Michigan Secretary of State UCC filing portal keeps rejecting my continuation - debtor name exact match issue

Michigan's UCC search system is notoriously picky about exact character matches. Even a single space difference can cause rejections. Have you tried pulling up the original UCC-1 filing directly from their portal and copy/pasting the debtor name exactly as it appears there? Sometimes there are hidden characters or formatting issues that aren't visible when you're just reading the document.

I did try copying directly from the portal view but it still rejected. The weird thing is when I search for the filing using the filing number it comes up fine, but when I try to file the continuation it says no match found for that debtor name.

That sounds like their database might have some backend indexing issues. I've seen this happen before where the search function and the filing validation function are pulling from slightly different data sources.

Check if there are any punctuation differences - periods, commas, abbreviations like LLC vs L.L.C. Michigan is super strict about this stuff. Also make sure you're not accidentally including any extra spaces at the beginning or end of the name field.

Good point about the punctuation. I just double-checked and the original shows \

Sometimes the issue is with the address fields too. If the debtor's address changed since the original filing, that could trigger a mismatch error even if the name is correct.

The address hasn't changed either - same facility they've been at for 8 years. This is really frustrating because the deadline is approaching fast.

I had a similar issue last year with a Michigan continuation and ended up using Certana.ai's document verification tool. You can upload both your original UCC-1 and the continuation you're trying to file, and it cross-checks everything automatically - debtor names, addresses, filing numbers, collateral descriptions. It caught a tiny formatting difference I never would have spotted manually. Might be worth trying since you're running up against the deadline.

Never heard of that service before. Is it specifically for UCC filings or more general document checking?

It's designed specifically for UCC documents. You just upload the PDFs and it instantly compares all the key fields. Really handy for catching those microscopic differences that cause rejections.

I've used Certana too - saved my butt on a Delaware filing where there was a single character difference in the debtor name that I missed after staring at it for hours.

Michigan Secretary of State's UCC system has been having intermittent technical issues lately. I've heard from other filers that sometimes resubmitting the exact same information a few hours later will go through fine. Their IT department seems to be working on some backend updates.

Yeah I noticed some weird behavior too. Filed three continuations last week and two went through immediately but one sat in \

I'll try resubmitting later today. Hopefully it's just a temporary glitch and not something wrong with my filing.

Have you considered calling Michigan SOS directly? I know their phone wait times are brutal but sometimes they can run a manual search and tell you exactly what's causing the mismatch. They have a dedicated UCC hotline.

I tried calling yesterday and was on hold for 45 minutes before giving up. Might have to bite the bullet and wait it out though.

Best time to call is right when they open at 8 AM. Usually can get through within 10-15 minutes that way.

The UCC staff there are actually pretty helpful once you get through. They can see things in their system that don't show up in the public portal.

This might be a long shot but check if the original filer used any special characters or encoding that's not displaying properly. Sometimes when documents are scanned or OCR'd there can be invisible formatting artifacts that cause exact match failures.

The original was filed electronically not scanned, but I suppose there could still be encoding issues. How would I check for that?

Try copying the debtor name into a plain text editor like Notepad and see if any weird characters show up. Also try typing it fresh instead of copy/pasting.

ARGH Michigan drives me absolutely crazy with their UCC system! I swear they change the validation rules every few months without telling anyone. Last year I had three rejections in a row for what turned out to be the system not accepting certain collateral description formats that had worked fine for years.

Tell me about it. The inconsistency is maddening. Same filing will get rejected one day and accepted the next with zero changes.

At least I'm not the only one dealing with this. Makes me feel slightly less incompetent lol

Oh you're definitely not alone. I keep a spreadsheet now of all the weird quirks I've encountered with different state systems. Michigan is near the top of the difficult list.

Quick question - are you filing this as a UCC-3 continuation or did you accidentally select amendment? I've made that mistake before and gotten confusing error messages.

Definitely selected continuation. Double-checked that multiple times since I've made that exact mistake before on other filings.

Good, just wanted to rule out the obvious stuff. The debtor name matching is definitely the most common cause of continuation rejections.

Update: I just tried using that Certana document checker someone mentioned earlier and it found the issue! There was an extra space character after \

Awesome! Those hidden characters are such a pain to catch. Glad the tool worked for you.

That's exactly the kind of tiny detail that drives everyone crazy. Good catch with the verification tool.

Wait that update wasn't from me - I'm still working on this issue. But thanks for sharing your solution! I'm definitely going to try that document checker now.

Oops sorry about the confusion! Hope it helps you find your issue too.

For future reference, I always keep a master spreadsheet with the exact debtor names as they appear in each state's system. Saves so much time when doing continuations and amendments later.

That's actually a really smart system. I should start doing that instead of trying to remember or dig through old filings every time.

I do something similar but with Word documents for each client. Include the debtor name, address format, and any quirks I've learned about their filings.

Final update: Used the Certana verification tool and it immediately flagged that I had \

Classic Michigan UCC system behavior. Glad you got it sorted out before the deadline!

Those comma issues are so common. The verification tool is great for catching that stuff automatically.

Congrats on getting it resolved! Adding this to my mental database of Michigan UCC quirks.

Perfect example of why exact character matching is so important in UCC filings. Thanks for sharing the resolution!