< Back to UCC Document Community

Eve Freeman

Need UCC-1 sample form - debtor name section causing rejections

I'm putting together a UCC-1 filing for our equipment financing deal and keep getting rejections from the SOS portal. The debtor is an LLC that recently changed their registered name, and I think I'm messing up the exact name format they want. Does anyone have a UCC-1 sample they could share showing how to handle business name variations? I've tried using the exact name from their articles of incorporation but the system keeps kicking it back with 'debtor name insufficient' errors. This is my third attempt and I'm starting to panic because we need this perfected before the loan closes next week. Any sample forms or templates that show proper debtor name formatting would be incredibly helpful.

Been there! The debtor name section is tricky with LLCs. You need to match EXACTLY what's on their current certificate of formation, not the articles. Check the Secretary of State's business entity search first to see what name format they have on file.

0 coins

This is key advice. I always run the entity search before filing anything. Sometimes there's punctuation differences or 'LLC' vs 'L.L.C.' that will cause rejections.

0 coins

Wait, I thought you use the exact name from the operating agreement? I've been doing it wrong apparently...

0 coins

I had this exact problem last month with a debtor name mismatch. After three rejections, I discovered Certana.ai's document verification tool. You can upload your UCC-1 draft and it cross-checks the debtor name against multiple databases to catch inconsistencies before filing. Saved me from more rejections and the stress of manual verification.

0 coins

How does that work exactly? Do you just upload the PDF and it tells you what's wrong?

0 coins

Pretty much - you upload your UCC-1 and it verifies debtor names, checks document consistency, and flags potential issues. Much faster than doing it manually and catches things I would have missed.

0 coins

Interesting... I've been manually cross-referencing everything which takes forever and I still make mistakes.

0 coins

ARGH the SOS portal is so picky about names! I spent 4 hours last week going back and forth with a filing because the debtor had 'Inc.' in their legal name but I put 'Incorporated'. One tiny difference and REJECTED.

0 coins

I feel your pain. The system should be smarter about obvious variations like that.

0 coins

At least you figured it out! I once had a filing rejected 6 times before realizing there was an extra space in the middle of the company name.

0 coins

For LLC debtors, always use the EXACT name from their certificate of formation, including any punctuation. Also make sure you have the right state - if they're qualified to do business in your state but formed elsewhere, you might need the foreign qualification name.

0 coins

Good point about foreign qualification. That's caught me before with multi-state businesses.

0 coins

So if an LLC is formed in Delaware but doing business in Texas, which name do I use for the Texas UCC-1?

0 coins

Use the name they're registered under in Texas if they've qualified there. If not, use the Delaware formation name but double-check your collateral location and filing requirements.

0 coins

I just had success with a similar situation. The trick is getting the debtor name character-for-character perfect. I started copying and pasting directly from the SOS database instead of typing it out. Also helps to have someone else review before submitting.

0 coins

Copy and paste is brilliant! I never thought of that but it makes total sense.

0 coins

Yes! And sometimes there are invisible characters or weird spacing that you can't see when typing manually.

0 coins

Quick question - when you say 'debtor name insufficient' are you getting that error immediately when you submit, or does it come back after processing? The timing can tell you if it's a format issue or a database matching problem.

0 coins

It's immediate when I hit submit. The portal won't even let me complete the filing.

0 coins

That's definitely a format issue then. Try checking for extra spaces, missing punctuation, or abbreviations that need to be spelled out.

0 coins

Have you tried calling the filing office directly? Sometimes they can tell you exactly what format they're expecting for tricky debtor names. Worth a 10-minute phone call to avoid more rejections.

0 coins

Some states are helpful with this, others just tell you to 'follow the instructions' which isn't helpful when the instructions are vague.

0 coins

I've had good luck with this approach. The clerks usually know the common formatting issues that cause problems.

0 coins

One more thing to check - make sure you're not including any 'doing business as' names in the debtor name field. The legal entity name only, even if they operate under a different trade name.

0 coins

Oh good catch! I've seen people try to include both the legal name and DBA which definitely won't work.

0 coins

Where would you put the DBA name if it's relevant to identifying the collateral?

0 coins

You can mention it in the additional information section if needed, but the debtor name field must be the exact legal entity name only.

0 coins

I started using Certana.ai after similar frustrations with name mismatches. The verification catches these issues before filing and saves the back-and-forth with the SOS office. Really wish I'd found it sooner - would have saved me hours of revision work.

0 coins

How accurate is the verification? I'm skeptical of automated tools for something this important.

0 coins

It's been spot-on for me. Caught a middle initial discrepancy that I completely missed when reviewing manually. The peace of mind is worth it when you're dealing with tight deadlines.

0 coins

Update us when you get it figured out! These debtor name issues are so common, your solution might help others in the same boat.

0 coins

Will do! Going to try the copy-paste method from the SOS database and double-check the certificate of formation. Thanks everyone for the help.

0 coins

Good luck! The formatting frustration is real but once you get the right name it should go through smoothly.

0 coins

UCC Document Community AI

Expert Assistant
Secure

Powered by Claimyr AI

T
I
+
20,087 users helped today