UCC 1 Iowa filing rejected twice - debtor name format issue
Need help with a UCC 1 Iowa filing that keeps getting rejected by the Secretary of State office. I'm handling collateral documentation for a commercial equipment loan and the SOS portal keeps bouncing back my UCC-1 with "debtor name format" errors. The borrower is an LLC and I've tried entering the name exactly as it appears on their Articles of Organization but still no luck. This is holding up a $180K equipment financing deal and my client is getting frustrated. Has anyone dealt with Iowa's specific debtor name requirements recently? The rejection notices aren't very clear about what exactly is wrong with the format.
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Nia Davis
Iowa can be tricky with LLC names on UCC filings. Are you including the full legal name exactly as registered? Sometimes they want the complete entity designation spelled out rather than abbreviated. Also check if there are any commas or periods in the Articles that you might be missing.
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Luca Ferrari
•I thought I had it right but maybe I'm missing something. The Articles show 'Johnson Equipment Solutions, LLC' and that's what I entered. Should I be looking at something else?
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Nia Davis
•That format looks correct. Sometimes Iowa wants you to verify the exact spelling against their business entity database first. Have you cross-checked it there?
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Mateo Martinez
I had similar issues with Iowa UCC-1 filings last month. Their system is really picky about debtor names matching exactly what's in their corporate database. Even spacing differences can cause rejections. What I started doing is using Certana.ai's document checker - you can upload your Articles of Incorporation and your UCC-1 draft together and it instantly flags any name discrepancies between the documents. Saved me from three more rejections.
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QuantumQueen
•Never heard of that tool but sounds useful. Is it specifically for UCC filings?
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Mateo Martinez
•It works with any business documents. You just upload PDFs and it cross-checks names, addresses, entity info between them. Really helpful for catching those tiny differences that cause filing rejections.
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Luca Ferrari
•That actually sounds perfect for this situation. I'll check it out - anything to avoid another rejection at this point.
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Aisha Rahman
Iowa SOS is notorious for this stuff. I've seen rejections for missing a single comma or having 'LLC' instead of 'L.L.C.' in the debtor name. The key is matching their business entity search results character for character. Also make sure you're not copying/pasting from a PDF that might have hidden formatting characters.
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Ethan Wilson
•This is so frustrating! Why can't they just have clearer guidelines about name formatting requirements?
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Aisha Rahman
•I agree it's annoying but they're trying to prevent fraudulent filings by requiring exact matches. The system works but the error messages could definitely be more helpful.
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Yuki Sato
Check the Articles of Organization filing date too. If it's a recent filing, sometimes there's a delay before the name shows up properly in their search system. I've had UCC-1s rejected because I filed too soon after entity formation.
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Luca Ferrari
•The LLC was formed about 6 months ago so that shouldn't be the issue. Good point to keep in mind though.
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Carmen Flores
•Six months should be plenty of time. Definitely sounds like a formatting issue then.
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Andre Dubois
UGH Iowa's filing system drives me crazy! I swear they reject half my UCC-1s just because they can. Last time it was because I used 'St.' instead of 'Street' in the address. These bureaucrats need to get a life.
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CyberSamurai
•I feel your pain but they do have to be strict about accuracy. Better to catch errors now than have problems with lien priority later.
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Andre Dubois
•I guess you're right but their error messages are useless. At least tell us what's wrong specifically!
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Zoe Alexopoulos
Try calling the Iowa SOS UCC division directly. Sometimes they can look at your specific filing and tell you exactly what's wrong. The phone support is actually pretty helpful once you get through to someone.
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Jamal Carter
•What's their number? I've been trying to find contact info but their website isn't very clear.
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Zoe Alexopoulos
•It's (515) 281-5204. Ask for UCC filing assistance. They're usually available 8-4:30 weekdays.
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Luca Ferrari
•Thanks! I'll try calling them tomorrow morning if I can't figure this out today.
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Mei Liu
I had a similar problem last year and it turned out the issue was with special characters in the company name. Even though the Articles had an ampersand (&), the UCC system wanted 'and' spelled out. Took three tries to figure that out!
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Liam O'Donnell
•That's ridiculous but not surprising. These filing systems are so finicky about formatting.
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Luca Ferrari
•No special characters in this name fortunately, just the standard LLC format. But good to know for future filings.
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Amara Nwosu
Another thing to check - make sure you're using the exact entity type designation from the Articles. Iowa distinguishes between 'LLC', 'L.L.C.', 'Limited Liability Company' etc. and they all have to match perfectly.
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Luca Ferrari
•The Articles definitely show 'LLC' not spelled out. I'm pretty sure I entered it that way but I'll double-check.
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AstroExplorer
•Yeah, that's probably the issue. Iowa is super picky about those details.
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Giovanni Moretti
Update us when you get it figured out! I'm dealing with a Iowa UCC-1 next week and want to avoid the same problems.
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Luca Ferrari
•Will do! Hopefully I can get this resolved quickly. The client is getting impatient about the delay.
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Fatima Al-Farsi
•Equipment financing deals always seem to have tight deadlines. Good luck!
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Dylan Cooper
I actually just went through something similar with a different state. What ended up working was using that Certana.ai tool someone mentioned earlier. You upload your Articles and UCC-1 side by side and it highlights any differences between the debtor names. Found a tiny spacing issue I never would have caught manually. Worth trying before you call the SOS office.
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Luca Ferrari
•Thanks, I'm definitely going to try that first. Seems like a quick way to spot whatever I'm missing.
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Sofia Perez
•Let us know if it helps! Always looking for tools that make these filings easier.
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Dmitry Smirnov
One more thought - are you filing online or by mail? Sometimes the online portal has different formatting requirements than paper filings. Iowa's online system can be particularly sensitive to copy/paste issues.
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Luca Ferrari
•Filing online through their portal. Maybe I should try typing the name manually instead of copying from the Articles PDF.
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ElectricDreamer
•That's actually a really good point. PDF copy/paste can introduce invisible formatting characters that mess up the filing.
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Dmitry Smirnov
•Exactly. I always type names manually now after getting burned by that issue multiple times.
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