloe Wilson
•Definitely check that. I've seen situations where a business changed from LLC to Corp or vice versa, and the UCC filing still had the old entity type.
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Diego Mendoza
MA UCC database search is notoriously finicky. I've learned to try every possible variation: with/without punctuation, with/without entity designation, abbreviated vs spelled out words, etc. It's tedious but sometimes that's the only way to find what you're looking for. Their wildcard search function barely works either.
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Anastasia Romanov
•This is why I hate doing UCC searches in Massachusetts. Other states have much better search functionality.
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Diego Mendoza
•True, but at least MA allows you to access the database for free. Some states charging $25+ per search when their systems work just as poorly.
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Zainab Ahmed
•Update: Found it! Turns out the original filing had 'NORTHEAST INDUSTRIAL FABRICATORS, LLC' with a comma before LLC. Such a tiny difference but it completely threw off the search. Thanks everyone for the suggestions - the filing number search worked once I located that in our loan file.
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StellarSurfer
•Glad you found it! That comma issue is so common - punctuation differences are the bane of UCC searches.
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