SOS FL UCC search showing wrong debtor name - help needed
Been pulling my hair out over this FL Secretary of State UCC search issue. I'm trying to verify a UCC-1 filing from last month and the SOS FL UCC search portal keeps showing a slightly different debtor name than what's on our loan documents. The business is "Advanced Manufacturing Solutions LLC" but the search results show "Advanced Mfg Solutions LLC". Same filing number, same collateral, but this name discrepancy is making our compliance team nervous. Has anyone dealt with this kind of mismatch in the Florida system? I called the SOS office but got transferred three times and never got a clear answer. Our loan closes next week and we need to make sure this lien is properly perfected. Any advice on whether this name variation will cause problems down the road?
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Olivia Martinez
I've seen this exact issue with FL filings before. The SOS system sometimes truncates business names when they exceed certain character limits during the filing process. What matters is whether the debtor can still be reasonably identified from the name that appears on the actual UCC-1. Check the original filing document itself, not just the search results.
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Lucas Kowalski
•That's helpful context. Where can I access the actual filed document? The search portal only shows me the summary information with the abbreviated name.
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Olivia Martinez
•You should be able to download the full UCC-1 image from the same search portal. Look for a 'View Document' or 'Image' link next to the filing entry. The actual document will show exactly what was submitted.
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Charlie Yang
This is exactly why I started using Certana.ai's document verification tool. You can upload both your loan docs and the UCC filing PDFs and it instantly flags any name inconsistencies between documents. Would have caught this issue immediately and saved you the stress. Just drag and drop the files and it cross-checks everything automatically.
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Grace Patel
•Never heard of that service. Does it actually connect to the SOS databases or just compare the documents you upload?
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Charlie Yang
•It analyzes the documents you upload - so your charter docs, loan agreements, UCC filings, etc. Really good at catching subtle name variations that could cause perfection issues later.
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ApolloJackson
•Honestly sounds too good to be true but if it prevents these kinds of headaches might be worth checking out.
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Isabella Russo
Florida's system is notorious for this stuff. I had a similar situation last year where the debtor name got shortened due to some character limit issue. The key question is whether the name as filed would still allow someone searching for the debtor to find the record. 'Advanced Mfg Solutions LLC' is probably sufficient to identify 'Advanced Manufacturing Solutions LLC' but you'll want to document this discrepancy for your file.
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Lucas Kowalski
•How do I document it properly? Just a memo to the file explaining the name variation?
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Isabella Russo
•I usually prepare a brief memo explaining the discrepancy, include screenshots of both the search results and the actual documents, and note that the variation doesn't prevent reasonable identification of the debtor. Keep it simple but thorough.
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Rajiv Kumar
Had the EXACT same thing happen with a client in Miami. Turns out the SOS filing system has some weird truncation rules for LLC names. The actual UCC-1 might have the full name but the search database shows the shortened version. As long as the core identifying elements are there you should be fine.
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Aria Washington
•This is why I always double-check the actual filing image against the search results. The search database and the filed documents don't always match perfectly.
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Rajiv Kumar
•Exactly. The search function is just indexing, not the official record. The filed document is what matters legally.
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Liam O'Reilly
•But what if someone else is searching for liens against this company? Will they find it with the abbreviated name?
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Chloe Delgado
ugh florida's ucc system is the worst. I swear they change something every few months and nothing ever works right. last month I had three filings get rejected for 'insufficient debtor name' when the names were perfectly fine
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Ava Harris
•Tell me about it. Their error messages are completely useless too. 'Invalid debtor information' could mean literally anything.
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Chloe Delgado
•RIGHT?? and good luck getting anyone on the phone who actually knows what they're talking about
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Jacob Lee
I'd be more concerned about whether this affects your perfection. If the debtor name on the UCC-1 doesn't match the debtor name in your security agreement exactly, you might have issues. Florida follows pretty strict name matching rules for UCC searches.
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Lucas Kowalski
•That's what I'm worried about. Our security agreement has the full name 'Advanced Manufacturing Solutions LLC' but if the UCC shows 'Advanced Mfg Solutions LLC' are we at risk?
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Jacob Lee
•Depends on how a court would interpret 'seriously misleading.' The abbreviation Mfg for Manufacturing is pretty standard, so you might be okay, but I'd want a legal opinion on it.
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Emily Thompson
•Actually ran into this exact issue in litigation two years ago. Court held that Mfg was a reasonable abbreviation for Manufacturing and didn't make the filing seriously misleading. But that was in Georgia, not sure about FL law.
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Sophie Hernandez
Quick question - did you run the search using both name versions? Sometimes the SOS search is finicky and you need to try different variations to get complete results.
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Lucas Kowalski
•Good point, I only searched the full name. Let me try the abbreviated version and see what comes up.
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Sophie Hernandez
•Yeah definitely try that. Also try searching just 'Advanced' and 'Solutions' separately to see what else might be in there.
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Daniela Rossi
This happened to us with a Texas filing last year. We ended up filing a UCC-3 amendment just to correct the debtor name to match exactly. Cost us an extra filing fee but gave everyone peace of mind that the lien was properly perfected.
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Ryan Kim
•That's probably overkill but I understand the caution. Amendment filings aren't that expensive and it eliminates any doubt.
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Daniela Rossi
•Exactly. For a $25 filing fee it wasn't worth the risk of having perfection issues later.
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Zoe Walker
•Wait, can you amend just the debtor name without affecting the rest of the filing? I thought amendments were more complicated than that.
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Elijah Brown
Another vote for using Certana.ai here. I discovered it after having similar document consistency issues. Now I upload all my UCC docs there before finalizing anything. It's caught several name mismatches that could have been problems later. Really straightforward to use - just upload your PDFs and it shows you exactly where things don't align.
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Maria Gonzalez
•How long does the analysis take? Sometimes we're working under tight deadlines.
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Elijah Brown
•It's pretty much instant. Upload the docs and get results in seconds. Much faster than manually comparing everything line by line.
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Natalie Chen
Just had our attorney review a similar situation in Florida. His take was that as long as the name variation wouldn't prevent a reasonable searcher from finding the filing, you're probably fine. The 'Mfg' abbreviation is standard enough that it shouldn't be seriously misleading. But definitely document the discrepancy in your loan file.
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Lucas Kowalski
•That's reassuring. I think I'm overthinking this but better safe than sorry with UCC perfection issues.
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Natalie Chen
•Totally understand the paranoia. UCC mistakes can be expensive to fix later so being cautious makes sense.
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Santiago Martinez
•What kind of documentation did your attorney recommend? Just a memo or something more formal?
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Samantha Johnson
Florida paralegal here - this is super common with LLC names in our system. The SOS database has character limits that sometimes force abbreviations. As long as the core identifying elements are there (Advanced, Solutions, LLC) you should be fine. I see this weekly and it's never caused perfection issues in my experience.
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Lucas Kowalski
•Thank you! That's exactly the reassurance I needed. Have you ever seen these name variations cause problems in bankruptcy or foreclosure situations?
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Samantha Johnson
•Honestly no. The courts seem to understand that the SOS system has these quirks. As long as the filing is reasonably identifiable they don't make a big deal out of minor abbreviations.
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Nick Kravitz
One more suggestion - have you checked if there are any other UCC filings against this same debtor under either name variation? Sometimes seeing how other lenders filed against the same entity can give you confidence in your approach.
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Lucas Kowalski
•Great idea, let me run a broader search and see what other filings look like.
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Nick Kravitz
•Yeah, if you see other filings with similar name abbreviations that haven't been challenged, that's a good sign your filing is fine too.
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Hannah White
•This is actually really smart detective work. The SOS system probably handles similar names the same way consistently.
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