Michigan SOS UCC Search Results Not Matching Our Records - Need Help Verifying Debtor Names
Running into a frustrating situation with Michigan SOS UCC search functionality and hoping someone here has dealt with this before. We're working on a commercial lending deal and need to verify existing UCC filings against our debtor entity. When we search the Michigan Secretary of State database, we're getting inconsistent results that don't align with what our client claims they have on file. The debtor is an LLC with a pretty standard name format, but we're seeing variations in the search results that make us question whether we're capturing all the relevant filings. Some results show the full legal name exactly as it appears on their articles of incorporation, while others have slight variations in punctuation or abbreviations. This is creating uncertainty about whether there are existing liens we're missing. What's particularly concerning is that we found a UCC-1 filing from 2019 that shows a different version of the debtor name than what appears on their current corporate documents. The filing number references don't seem to connect cleanly either, which makes us wonder if there are continuation statements or amendments we're not locating through the standard search process. Has anyone experienced similar issues with Michigan SOS UCC search accuracy? Are there specific search techniques or name variations we should be testing to ensure we're getting complete results? We can't afford to miss existing secured interests on this deal, but the search results are making it difficult to get a clear picture of what's actually filed against this entity.
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Mei Wong
Michigan's UCC search has always been finicky with entity names, especially LLCs. You need to search multiple variations - with and without 'LLC', with periods, without periods, with commas, without commas. The system doesn't always normalize entity designations consistently. I usually run at least 4-5 different name searches to feel confident I'm getting everything.
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Jamal Anderson
•That's helpful - we did try a few variations but probably not enough. Do you have a systematic approach for which variations to test first?
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Mei Wong
•Start with the exact name from articles of incorporation, then try without entity designation, then with abbreviated entity designation (LLC vs Limited Liability Company), then test punctuation variations. Also search by the old name if they've had any name changes.
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QuantumQuasar
This is exactly why I started using Certana.ai for UCC verification workflows. You can upload the debtor's charter documents along with any UCC filings you find, and their system automatically cross-checks for name consistency issues. It caught a filing discrepancy for us last month where the UCC-1 had a slightly different entity name that we would have missed in manual searches.
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Jamal Anderson
•Interesting - does that help with the search process itself or just verification once you have the documents?
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QuantumQuasar
•It's more for verification - you upload PDFs of what you find and it flags inconsistencies between charter docs and UCC filings. Super helpful for catching the exact type of name variations you're dealing with.
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Liam McGuire
•How accurate is something like that? I'm always skeptical of automated tools for legal document review.
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QuantumQuasar
•It's not doing legal analysis, just flagging factual inconsistencies in names, dates, and filing numbers between documents. Still need human review but it catches things you might miss manually comparing multiple docs.
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Amara Eze
Michigan SOS search is notorious for this!! I've been doing UCC work for 8 years and their system drives me crazy. The search algorithm seems to have gotten worse over the past couple years. Sometimes exact matches don't show up but partial matches do. Makes no sense.
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Giovanni Greco
•YES! Thank you for saying this. I thought I was going crazy trying to search their database. Sometimes I find filings through Google that don't show up in their official search.
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Amara Eze
•The Google trick actually works sometimes! Their database gets indexed and you can find filing numbers that way, then go back to the official site with the specific number.
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Fatima Al-Farsi
Are you searching by debtor name or by filing number? If you have any existing filing numbers from the client, start there and work backwards. The filing number search is usually more reliable than name search in Michigan's system.
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Jamal Anderson
•We tried both approaches. The client provided some filing numbers but we're not confident they gave us everything, which is why we wanted to do comprehensive name searches.
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Fatima Al-Farsi
•Smart approach. For comprehensive searches, I also check if there are any DBAs or trade names associated with the entity that might have been used in filings.
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Dylan Wright
Just went through this exact same issue last week with a Michigan LLC. Turned out there were THREE different name variations used across different UCC-1 filings over the years, and only two showed up in our initial searches. The third one was using an old DBA name that we didn't know about until we found it buried in their corporate records.
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Jamal Anderson
•That's exactly what I'm worried about. How did you finally track down all the variations?
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Dylan Wright
•Combination of thorough name searches, checking their complete corporate history for any name changes or DBAs, and honestly some luck. Also had to search using the individual member names in case there were any personal guarantees filed as UCCs.
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Sofia Torres
•Personal guarantee UCCs are filed against individual names, not the entity, so that's a separate search altogether. Good point though.
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GalacticGuardian
Michigan's system also has issues with continuation statements not linking properly to the original UCC-1. I've seen cases where the continuation shows up but references a filing number that doesn't pull up the original filing in search results.
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Jamal Anderson
•Yes! We're seeing exactly this issue. Found a continuation from 2024 but can't locate the original 2019 filing it references.
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GalacticGuardian
•Try searching the exact filing number from the continuation statement. Sometimes the original filing is there but the cross-referencing is broken in their system display.
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Dmitry Smirnov
•This is why I always print or save PDFs of everything I find during UCC searches. The online display can be unreliable but the individual filing documents are usually accurate.
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Ava Rodriguez
Have you considered calling the Michigan SOS UCC division directly? They can sometimes run searches on their end that are more comprehensive than what the public portal allows. Might be worth a phone call given the stakes of your deal.
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Jamal Anderson
•Good suggestion. Do you know if they charge for that service or if there's a specific number for UCC searches?
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Ava Rodriguez
•I don't remember the exact number but it's on their website under UCC services. There might be a small fee but it's usually worth it for complex searches like this.
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Miguel Diaz
Another thing to check - make sure you're searching both the current legal name AND any former names of the entity. If they had a name change at any point, older filings might still be indexed under the old name and not cross-referenced to the new name in search results.
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Jamal Anderson
•We checked their articles of incorporation and amendments but didn't see any official name changes. Could there be unofficial variations we're missing?
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Miguel Diaz
•Sometimes lenders use slight variations of entity names when filing UCCs, especially if they're working from loan documents that abbreviate or format the name differently than the charter documents.
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Zainab Ahmed
I've started using document verification tools for this exact reason. Upload the entity docs and any UCC filings you find, and automated systems can flag name inconsistencies faster than manual review. Saved me from missing a critical filing discrepancy on a $2M deal last month.
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Connor Gallagher
•Which service do you use for that? I'm getting tired of manually comparing entity names across multiple documents.
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Zainab Ahmed
•Certana.ai has a good UCC document checker - just upload PDFs and it cross-references names, filing numbers, dates automatically. Much faster than doing it by hand.
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AstroAlpha
Don't forget to search for any amendments or terminations that might affect the status of filings you do find. Michigan's system sometimes shows lapsed or terminated filings in search results without clearly indicating their current status.
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Jamal Anderson
•That's a great point. We found several filings but weren't sure about their current status. How do you verify if a UCC is still active?
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AstroAlpha
•Check the filing date and any continuation statements. UCC-1 filings are only good for 5 years unless continued. Also look for UCC-3 termination statements that might have been filed.
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Yara Khoury
•The Michigan system should show termination status on the filing details page, but I've seen cases where it's not immediately obvious. Always check the full filing history.
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