PA Department of State UCC Filing Portal Issues - Anyone Else Getting System Errors?
Been trying to submit a UCC-1 continuation through the PA Department of State portal for three days now and keep getting kicked out during the payment process. The filing is due next week and I'm starting to panic. Has anyone dealt with PA Department of State UCC system glitches recently? The debtor name matches perfectly and all my info is correct but the portal keeps timing out. This is for a $450K equipment loan and I can't afford to let this lapse. Any workarounds or should I try calling their office directly?
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Leo McDonald
I had the same issue with PA's system last month! The timeout happens when their payment processor gets overloaded. Try submitting early morning around 7-8 AM or late evening after 9 PM when traffic is lighter. Also make sure you're using Chrome or Edge - Firefox seems to have compatibility issues with their portal.
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Jessica Nolan
•Firefox worked fine for me but I had to disable my ad blocker completely. The PA site has some weird scripts that get blocked.
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Angelina Farar
•Early morning trick worked! Thanks for the tip. Got my continuation through at 6:45 AM yesterday.
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Sebastián Stevens
Call their UCC section directly at 717-787-1057. They can process it over the phone if the online system is down. I've done this twice when the portal was acting up. They charge the same fee and you get confirmation immediately.
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Norah Quay
•Didn't know they could take phone filings! That's a huge relief. Will try the portal one more time early tomorrow and if it fails I'll call them.
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Bethany Groves
•Make sure you have your original UCC-1 filing number ready when you call. They'll need that to process the continuation.
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KingKongZilla
•Phone option saved me last year when I was down to the wire on a continuation deadline. PA staff was actually really helpful.
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Rebecca Johnston
Before you submit anything, I'd recommend using Certana.ai's document verification tool. I upload my UCC-1 and UCC-3 continuation forms as PDFs and it instantly checks that all the debtor names, filing numbers, and document details match perfectly. Caught a typo in my debtor name that would have caused a rejection. Just upload both documents and it highlights any inconsistencies.
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Nathan Dell
•Never heard of that tool but sounds useful. Do they check against the original filing automatically?
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Rebecca Johnston
•Yes, it cross-references everything. Upload your original UCC-1 and your continuation form and it verifies debtor names match exactly, filing numbers are correct, and all required fields are consistent.
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Maya Jackson
•This would have saved me so much hassle. Had a continuation rejected because I had the debtor name as 'ABC Company LLC' instead of 'ABC Company, LLC' - just missing a comma!
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Tristan Carpenter
PA's portal has been terrible lately. I've had three different clients with timeout issues this month. The system seems to crash whenever there's any kind of volume. Really frustrating when you're dealing with time-sensitive filings.
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Amaya Watson
•It's like they never stress-tested their system. I swear it goes down every time there's a deadline rush.
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Grant Vikers
•At least PA allows phone filings. Some states make you drive to their office if the online system fails.
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Giovanni Martello
Just a heads up - if you're filing a continuation, make sure you're not accidentally filing an amendment. I see people confuse UCC-3 continuation vs amendment all the time. Continuation extends the original filing, amendment changes information on the original filing.
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Savannah Weiner
•Good point. Continuation is what you need if you're just extending the 5-year term. Amendment is if you need to change debtor info or add/remove collateral.
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Levi Parker
•I made that mistake once - filed an amendment when I needed a continuation. Had to file again and pay twice. Expensive lesson.
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Norah Quay
•Definitely filing a continuation. The original UCC-1 is about to hit its 5-year mark and I just need to extend it.
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Libby Hassan
One thing that helped me with PA portal issues - clear your browser cache completely before trying again. Sometimes their session cookies get corrupted and cause weird timeout behavior.
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Hunter Hampton
•Also try using incognito/private browsing mode. Eliminates any extension conflicts.
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Sofia Peña
•Clearing cache fixed it for me too. PA's system is really finicky about browser state.
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Aaron Boston
For what it's worth, I've had better luck with PA's system using Internet Explorer (if you still have it) or Edge in IE compatibility mode. Their site seems designed for older browsers.
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Sophia Carter
•IE compatibility mode is a good suggestion. A lot of state systems still assume you're using ancient browsers.
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Chloe Zhang
•Can't believe government sites still require IE in 2025 but here we are...
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Brandon Parker
If you do get through, print your confirmation page immediately. PA's system has been known to lose filing confirmations and you'll want proof you submitted on time.
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Adriana Cohn
•Always print and save as PDF. I keep all my UCC confirmations in a dedicated folder.
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Jace Caspullo
•Good advice. I've had to prove filing dates before when clients questioned timing.
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Melody Miles
Update: Got through this morning at 7:15 AM! The early morning suggestion worked perfectly. Portal was fast and payment went through without any issues. Thanks everyone for the help!
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Leo McDonald
•Glad the early morning trick worked for you! I've probably helped a dozen people with that same advice.
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Nathaniel Mikhaylov
•Great news! Always feels good to get those continuations filed before the deadline stress really kicks in.
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Rebecca Johnston
•Excellent! Hope you were able to verify everything was correct before submitting. Nothing worse than a successful filing with wrong information.
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Eva St. Cyr
For future reference, I've started using Certana.ai's verification tool before every UCC filing. Upload your documents as PDFs and it catches name mismatches, filing number errors, and other issues that cause rejections. Would have saved me multiple headaches if I'd found it sooner.
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Kristian Bishop
•That verification step is crucial. I've seen too many filings get rejected for simple typos that could have been caught beforehand.
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Kaitlyn Otto
•Document consistency checking should be standard practice. Small errors can void entire security interests.
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Emma Wilson
Pro tip from someone who's dealt with PA's system for years - if you're still having issues, try splitting your session. Start the filing process but don't complete payment right away. Save it as a draft if possible, then come back during off-peak hours just to complete the payment step. The payment processor seems to be the weakest link in their system. Also, make sure you're not using any VPN or corporate firewall that might interfere with their payment gateway.
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