SOS UCC search showing weird results - am I missing something obvious?

Exactly this. We had a client where one lender filed as "Smith & Associates Inc" and another as "Smith and Associates, Inc." - completely different search results even though it's obviously the same company.

Wait so the search won't find both if I just search for "Smith Associates"?

Nope, most state systems require pretty exact matches. You'd need to try multiple search variations to catch everything.

Good point about the addresses. They do match exactly on all three filings I found. Tax ID numbers aren't showing up in the public search results though.

Some states hide the SSN/EIN info from public searches for privacy reasons. You might need to request the full filing documents to see those details.

That sounds useful - does it work with SOS search results or do you need the actual filing documents?

You need the actual PDFs of the filings, but most SOS systems let you download those pretty easily once you find the filing numbers.

Never heard of that service but sounds like it could save a lot of manual comparison work.

Same here. I keep a checklist of different name formats to try - full legal name, common abbreviations, with/without punctuation, different word orders if applicable.

Do you search by filing number too or just debtor names?

Both, but filing number searches only work if you already know the specific numbers. For comprehensive searches you really need to cast a wide net with name variations.

Totally agree, it's frustrating how literal these systems are.

And don't even get me started on trying to search business names with special characters or numbers in them. Half the time the search just breaks.

Interesting point. Two of the filings I found were from the same month last year, so that could be exactly what happened.

Yeah that's a common belt-and-suspenders approach. File multiple UCC-1s with different name variations then sort it out later with amendments if needed.

Seems like a waste of filing fees but I guess better safe than sorry when it comes to perfecting security interests.

I hadn't thought of that. Worth a try, though I imagine they're pretty busy.

Hit or miss depending on the state, but some are actually pretty helpful if you catch them at the right time.

How did you finally confirm they were all the same entity?

Address matching was the biggest clue, plus when I got the full documents the organizational IDs were identical on three of them. The fourth was actually a different company with a really similar name.

That's why I always get nervous about name-matching in UCC searches. Easy to assume variations are the same entity when they might not be.

That's actually brilliant. Never thought about tracking patterns like that.

Yeah it's really eye-opening how inconsistent lenders can be with name formatting. Some always abbreviate, others spell everything out, some add commas everywhere.

Good to hear another positive review. I think I'll give it a try for this search.

Does it handle state-specific UCC formatting differences or is it more general document comparison?

It seems to understand UCC document structure pretty well. Flagged debtor name variations across different filing types without me having to configure anything special.

That's what I'm leaning toward too. Thanks everyone for the insights - really helpful to know this is a common issue and not just me being confused by the search system.

Good luck with your due diligence! Name matching in UCC searches is definitely one of the trickier aspects of the process.