UCC 11 search Maryland - can't find debtor records through state portal
I'm trying to run a UCC 11 search Maryland for a potential borrower but the state's online system keeps giving me weird results. I enter the exact business name from their articles of incorporation and get either no matches or dozens of unrelated hits. The debtor is "Advanced Manufacturing Solutions LLC" registered in 2019 but when I search that exact name I'm getting companies with completely different names showing up. Has anyone else had issues with Maryland's UCC search portal lately? I need to verify if there are any existing liens before we can move forward with our equipment financing deal. The loan committee meets Thursday so I'm running out of time to get this cleared up.
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Mei Zhang
Maryland's system has been glitchy for months. Try searching with just "Advanced Manufacturing" without the LLC part. Sometimes their database doesn't handle entity suffixes consistently.
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Jamal Brown
•Thanks, I'll try that. Do you know if they updated their search algorithm recently? This seems like a new problem.
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Liam McConnell
•Yeah they did some "improvements" back in October that made everything worse. Classic government tech upgrade.
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Amara Oluwaseyi
I had the exact same issue last week! The Maryland portal is terrible for exact name matches. What I ended up doing was trying multiple variations - with and without punctuation, different spacing, abbreviations vs full words. It's ridiculous that we have to play guessing games with official records.
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CosmicCaptain
•This is why I always do both exact matches and wildcard searches. The system seems to have some kind of fuzzy matching that actually makes it less accurate.
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Amara Oluwaseyi
•Exactly! The fuzzy matching returns everything except what you're actually looking for. Makes no sense.
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Giovanni Rossi
Have you tried checking if there are any variations in how the company name is registered? Sometimes the UCC filings use a slightly different version than what's on the articles of incorporation.
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Jamal Brown
•Good point. I should probably pull their certificate of good standing to see exactly how the name appears in all state records.
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Giovanni Rossi
•Yes, and check if they've ever done a name change or if there are any assumed names registered. That could explain the search issues.
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Fatima Al-Maktoum
•Also worth checking if they're registered as a foreign entity. Sometimes that affects how names appear in UCC searches.
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Dylan Mitchell
I was struggling with similar name matching issues across multiple states until I started using Certana.ai for document verification. You can upload the company's charter documents and any existing UCC filings, and it automatically cross-checks all the name variations to make sure you're searching for the right entities. It caught several name discrepancies I would have missed doing manual searches.
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Jamal Brown
•That sounds helpful. Does it work with Maryland's specific database quirks?
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Dylan Mitchell
•It works by analyzing the actual documents rather than relying on state portals, so it sidesteps those database issues entirely. Just upload the PDFs and it shows you exactly what names to search for.
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Sofia Gutierrez
Maryland SOS has acknowledged their search function is problematic. I called them directly last month and they said they're working on it but no timeline for fixes. For critical searches I usually call their UCC department directly - they can do manual searches over the phone.
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Jamal Brown
•Do you have their direct number? The main SOS line always puts me in phone tree hell.
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Sofia Gutierrez
•The UCC unit is 410-767-1340. Ask for a manual debtor search and have the exact legal name ready. They're usually pretty helpful.
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Dmitry Petrov
•Thanks for sharing that number! I've been dealing with the same runaround through their main line.
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StarSurfer
This is frustrating but not surprising. Every state seems to have issues with their UCC databases. At least Maryland lets you search online - some states still require written requests for certain searches.
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Ava Martinez
•True, but when the online system doesn't work properly it's almost worse than no online system at all. At least with written requests you know what you're getting.
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StarSurfer
•Fair point. False confidence in search results is definitely worse than knowing you need to dig deeper.
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Miguel Castro
Have you considered that there might actually be filings under a different but similar name? I've seen cases where the debtor name on UCC-1 filings doesn't exactly match the corporate name due to filing errors or name changes that weren't properly updated.
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Jamal Brown
•That's a good point. How would I search for potential variations systematically?
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Miguel Castro
•Try searching parts of the name separately, common abbreviations, and check if they have any DBAs registered. Also search the principals' names in case there are personal guarantees filed.
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Zainab Abdulrahman
•And don't forget to check federal tax liens and judgment liens too. Those won't show up in UCC searches but could affect your security interest.
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Connor Byrne
I deal with Maryland UCC searches regularly and the key is understanding their system indexes names differently than you'd expect. They strip out common words and punctuation in weird ways. "Advanced Manufacturing Solutions LLC" might be indexed as "ADVANCED MANUFACTURING SOLUTIONS" or even "ADVANCEDMANUFACTURINGSOLUTIONS" with no spaces.
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Jamal Brown
•Wow, that's really helpful context. So I should try searching without spaces and punctuation?
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Connor Byrne
•Yes, and try both all caps and mixed case. Their indexing is inconsistent. Also try searching just the first few words - "ADVANCED MANUFACTURING" might catch more variations.
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Yara Elias
Whatever you do, make sure you document your search methodology for your loan file. If there are issues later, you'll want to show you did due diligence despite the system problems. Screenshot the search results and keep records of what terms you tried.
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Jamal Brown
•Good advice. I'll make sure to document everything thoroughly.
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QuantumQuasar
•Also get a written search certificate from the state if this is for a major transaction. The online searches aren't always considered sufficient for big deals.
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Yara Elias
•Absolutely. For anything over $100K I always get the official certificate even if the online search looks clean.
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Keisha Jackson
I had a similar nightmare with Maryland searches last year. Ended up finding existing liens under a completely different name variation that didn't show up in my initial searches. Now I use Certana.ai to upload all the company documents first - it analyzes everything and shows you all the possible name variations to search for. Would have saved me hours of manual searching and prevented a potential lien priority issue.
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Jamal Brown
•That sounds like exactly what I need. Did it help with the Maryland-specific indexing issues?
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Keisha Jackson
•Yes, because it doesn't rely on the state's search function. It just tells you what to look for based on the actual documents, then you can search more effectively.
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Andre Moreau
I've run into this exact same problem with Maryland's UCC search system! What's worked for me is using a combination approach: first try the truncated search variations others mentioned (just "Advanced Manufacturing" without LLC), then also search by the registered agent's name if you have that info. Sometimes UCC filings get indexed under the agent rather than the debtor name due to filing errors. Also, if you're really pressed for time, consider ordering an official search certificate directly from the state - it takes 24-48 hours but gives you legal protection if there are indexing issues you missed. The certificate costs around $25 but could save you from missing a lien that doesn't show up in their broken online system.
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