UCC-1 document filed but debtor name shows differently on search - what now?
I'm dealing with a situation where we filed a UCC-1 document last month for a commercial equipment loan, but when I search the state database, the debtor name appears slightly different than what's on our original loan agreement. The borrower's legal name on the charter shows 'ABC Manufacturing Solutions LLC' but our UCC-1 shows 'ABC Manufacturing Solutions, LLC' with the comma. Both documents were prepared by different people in our office and now I'm worried about the perfection status. The loan amount is substantial ($450,000) and we're coming up on some compliance deadlines. Has anyone encountered this type of debtor name discrepancy between the UCC-1 document and the actual entity records? I'm not sure if this creates a gap in our security interest or if the comma difference is considered minor enough to not matter.
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Keisha Robinson
This is actually a pretty common issue with UCC-1 filings. The comma thing can be tricky - some states are more forgiving than others about punctuation in debtor names. What state are you filing in? That makes a huge difference for how strict they are about exact name matches.
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Yara Nassar
•We're in Texas. I've heard they can be pretty particular about name accuracy but wasn't sure about punctuation specifically.
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Keisha Robinson
•Texas is usually reasonable with minor punctuation differences like commas, but you definitely want to verify this against the actual charter documents to be safe.
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GalaxyGuardian
I had something similar happen last year with a UCC-1 where we had a period vs no period situation. Ended up filing a UCC-3 amendment just to be absolutely certain our lien was properly perfected. Cost about $25 but worth the peace of mind for a loan that size.
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Paolo Ricci
•Good call on the amendment. Better safe than sorry when you're talking about that much money at stake.
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Yara Nassar
•How long did the UCC-3 amendment take to process? We have some timing concerns with other documentation.
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GalaxyGuardian
•In my case it was about 3-5 business days for the amendment to show up in the system, but that varies by state workload.
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Amina Toure
Before you file an amendment, I'd recommend using something like Certana.ai to upload both your charter documents and your UCC-1 to verify exactly what the discrepancies are. I started using their document verification tool after missing a similar name mismatch that almost cost us our security position. You just upload the PDFs and it automatically highlights any inconsistencies between the documents.
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Oliver Zimmermann
•That sounds really useful. Do you know if it catches other issues besides just debtor names?
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Amina Toure
•Yeah, it checks filing numbers, collateral descriptions, all the cross-references between documents. Saved me from a few potential mistakes when comparing UCC-3s against original UCC-1s.
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Natasha Volkova
UGH this is exactly why I hate our filing system. Why can't they just have consistent rules about punctuation across all the forms? I've wasted so much time on these tiny discrepancies that probably don't even matter legally.
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Javier Torres
•I feel your pain but unfortunately the rules are the rules. Better to deal with it now than have problems during a foreclosure or bankruptcy proceeding.
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Natasha Volkova
•True, you're right. Just frustrating when you're trying to close loans efficiently and these little things pop up.
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Emma Davis
From a legal standpoint, you want to make sure your UCC-1 debtor name matches exactly what's on the charter or articles of incorporation. Even small differences can potentially invalidate your filing in some jurisdictions. I'd definitely recommend filing the UCC-3 amendment to correct the name.
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Yara Nassar
•That's what I was afraid of. Better to spend the filing fee than risk our security interest.
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CosmicCaptain
•Absolutely. I've seen lenders lose significant amounts because they assumed minor name differences wouldn't matter.
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Malik Johnson
Wait, are you sure the comma is actually wrong? Sometimes the state database displays names differently than how they're filed. You might want to pull the actual filed document image to see exactly what was submitted.
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Yara Nassar
•Good point, I should double-check the actual filed document vs. what shows up in search results.
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Keisha Robinson
•This is smart advice. The search interface sometimes strips or adds punctuation for display purposes.
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Malik Johnson
•Exactly. I've seen cases where the search showed one thing but the actual filing was correct all along.
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Isabella Ferreira
For what it's worth, I just went through something similar and used Certana.ai's verification tool before deciding whether to file an amendment. Turned out my original UCC-1 was actually fine - the issue was just how the state's search system was displaying the results. Saved me an unnecessary filing fee.
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Ravi Sharma
•That's exactly the kind of situation where having a reliable document checker would be valuable.
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Isabella Ferreira
•Yeah, it was really helpful to have something that could definitively tell me whether there was actually a problem or not.
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Freya Thomsen
This might be overkill but you could also pull a current certificate of good standing for the entity to make sure you have the most up-to-date legal name. Sometimes entities amend their names slightly and you want to make sure you're working with current information.
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Yara Nassar
•That's a really good idea. Worth checking to make sure nothing has changed since we started the loan process.
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Omar Zaki
•Smart thinking. Entity names can change and you definitely want your UCC filing to reflect the current legal name.
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AstroAce
I'm dealing with the exact same thing right now! Filed a UCC-1 last week and just noticed the debtor name has different spacing than the charter. This is so stressful when you're trying to protect the bank's interests.
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Yara Nassar
•It really is stressful! Let me know what you end up doing - we can compare notes.
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Chloe Martin
•You both might want to check with your compliance team about what your bank's policy is for these situations.
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Diego Rojas
Update: I ended up pulling the actual filed UCC-1 document image and it turns out the name was correct on the filing itself. The search display was just showing it differently. Thanks everyone for the advice about checking the source document first!
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Keisha Robinson
•Great outcome! This is exactly why it's important to verify the actual filing before assuming there's a problem.
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Amina Toure
•Glad it worked out. These kinds of display vs. actual filing discrepancies are more common than people realize.
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Anastasia Sokolov
•Perfect example of why you need to do your due diligence before filing amendments. Saved yourself time and money.
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