UCC-1 lookup nightmare - debtor name doesn't match what I expected

YES this happened to me last year. Spent hours searching under the wrong name only to find out the parent company had filed everything under a different subsidiary. Corporate structure research is absolutely critical.

The LLC vs Inc difference is huge red flag. Those are definitely separate legal entities and you need to search both.

Interesting, I haven't heard of that tool. How does it work exactly? Do you just upload PDFs and it cross-checks everything?

Exactly - you upload the charter documents and UCC filings as PDFs and it automatically flags any name inconsistencies or document alignment issues. Much faster than manually comparing everything.

That actually sounds perfect for what I'm dealing with. I have stacks of documents to cross-reference.

Tell me about it. I once had a filing rejected because of a missing comma in the debtor name. A COMMA!

The SOS databases are getting better with wildcard searches but you still need to be super careful about punctuation and abbreviations.

Good point. Also check if there were any recent mergers or acquisitions that might explain the different entity names.

Definitely look at the filing dates too. If the LLC filings are older and the Inc filings are newer, there might have been a corporate restructuring.

Start with the exact legal name from the articles of incorporation, then search variations. Better to over-search than miss something.

Don't panic! Just be thorough and document everything you search. Keep a list of all the name variations you tried.

Thanks, I'm definitely going to be extra careful with the name matching.

Good catch - I was only searching in their operating state. Let me check Delaware too.

Federal tax liens are a whole different search system. IRS Notice of Federal Tax Lien searches are separate from UCC databases.

Two people mentioning the same tool - must be pretty good. I might have to check it out for my next transaction.

I tried it last month and it caught a debtor name mismatch between the UCC-1 and the security agreement that I completely missed. Really saved me from a filing error.

That's a great point. I was only looking at the original UCC-1 filings, not the amendments.

Yes! And pay attention to the amendment types. If there were any debtor name changes via UCC-3 amendments, that could explain the discrepancies you're seeing.

UCC-3 amendments for debtor name changes are pretty common after corporate restructuring. Check the filing chronology carefully.

I'm thinking about it, especially after seeing how complex this is getting. Any recommendations for good search companies?

CT Corporation and CSC are both solid choices for comprehensive UCC searches. They handle the multi-state and name variation issues professionally.

Already started a spreadsheet tracking all my searches. This thread has been incredibly helpful - thank you everyone!

Smart approach. Also date-stamp everything since UCC filings can change daily.

And don't forget to search right up to closing. New filings can appear at any time during the due diligence period.