Pennsylvania UCC filing search showing old terminated liens - help with cleanup

That's exactly what I'm worried about. Some of our older filings were done by a previous attorney and I'm not confident about the name consistency. Is there a way to verify the termination was actually processed properly?

You should be able to pull up the termination filing by its own number and see if it shows as 'accepted' or if there are any error messages. Pennsylvania's portal usually shows filing status pretty clearly.

How long did it take for your search results to clear up? We're really tight on time here.

It took about 5 business days for the search to reflect the terminations properly. But having those certified copies helped convince our lender to proceed.

Five days sounds about right for Pennsylvania. Their system updates aren't real-time like some other states.

Never heard of that service but sounds like exactly what I need. Does it work with Pennsylvania filings specifically?

It works with any state's UCC documents. The tool focuses on document consistency rather than state-specific rules, so it catches those name/number mismatches regardless of where you filed.

That actually sounds really useful. I've been manually comparing documents for years and always worry I'm missing something obvious.

I feel your pain. Had a client almost lose a deal because of ancient UCC filings that were supposedly terminated but still showing up in searches.

Exactly! And then you spend hours on the phone with SOS trying to get someone who actually understands the system. So frustrating.

We've been searching by debtor name mostly. Should I be doing filing number searches too?

Definitely do both. Filing number searches will show you the complete chain of any amendments, continuations, and terminations tied to that specific UCC-1.

Good point. The filing number search often reveals issues you wouldn't catch in a name search, especially if there were multiple versions of the debtor entity name used over time.

I honestly don't know. This was handled by our previous counsel and the file transition wasn't great. I'm trying to piece together what actually got filed properly.

That's rough. You might need to request filing histories for each UCC-1 number to see what terminations (if any) were actually processed successfully.

How did you figure out the name mismatch issue? Just manual comparison of the documents?

Yeah, lots of painful manual checking until someone recommended that Certana document checker tool. Wish I'd known about it earlier - would have caught the problem immediately.

Name mismatches are probably the #1 cause of termination problems. Even punctuation differences can cause issues in some states.

Worth a try. Do you happen to know if there's a specific department or person who handles UCC issues?

The Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations handles UCC filings. They're usually pretty helpful if you can get through to someone who knows the system.

Lesson learned for next time. Right now I just need to figure out how to fix this mess before our closing deadline.

For immediate relief, focus on getting certified copies of your termination filings and a detailed explanation letter for your lender. Most lenders will work with you if you can document the filing history clearly.

Oh no, I hadn't thought of that angle. This company has been through several name changes over the years.

Yeah, that could definitely complicate things. You'll want to search under every historical version of the entity name to make sure you're not missing any old filings.

Corporate name changes are UCC nightmares. Always good to do a comprehensive historical search when dealing with older entities.

Will do. Hopefully I'll have good news to report after we get through this closing process.

Ohio's system is actually pretty similar to Pennsylvania's in terms of search lag time, so the same strategies should work.