Texas UCC 11 search showing weird results - need help understanding what I'm seeing

Exactly this - I learned the hard way that Texas doesn't do fuzzy matching like some other states. You have to be really methodical about searching every possible name variation.

Wait, so if the document shows as active in search but says 'not available' when you try to view it, does that mean the lien is still valid? That seems like a huge problem for due diligence.

The filing is still legally effective even if the document isn't viewable online. You'd need to request a certified copy from the Secretary of State office if you need to see the actual terms.

Never heard of that tool but sounds useful. How does it handle the name variation issue you mentioned?

It cross-references the names from your uploaded documents and highlights discrepancies. So if your charter says 'ABC Company, LLC' but a UCC shows 'ABC Company LLC' it flags that for review. Takes the guesswork out of whether you found all the relevant filings.

That actually sounds exactly like what I need right now. The manual comparison is killing me and I keep second-guessing whether I'm missing filings due to name variations.

I was only searching by name. Let me try the filing number approach and see if that gives me better results. Good point about terminated filings too.

Filing number search is definitely more reliable in Texas. The name search has always been glitchy in my experience.

Ugh yes! And don't get me started on their continuation filing process. I've had continuations get rejected for the most random reasons.

At least they finally upgraded from that ancient system they had a few years ago. Remember when you had to search each county separately for fixture filings?

True, it's better than it was. But still nowhere near as user-friendly as Delaware or Nevada systems.

How long does the certified search usually take? We're trying to close by month-end.

Expedited service is usually 3-5 business days. Worth the cost for peace of mind on a big acquisition.

That might be our backup plan if I can't get confident in the electronic results. Really hoping to avoid the delay though.

Good tip. I always forget they actually have helpful people on the phone there.

Yeah their phone support is surprisingly good. Much better than trying to navigate that website.

That's a really good point. I might be overthinking this if some of these are just continuations of the same original filing.

Exactly - look at the filing types in your results. UCC-3 amendments and continuations will reference the original UCC-1 filing number.

This is where that Certana tool mentioned earlier would probably help - it can map out the relationships between original filings and their amendments/continuations.

Didn't know Texas supported wildcards. That's actually really helpful for company name searches.

I'll try that approach. The name variations are definitely my biggest headache right now.

That's exactly what I need for my current deal. Manual verification is taking forever and I keep worrying about missing something.

Same here - just signed up after reading about it in this thread. Will report back on how it works for my Texas search issues.

Good catch - this does involve some equipment that might be considered fixtures. I'll need to expand my search scope.

Fixture filings in Texas are a whole different beast. Definitely need to check real estate records too if there's any question about whether something is a fixture.

And don't forget federal tax liens - those won't show up in UCC searches but can definitely affect your deal.