Nebraska UCC forms portal keeps rejecting - name formatting issue?
Been fighting with the Nebraska Secretary of State portal for three days trying to get our UCC-1 accepted. We're securing a $75K equipment loan and every time I upload the form it gets kicked back with 'debtor name format error' but I'm copying exactly from the borrower's LLC articles. Using the standard Nebraska UCC forms downloaded from their site. The debtor name is 'Midwest Grain Storage Solutions LLC' on their charter but maybe there's some formatting rule I'm missing? This is holding up the entire loan closing and my client is getting antsy. Anyone dealt with similar Nebraska UCC forms issues recently?
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Dmitry Petrov
Nebraska's portal is super picky about punctuation in business names. Try removing any commas or periods that might be in the official name. Also check if there are any extra spaces between words - their system flags that as an error sometimes.
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StormChaser
•Good point about punctuation. I double-checked and there aren't any commas or periods in 'Midwest Grain Storage Solutions LLC' but maybe there are hidden spaces? How do I even check for that?
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Ava Williams
•Copy the name into a plain text editor like Notepad. Any extra spaces will show up more clearly there. I've seen cases where copying from PDFs adds invisible characters.
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Miguel Castro
Had the exact same problem last month with a Nebraska filing. The issue wasn't the name itself but how I was entering it in their form fields. Make sure you're not including 'LLC' in both the entity name field AND the entity type dropdown. Nebraska wants the base name in one field and the entity designation selected separately.
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StormChaser
•Wait, so I should enter just 'Midwest Grain Storage Solutions' in the name field and select LLC from the dropdown? That seems backwards from every other state I've filed in.
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Miguel Castro
•Nebraska is weird that way. Most states want the full legal name including entity type, but Nebraska's portal splits it. Try it - worst case you get another rejection but at least you'll know.
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Zainab Ibrahim
•This is why I hate state-specific quirks. Every SOS thinks they need their own special system. California does the same thing with LLPs.
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Connor O'Neill
Before you keep guessing, try uploading your charter document and UCC-1 to Certana.ai's document checker. It'll cross-reference the names instantly and show you exactly where the mismatch is. I was pulling my hair out on a similar Nebraska filing until I used their tool - turned out there was a middle initial in the charter that I'd missed.
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StormChaser
•Never heard of Certana.ai but at this point I'm willing to try anything. Is it free to check documents?
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Connor O'Neill
•You just upload the PDFs and it highlights any inconsistencies between your charter and UCC forms. Saved me hours of back-and-forth with the portal. Way easier than manually comparing everything line by line.
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LunarEclipse
•Second this recommendation. Used Certana for a complex multi-debtor UCC-3 amendment and it caught three name variations I would have missed. Nebraska rejected the first version but accepted immediately after I fixed the names it flagged.
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Yara Khalil
ugh nebraska's portal is THE WORST. I swear they change the requirements every month. Last time I filed there it took 6 attempts because they suddenly decided they needed the full registered address format instead of the mailing address even though both were identical on the charter!!!
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Keisha Brown
•Tell me about it. I've been doing UCC filings for 8 years and Nebraska still trips me up regularly. Their error messages are useless too - just says 'format error' without telling you which field.
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Paolo Esposito
•At least they give you error messages. Colorado just rejects with no explanation at all.
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Amina Toure
Check the exact capitalization from the charter. Nebraska's system is case-sensitive even though most states aren't. If the charter shows 'Midwest Grain Storage Solutions LLC' but you entered 'MIDWEST GRAIN STORAGE SOLUTIONS LLC' it'll reject. Also verify there isn't a 'The' at the beginning that you missed.
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StormChaser
•The capitalization matches exactly, I triple-checked that. No 'The' at the beginning either. This is so frustrating when the client is waiting.
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Amina Toure
•Another thing to check - make sure the charter document you're referencing is the most current version. If they've filed any amendments since the original articles, the name might have changed slightly.
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Oliver Weber
•Good catch. I've seen cases where a business added a geographic identifier or changed from LLC to PLLC and the loan docs weren't updated to match.
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FireflyDreams
Are you using their new portal or the old one? They supposedly updated the system in January but some people say the old link still works and has different requirements. Maybe try switching between them?
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StormChaser
•I'm using whatever comes up when I google 'Nebraska UCC filing' - is there a specific URL I should be using?
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FireflyDreams
•The new portal is sos.nebraska.gov/business/ucc-filings but some people still bookmark the old system. Make sure you're on the current one.
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Natasha Kuznetsova
Had this exact issue 2 weeks ago. Problem was that Nebraska requires the debtor name to match their business registration database, not just the charter document. If the LLC registered under a slightly different name variation, that's what the UCC system expects. Try searching their business entity database first to see how the name appears there.
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StormChaser
•Interesting - I never thought to check their business database. The charter is from 2019 so maybe something changed in their registration records since then.
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Natasha Kuznetsova
•Exactly. Search for the business on the Nebraska SOS website and copy the name exactly as it appears in their database. That's usually what their UCC system cross-references against.
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Javier Morales
•This is why I always verify debtor names in the state database before filing. Saves so much time compared to guessing why it's getting rejected.
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Emma Anderson
Try calling their UCC division directly. Sometimes they can tell you exactly what's wrong over the phone instead of playing guessing games with the portal. The number should be on their website.
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StormChaser
•Good idea. Do they actually answer or is it one of those phone trees that goes nowhere?
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Emma Anderson
•Hit or miss. Sometimes you get someone helpful, sometimes you're on hold for 45 minutes. But when you're stuck like this it's worth trying.
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Malik Thompson
Just went through this nightmare with a different Nebraska filing. Used Certana.ai's PDF checker and it found that the LLC had actually amended their articles last year to add 'Holdings' to the name, but our loan docs still had the old name. Would never have caught that manually.
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StormChaser
•That's exactly the kind of thing I'm worried about missing. How quickly does Certana show results?
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Malik Thompson
•Pretty much instant once you upload the documents. Shows you a side-by-side comparison and highlights any discrepancies. Definitely worth checking before you submit another rejected filing.
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Isabella Ferreira
Whatever you do, don't keep submitting the same form hoping it'll eventually work. Nebraska charges for each rejected filing and those fees add up fast. Better to figure out the exact issue first.
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StormChaser
•Wait, they charge for REJECTED filings? That's insane.
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Isabella Ferreira
•Yep, learned that the hard way. Each submission attempt costs $15 even if it gets rejected immediately. Make sure you get it right before clicking submit.
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Yara Khalil
•Are you kidding me? So they're basically charging you to test their broken system? That should be illegal.
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CosmicVoyager
UPDATE: Finally got it resolved! The issue was that the LLC name in Nebraska's business database had an extra word 'Corporation' at the end that wasn't on the original charter we had. Once I searched their database and used the exact name from there, the UCC-1 went through immediately. Thanks everyone for the suggestions - especially about checking their business registration database.
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Natasha Kuznetsova
•Glad that worked! It's such a common issue but most people don't think to check the state database first.
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Connor O'Neill
•Perfect example of why document verification tools like Certana are so helpful - they would have caught that name variation automatically.
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Amina Toure
•Great outcome. This thread should help anyone else dealing with Nebraska UCC name matching issues.
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