North Dakota UCC continuation filing nightmare - anyone else dealing with this?

That's what I was afraid of. Do you know if I can do both filings at the same time or do I have to wait for the amendment to be accepted first?

I'd do the amendment first and wait for acceptance, then file the continuation. Trying to do both simultaneously sometimes creates more portal confusion.

Actually you might be able to do a continuation that also includes the name change - check Box 5 on the UCC-3 form for debtor name changes. Some states let you handle both in one filing.

Good point. I checked and the current legal name is definitely "Johnson Family Farms LLC" according to the ND business records. So it's a legitimate name change that happened after our original UCC-1.

Then yeah, you'll need to address that name change before the continuation will go through. Most states won't let you continue a filing with a different debtor name without acknowledging the change.

Never heard of that but it sounds useful. How does it work exactly?

Super simple - just upload both PDFs and it cross-checks all the critical fields like debtor names, filing numbers, collateral descriptions. Takes like 30 seconds and catches stuff that's easy to miss when you're rushing through filings.

That actually sounds really helpful for catching these kinds of errors before they become rejections.

Yeah that's what's making me nervous. If this drags out much longer we're going to be right up against the lapse date.

You might want to call the lender and give them a heads up about the name change complication. They'll appreciate knowing you're on top of it rather than finding out last minute.

Right?? Their error messages are completely useless. At least tell us WHICH field is wrong instead of just "name inconsistency.

Exactly! Other states at least give you some indication of what to fix. North Dakota just makes you guess.

I've had better luck calling their UCC section directly around 10am. They seem more responsive then than later in the day.

Good catch. Do you know what the current amendment fee is? I want to make sure I have it right.

I think it's $20 for amendments and $15 for continuations, but double check the ND SOS fee schedule since they update it periodically.

That's probably what I'll end up doing. Did you have any issues with the timing between the two filings?

Nope, as long as the amendment goes through before your lapse date you should be fine. The continuation can reference the amended filing.

Make sure to keep copies of both filings and the acceptance confirmations for your lender. They'll want documentation of the whole process.

Yeah I'm definitely going to be more careful about cross-checking everything before submitting. This has been a nightmare.

live and learn. at least you caught it with enough time to fix it before the lapse date

Good point. I have the original filing number so I'll make sure that's correct on the amendment form.

Double and triple check it. One wrong digit and you'll be dealing with more rejections.

At this point I'm willing to try anything that prevents these kinds of headaches. Thanks for the recommendation.

No problem. It's really straightforward - just upload your documents and it flags any issues before you submit to the state. Saves a lot of back and forth with rejections.

Will do. Planning to file the amendment Monday morning and hopefully the continuation by end of week.

Good luck! These state portals can be so frustrating but usually the amendment approach works for name changes.