Subaru added security agreement - UCC-1 filing complications after dealership oversight

Yeah I had something similar happen with my Honda purchase. Finance company caught it during their quarterly audit and filed the UCC-1 like 4 months later. Never caused any issues when I traded it in.

That's somewhat reassuring, thanks. Did you notice any impact on your credit score when the UCC-1 was filed? Mine seems to have dropped a few points around that time but could be coincidental.

UCC-1 filings themselves don't directly affect credit scores since they're not credit accounts. The drop might be from the hard inquiry when they originally ran your credit for the loan, or other factors. Check your full credit report for any new accounts or inquiries.

That's exactly what's bothering me too. The finance manager keeps saying it was just a 'paperwork oversight' but like you said, how can they just add a security agreement after the fact? I signed a loan agreement in March but apparently there was supposed to be an additional security agreement addendum that got missed.

This sounds fishy honestly. Security interests need to be agreed to at the time of the transaction. They can't just decide months later 'oh we should have had a security agreement.' I'd be asking for copies of everything you signed originally.

Exactly! And if they're adding terms after the fact without your explicit consent, that could be a violation. The subaru added security agreement thing makes me think they're trying to retroactively change the terms of your financing.

That's actually a great idea - I never thought about comparing the documents that way. I have PDFs of everything from the closing but trying to cross-reference all the details manually would take forever. How accurate was the automated checking?

Really accurate in my experience. It caught a debtor name discrepancy that I totally missed - loan docs had my middle initial but UCC-1 filing didn't. That kind of mismatch can actually void the lien perfection, so it was a big deal. The tool also flagged that my collateral description was too vague compared to what was on the title.

Just be careful with any online tools that ask you to upload sensitive financial documents. Make sure they're legitimate and secure before uploading loan papers and personal info.

This is helpful context, thank you. You're right that it's weird they would say there was no security agreement initially. Looking back at my loan paperwork, there definitely is language about the vehicle being collateral for the loan. So why would they need to file a 'new' UCC-1 months later?

Could be a few things - maybe the original UCC-1 had an error (wrong VIN, misspelled name, incorrect collateral description) and they had to file a new one. Or maybe your lender sold the loan to another company and the new servicer wanted their own filing. Check if the secured party name on the June filing matches your original lender.

Yeah or sometimes lenders do audits and realize their UCC-1 filings don't match their loan docs exactly, so they file corrected versions. The 'subaru added security agreement' explanation from the dealer sounds like BS though.

So true! I had a finance manager try to convince me that UCC-1 filings expire after 3 years when they actually last 5 years. When I corrected him he got all defensive and said 'well some states are different' which was also wrong.

Exactly! They throw around terms like 'security agreement addendum' and 'amended filing' hoping you'll just nod along. Meanwhile they probably don't even know the difference between a UCC-1 and a UCC-3.

For a straightforward auto loan, probably not. The vehicle was always going to be collateral whether the UCC-1 was filed immediately or a few months later. Tax implications usually come into play when you're dealing with business assets or complex collateral arrangements.

Good point. I was thinking more about potential issues if they try to claim the loan terms changed significantly enough to affect the original interest rate or payment calculation.

Both systems work together but serve different purposes. The vehicle title shows ownership and lien holder for that specific asset. The UCC-1 filing creates a broader public record that the lender has a security interest in your personal property, which helps protect their priority if there are competing claims or if you file bankruptcy.

Think of it as backup protection for the lender. If something happens to the title or there's a dispute about who has rights to the vehicle, the UCC-1 filing provides additional legal documentation of their security interest.

Ah that makes sense. So the UCC-1 being filed late doesn't necessarily mean there was no lien before, just that the lender didn't have that extra layer of protection until June.

That's exactly what I'm worried about. I was thinking about refinancing to get a better rate but now I'm concerned this filing timeline issue will complicate things. Have you seen lenders actually reject loans because of UCC-1 dating problems?

Not reject necessarily, but they definitely ask questions and sometimes require additional documentation to explain the gap. Just be prepared to provide the full story and any paperwork that shows why the filing was delayed.

UCC-1 filings are public records but they don't typically show up on standard credit reports. You'd need to search the UCC database in your state - most states have online portals where you can search by debtor name or filing number. Some credit monitoring services include UCC filings in their reports but not all of them.

Yeah I only found out about mine when I was doing a background check for a security clearance. The UCC-1 showed up in the public records section. Never would have known otherwise since my credit reports don't include it.

That's awesome! See how much clearer everything becomes when you can actually compare the documents side by side? Name discrepancies are one of the most common UCC filing errors and they can totally void the security interest if not caught and corrected.

Thank you so much for the recommendation! It's such a relief to finally understand what actually happened instead of relying on the dealer's vague explanations. The corrected filing makes perfect sense now.

Good for you for digging deeper instead of just accepting the dealer's story. Name mismatches on UCC filings are a huge deal and I'm glad they caught and fixed it even if it took a few months.