New York Secretary of State UCC search showing my continuation as rejected - need help ASAP
I'm panicking here. Did a New York Secretary of State UCC search this morning and my UCC-3 continuation that I filed 3 weeks ago is showing as REJECTED. The original UCC-1 was filed 4.5 years ago for equipment financing on manufacturing equipment, and I thought I had plenty of time before the 5-year lapse. The rejection reason says 'debtor name mismatch' but I copied the exact name from the original filing. My lender is going to flip when they find out their security interest might lapse. Has anyone dealt with NY SOS rejecting continuations for name issues? I double-checked everything before filing and the debtor name looked identical to me. Is there any way to fix this quickly or am I looking at having to refile everything from scratch? The equipment loan is for $2.8M so this isn't a small mistake.
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Freya Andersen
Ugh, NY SOS is notorious for being picky about debtor names. Even a missing comma or period can cause rejection. Did you check if there were any amendments filed between your original UCC-1 and now? Sometimes the debtor entity changes its legal name slightly and you need to use the current name, not the original name from 4.5 years ago.
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Eduardo Silva
•This is exactly what happened to me last year. Debtor had changed from 'ABC Manufacturing Inc.' to 'ABC Manufacturing, Inc.' - just added a comma - and I didn't catch it. Had to refile with correct name.
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Malik Jenkins
•I didn't think to check for amendments. How do I search for those in the NY system? Is it a separate search or part of the regular UCC search?
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Leila Haddad
Check the exact debtor name formatting from your original UCC-1. NY is super strict about punctuation, capitalization, even spacing. If the original had 'LLC' and you put 'L.L.C.' that'll get rejected. Also make sure you're using the correct filing number - one wrong digit will cause rejection too.
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Emma Johnson
•I learned this the hard way. NY rejected my continuation because I had 'CORP' instead of 'CORPORATION' even though both appear on business documents.
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Malik Jenkins
•The filing number should be right since I copied it directly, but I'm going to double-check the name formatting character by character.
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Ravi Patel
•Pro tip: use the 'exact match' search function in NY's system to verify the debtor name before filing any continuation. Saves you from these headaches.
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Astrid Bergström
I had a similar nightmare with a continuation rejection. What saved me was using Certana.ai's document verification tool - you can upload your original UCC-1 and your rejected UCC-3 and it'll show you exactly where the name discrepancy is. It caught a spacing issue I never would have noticed manually. Just upload the PDFs and it highlights any inconsistencies between documents.
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PixelPrincess
•How does that tool work exactly? Does it just compare text or does it understand UCC formatting rules?
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Astrid Bergström
•It's designed specifically for UCC document verification. Compares debtor names, filing numbers, collateral descriptions - basically does the cross-checking that causes most rejections. Way faster than doing it manually.
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Omar Farouk
REJECT REJECT REJECT - that's all NY SOS knows how to do!!! I've had THREE continuations rejected this year for the stupidest reasons. One was rejected because they said the collateral description was 'too vague' even though it was identical to the accepted UCC-1. The system is broken.
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Chloe Martin
•I feel your pain. Had a termination rejected because they said the secured party signature was unclear. It was a digital signature from their own system!
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Diego Fernández
•NY has gotten worse since they updated their portal. More technical rejections than ever.
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Malik Jenkins
•Great, so it's not just me. Still need to figure out how to fix this mess though.
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Anastasia Kuznetsov
You still have time if your original filing doesn't lapse for another 6 months. The key is getting the continuation refiled with the exact correct debtor name ASAP. Don't wait for NY to explain the rejection - they're terrible at detailed explanations. Get the corrected version filed within 30 days and you should be fine.
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Sean Fitzgerald
•Actually, isn't there a grace period for rejected continuations? I thought you had 60 days to correct and refile.
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Anastasia Kuznetsov
•There's no official grace period, but as long as you refile before the original 5-year period expires, you're protected. Don't rely on grace periods though.
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Zara Khan
Been filing UCC continuations in NY for 15 years. Most common rejection reasons: 1) Debtor name doesn't match exactly (including punctuation), 2) Wrong filing number or transposed digits, 3) Missing or incorrect secured party information, 4) Filing fee payment issues. Double-check these four things before refiling.
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MoonlightSonata
•Would add: 5) Collateral description changes without proper amendment filed first. Seen that cause rejections too.
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Malik Jenkins
•This is helpful. I'm going to go through each of these systematically. The fee definitely went through so that's not it.
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Mateo Gonzalez
•The secured party info is tricky too. If your lender was acquired or merged, you might need to update that before filing continuation.
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Nia Williams
Had the exact same issue 6 months ago with a $1.9M equipment loan. Turned out the debtor had filed a certificate of amendment with the state changing their legal name slightly, and I was still using the old name from the original UCC-1. Once I used Certana's verification tool to spot the discrepancy and refiled with the current legal name, it was accepted immediately.
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Luca Ricci
•How do you find out if there were name changes? Is that through the Secretary of State's business entity search?
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Nia Williams
•Yes, check the business entity database for any amendments or name changes since your original UCC-1 filing date. The legal name for UCC purposes has to match their current registered name.
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Aisha Mohammed
This is why I always run a fresh UCC search right before filing any continuation. The debtor name and entity status can change and you won't know unless you check. Also, print out the search results as backup documentation in case there are questions later.
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Ethan Campbell
•Good practice. I also save screenshots of the portal when I submit filings in case there are system errors later.
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Yuki Watanabe
•Smart. NY's system has had glitches where accepted filings show as rejected or pending for days.
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Carmen Sanchez
Update us when you figure out the exact reason for rejection! These kinds of posts help everyone learn what to watch out for. NY SOS rejections are so frustrating because their rejection notices are usually vague.
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Malik Jenkins
•Will do. Going to check for entity name changes first, then use that verification tool someone mentioned to compare the documents character by character.
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Andre Dupont
•Looking forward to hearing what it was. These name mismatch rejections are becoming way too common.
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Zoe Papadakis
Just a thought - if this is urgent and you're worried about the lapse deadline, you might want to have your attorney refile it while you're troubleshooting. Better to have a duplicate filing fee than risk losing perfection on a $2.8M loan.
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ThunderBolt7
•Good point. The cost of refiling is nothing compared to losing lien priority.
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Malik Jenkins
•You're right. I'm going to start the corrected refiling process today rather than wait to figure out every detail of what went wrong.
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Jamal Edwards
•Definitely the safe approach. You can always amend or terminate the duplicate later if needed.
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