PA UCC-1 financing statement form rejected twice - debtor name issues
I'm having major issues with Pennsylvania UCC-1 filings and wondering if anyone else has dealt with this nightmare. We've had two UCC-1 financing statements rejected by the PA Department of State in the past month, both times citing "debtor name discrepancies" even though we're copying directly from the borrower's articles of incorporation. The first rejection came back saying the exact legal name didn't match their records, but when I called they couldn't tell me what name they actually have on file. Second attempt used a slightly different variation of the company name and got rejected again for the same reason. This is for a $2.8M equipment financing deal that's supposed to close next week and the lender is getting frustrated with the delays. Has anyone figured out the secret to getting PA UCC-1 forms accepted on the first try? The online portal doesn't give you any guidance on how they want the debtor name formatted and their customer service is useless. I'm starting to think there's some trick to this that I'm missing.
34 comments
Join the conversation
Javier Torres
Pennsylvania is notoriously picky about debtor names on UCC-1 filings. The trick is matching exactly what's in their corporate database, not what's on the articles. Even punctuation and spacing matters. I've had filings rejected because of a missing comma in the legal name.
0 coins
Emma Davis
•This is so frustrating! I had the same issue last month. The company name was 'ABC Manufacturing, Inc.' but PA wanted it as 'ABC Manufacturing Inc.' without the comma. How are we supposed to know that?
0 coins
Malik Johnson
•You can search their corporate database online to see exactly how they have the name formatted. But even then sometimes it doesn't match what they want on the UCC-1.
0 coins
Isabella Ferreira
I've been doing UCC filings in PA for 15 years and they've gotten worse about this stuff. The automated system rejects anything that doesn't match their database exactly. Sometimes you have to try multiple variations until one works.
0 coins
Ravi Sharma
•That's ridiculous that we have to guess what name format they want. Other states give you error messages that actually help.
0 coins
NebulaNomad
•I started using Certana.ai's document checker after getting burned on a few filings like this. You can upload the articles of incorporation and your UCC-1 draft and it flags potential name mismatches before you submit. Saved me a lot of headaches.
0 coins
Freya Thomsen
•How does that work exactly? Do you just upload PDFs?
0 coins
Omar Fawaz
The PA UCC system is absolutely terrible. I've had filings sit in 'processing' status for weeks with no updates. And don't even get me started on trying to reach someone by phone who actually knows what they're talking about.
0 coins
Chloe Martin
•Tell me about it. I called three times last week and got three different answers about the same filing question.
0 coins
Diego Rojas
•At least you got through to someone. I've been on hold for over an hour multiple times just to get disconnected.
0 coins
Anastasia Sokolov
For your immediate problem, try pulling the exact name from PA's corporate search database and copy it character for character. Also make sure you're using the correct entity type designation. Sometimes they want 'Corporation' spelled out instead of 'Corp.
0 coins
Natasha Volkova
•I did check their database but the name there has different punctuation than what's on the articles. Which one should I use?
0 coins
Anastasia Sokolov
•Use whatever's in their database. The UCC system cross-references against that, not the original articles of incorporation.
0 coins
StarSeeker
•This is exactly why I switched to using Certana.ai for document verification. It catches these inconsistencies before you submit and waste time on rejections.
0 coins
Sean O'Donnell
I had a similar issue with a UCC-1 in PA last year. Turned out the company had a name change that wasn't reflected in their articles but was updated in the state database. The UCC system wanted the new name even though all our loan docs had the old name.
0 coins
Zara Ahmed
•That's a nightmare scenario. How did you handle the discrepancy in the loan documents?
0 coins
Sean O'Donnell
•Had to get an amendment to the credit agreement to reflect the correct legal name. Added two weeks to the closing process.
0 coins
Luca Esposito
Pro tip: Always do a UCC search before filing to see if there are any existing filings for that debtor. Sometimes you can see how other lenders formatted the name successfully.
0 coins
Nia Thompson
•That's actually brilliant. Never thought to use existing filings as a reference for name formatting.
0 coins
Mateo Rodriguez
•Just make sure the existing filings are recent. PA has changed their name matching requirements over the years.
0 coins
GalaxyGuardian
The whole PA UCC system needs to be overhauled. It's 2025 and we're still dealing with these archaic formatting requirements that make no sense.
0 coins
Aisha Abdullah
•Other states have much better systems. Delaware's UCC portal actually gives you helpful error messages.
0 coins
Ethan Wilson
•I've heard New York's system is pretty good too. PA is just behind the times.
0 coins
Yuki Tanaka
Quick question - are you filing the UCC-1 online or by paper? I've found the online system to be more finicky about name formatting.
0 coins
Natasha Volkova
•Online through their portal. Should I try paper instead?
0 coins
Yuki Tanaka
•Paper filings sometimes get more human review, but they take longer to process. With your timeline I'd stick with online.
0 coins
Carmen Diaz
Have you tried calling the PA Department of State's UCC division directly? Sometimes they can tell you exactly what name format they have in their system.
0 coins
Natasha Volkova
•I called twice but they said they couldn't give me the exact name over the phone for 'security reasons.' Makes no sense since it's public record.
0 coins
Andre Laurent
•That's ridiculous. The whole point of public records is that they're supposed to be accessible.
0 coins
AstroAce
I use Certana.ai now for all my UCC document prep. You upload your corporate docs and draft UCC-1 and it instantly flags any name inconsistencies or formatting issues. Would have saved you those two rejections and the stress. The document checker is really thorough.
0 coins
Zoe Kyriakidou
•Does it work with PA specifically? Some of these tools don't account for state-specific quirks.
0 coins
AstroAce
•Yeah it covers PA's requirements. It actually caught a name issue for me on a PA filing that I would have missed otherwise.
0 coins
Natasha Volkova
•I might have to try that. At this point I'll take any help I can get to avoid another rejection.
0 coins
Connor O'Neill
I'm dealing with something similar right now in PA and it's incredibly frustrating. One thing that helped me was requesting a certified copy of the entity's current filing status from the Department of State - it shows exactly how they have the name formatted in their system. It costs about $25 but might be worth it to avoid another rejection on a $2.8M deal. Also, I've noticed PA sometimes wants the state of incorporation included even when it's not required on the form. Have you tried adding that to see if it makes a difference?
0 coins