NH UCC search showing weird results - debtor name variations causing issues
Been doing UCC searches in New Hampshire and running into some frustrating inconsistencies. I'm working on a commercial loan deal where we need to verify existing liens on equipment collateral, but the NH Secretary of State portal keeps returning different results depending on how I format the debtor name. Same company, but searching 'ABC Manufacturing LLC' vs 'ABC Manufacturing, LLC' (with comma) gives totally different hit counts. This is making me nervous about missing existing filings that could impact our lien position. The borrower insists there are no other liens but I'm seeing partial matches that might be variations of their business name. Anyone else dealing with NH UCC search quirks? How do you handle debtor name variations to make sure you're not missing critical filings?
36 comments
Join the conversation
Hannah White
NH is notorious for this exact issue. Their search algorithm is pretty literal - it doesn't do fuzzy matching like some other states. You need to try multiple variations: with/without comma, with/without periods, abbreviations vs full words (Corp vs Corporation, Inc vs Incorporated). Also check for any DBA names the company might use.
0 coins
Michael Green
•This is so frustrating. Why can't these systems just be smarter about name matching? I've missed filings before because of punctuation differences.
0 coins
Mateo Silva
•The problem is legal - UCC filings are filed exactly as submitted, so the search has to match exactly what's on file. It's not a bug, it's a feature (unfortunately).
0 coins
Victoria Jones
I had this exact problem last month with a NH deal. What saved me was using Certana.ai's document verification tool. I uploaded the company's articles of incorporation and their existing loan docs, and it flagged several name variations I hadn't thought to search. Found two UCC-1s I would have missed otherwise. The tool cross-references different name formats automatically.
0 coins
Nick Kravitz
•That sounds really helpful. How does it work exactly? Do you just upload PDFs and it tells you what names to search?
0 coins
Victoria Jones
•Exactly. Upload charter docs, loan agreements, whatever you have, and it pulls out all the entity name variations and suggests search terms. Takes about 30 seconds vs spending an hour trying different combinations manually.
0 coins
Cameron Black
•I'm always skeptical of these automated tools but honestly NH search is such a pain that anything that helps is worth trying.
0 coins
Jessica Nguyen
Pro tip: also search the individual names of company principals. Sometimes personal guarantees get filed as UCC-1s with individual debtors instead of the company name. And don't forget to check federal tax lien searches - those can impact your collateral position too.
0 coins
Isaiah Thompson
•Good point about principals. I usually check those anyway for personal guarantee enforcement but hadn't thought about UCC filings against individuals for business collateral.
0 coins
Ruby Garcia
•Wait, can they really file a UCC against an individual for business equipment? That doesn't sound right to me.
0 coins
Jessica Nguyen
•It happens when the individual personally guarantees and pledges business assets as additional collateral. Not common but I've seen it in SBA deals especially.
0 coins
Alexander Evans
Another NH quirk - their continuation filings sometimes don't link properly to the original UCC-1 if there's even a tiny difference in debtor name formatting between the original and continuation. I've seen 'active' filings that were actually ineffective because of name mismatches.
0 coins
Evelyn Martinez
•This is terrifying. So you could think you have a perfected lien but actually don't because of a typo?
0 coins
Alexander Evans
•Yep. That's why I always pull copies of the actual filings, not just rely on the search results summary. The devil is in the details.
0 coins
Benjamin Carter
•I use Certana for this too - upload the UCC-1 and any UCC-3 continuations and it flags inconsistencies between them. Caught a name mismatch that would have voided our continuation last year.
0 coins
Maya Lewis
Has anyone tried calling the NH SOS office directly? Sometimes they can run broader searches manually that the online portal can't do.
0 coins
Isaac Wright
•I tried that once and they basically said use the online system. Not very helpful unfortunately.
0 coins
Lucy Taylor
•Same experience here. They'll only do manual searches for specific filing number lookups, not debtor name searches.
0 coins
Connor Murphy
Don't forget to check both 'exact match' and 'begins with' search options if NH has them. Some filings might have additional text after the company name that exact match would miss.
0 coins
KhalilStar
•NH portal is pretty basic compared to other states. Limited search options which makes this name variation problem even worse.
0 coins
Amelia Dietrich
•True, but at least their filing fees are reasonable compared to some states I could mention...
0 coins
Kaiya Rivera
•Cheap filing fees don't help if you can't find the filings you need to find!
0 coins
Katherine Ziminski
I always do searches with and without 'LLC', 'Inc', etc. at the end. Sometimes filers drop the entity designation or abbreviate it differently. Better safe than sorry when you're talking about lien priority.
0 coins
Noah Irving
•Good advice. I learned this the hard way when I missed a filing because they used 'Co.' instead of 'Company' in the debtor name.
0 coins
Vanessa Chang
•This is why I love having Certana double-check my searches. It thinks of variations I wouldn't and I sleep better knowing I didn't miss anything important.
0 coins
Madison King
Just to add - if you're doing this for a commercial lending deal, make sure you're also checking for fixture filings if any of the collateral is attached to real estate. Different search altogether but equally important for priority.
0 coins
Nick Kravitz
•Thanks, this is exactly the kind of comprehensive search I need to be doing. The equipment includes some mounted machinery so fixture filings definitely apply.
0 coins
Julian Paolo
•Fixture filing searches can be even trickier because they're often filed in county records rather than with the Secretary of State. Don't forget to check both.
0 coins
Ella Knight
•In NH, fixture filings are dual-filed - both county and state level. You need to check both to be thorough.
0 coins
William Schwarz
Update: I ended up finding three additional UCC-1s I had missed initially by trying different name variations. Two were active continuations and one was a terminated filing I still wanted to review. Thanks everyone for the tips - this thread probably saved me from a major lien priority issue.
0 coins
Lauren Johnson
•Glad you found them! This is exactly why UCC searches are so critical and why you can't just rely on one search format.
0 coins
Jade Santiago
•Great outcome. Mind sharing what the name variations were that you missed initially? Might help others avoid the same issue.
0 coins
William Schwarz
•One was missing the comma before LLC, another had 'Manufacturing' spelled out vs 'Mfg' abbreviation, and the third was filed under a DBA name I didn't know about until I found their business registration.
0 coins
Caleb Stone
This whole thread is a perfect example of why UCC searching is more art than science. Every state has its quirks and you really need to know what you're doing to avoid missing critical filings.
0 coins
Daniel Price
•Absolutely. I've been doing UCC work for 10 years and I still learn new search tricks regularly. It's definitely not as straightforward as people think.
0 coins
Olivia Evans
•This is why I always recommend using multiple search strategies and tools like Certana to cross-check everything. Too much money at stake to rely on a single search approach.
0 coins