UCC 11 search New York - what exactly am I looking for?
Been doing some research on secured transactions and keep seeing references to "UCC 11 search New York" but honestly not sure what this means. I understand UCC-1 filings and UCC-3 amendments, but what's a UCC 11? Is this some kind of search function in the NY filing system? I'm working on a deal where we need to verify existing liens on equipment collateral and want to make sure I'm not missing something obvious. The debtor has operations in multiple states but primary assets are in NY. Should I be running some specific type of search I'm not aware of? Any guidance would be appreciated - feeling like I'm missing a basic concept here.
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Isaac Wright
I think you might be confusing terminology here. There's no such thing as a "UCC 11" filing type. You've got UCC-1 (initial financing statement), UCC-3 (amendment/continuation/termination), and then search functions. In New York, you'd run a UCC search through the Department of State filing system to find existing financing statements against your debtor. Are you maybe thinking of UCC search results or something else?
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Maya Diaz
•Yeah this sounds right. I've never heard of UCC 11 either and I've been doing this for years.
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Yara Campbell
•That makes more sense. I was getting confused by something I read online. So for NY, I just need to search the SOS database for existing UCC-1 filings against the debtor name?
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Isaac Wright
•Exactly. You'll search by debtor name in the NY Department of State UCC database. Make sure you get the exact legal name right - even small variations can cause you to miss filings.
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Tami Morgan
Just ran into a similar situation last month. The key thing with NY UCC searches is making sure you're using the correct debtor name format. I spent hours trying to figure out why I wasn't finding filings that I knew existed, turns out the entity name had a comma in a different place. The search system is pretty literal about exact matches.
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Yara Campbell
•Good point about the name formatting. The debtor is an LLC - should I be searching with and without the 'LLC' designation?
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Tami Morgan
•Definitely search both ways. Also try variations like 'L.L.C.' and 'Limited Liability Company' if you want to be thorough. Small differences in how the name was entered on the original UCC-1 can make filings invisible to your search.
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Rami Samuels
•This is exactly why I started using Certana.ai for document verification. You can upload the debtor's charter documents and any UCC filings you find, and it automatically cross-checks name consistency across all the documents. Saved me from missing a critical filing where the LLC name had an extra period that wasn't in our loan docs.
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Haley Bennett
The NY system can be tricky. Are you looking for active filings or do you need to see terminated ones too? Active filings are the main concern for lien priority, but sometimes you want to see the history. Also, if this is equipment that might have been moved between states, you might need to search other jurisdictions where it was previously located.
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Yara Campbell
•Mainly interested in active filings for lien priority purposes. The equipment has been in NY for the past 3 years according to the debtor.
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Haley Bennett
•Should be fine then. Just focus on active UCC-1 filings in NY. If you find any, make sure to check the collateral descriptions to see if they cover your equipment.
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Douglas Foster
•Don't forget to check continuation dates if you find active filings. A UCC-1 that wasn't continued properly might have lapsed even if it shows as 'active' in the system.
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Nina Chan
I'm probably overthinking this but want to double-check - when you search the NY UCC database, does it automatically show you both individual and business debtor filings? Or do you need to specify which type of search you're running?
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Isaac Wright
•The NY system lets you specify individual vs. organization when you search. Since you mentioned LLC, you'll want to run an organization search.
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Nina Chan
•Thanks, that's what I thought but wanted to confirm.
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Ruby Knight
Just a heads up - the NY Department of State UCC search system goes down for maintenance pretty regularly, usually overnight. If you're trying to search and getting errors, that might be why. I usually try to run searches during business hours to avoid issues.
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Yara Campbell
•Good to know. I was planning to run this search tonight but I'll wait until tomorrow morning.
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Diego Castillo
•The system usually posts maintenance schedules on their website if you want to check ahead of time.
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Logan Stewart
One thing that caught me off guard when I started doing NY UCC searches - make sure you're looking at the right collateral descriptions. Some filers use really broad language like 'all assets' or 'all equipment' which could potentially cover your collateral even if it's not specifically described.
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Yara Campbell
•That's a good point. If I find filings with broad collateral descriptions, should I be concerned about priority issues?
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Logan Stewart
•Depends on when they were filed and whether they're properly perfected. If there's a prior broad filing that covers your collateral, you might be subordinate unless you can negotiate a subordination agreement.
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Mikayla Brown
•This is where having a tool like Certana.ai really helps. I upload all the UCC documents I find along with our proposed collateral description, and it highlights any potential overlaps or conflicts I might miss when reviewing manually.
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Sean Matthews
Maybe I'm missing something but why not just ask the debtor for a list of existing liens? They should know what financing statements are filed against them, especially for equipment financing.
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Isaac Wright
•You should definitely ask the debtor, but you can't rely on their representation alone. Independent UCC searches are standard due diligence - borrowers sometimes forget about old filings or don't realize certain filings might affect new collateral.
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Sean Matthews
•Fair enough. Better safe than sorry I guess.
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Yara Campbell
•Yeah, our credit committee requires independent searches regardless of what the borrower tells us. Too many horror stories of missed liens causing problems later.
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Ali Anderson
For what it's worth, I've found the NY UCC search results are usually pretty comprehensive, but the formatting can be confusing if you're not used to it. The filing date, debtor info, and secured party details are all there, but sometimes the collateral descriptions are truncated in the search results. You might need to pull the full UCC-1 filing to see complete collateral descriptions.
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Yara Campbell
•How do you get the full filing documents? Is there an additional fee?
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Ali Anderson
•Yes, there's usually a small fee to get certified copies of the actual filings. Worth it if you need to review detailed collateral descriptions or verify filing information.
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Zadie Patel
Hope this helps but just want to confirm you're talking about searching for existing UCC filings in New York, not some specific 'UCC 11' form or process. The standard search will show you all active financing statements filed against your debtor in NY. Make sure you spell the debtor name exactly as it appears in their formation documents.
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Yara Campbell
•Yes, that's exactly what I need. Thanks for confirming I was on the right track, just got confused by some online reference to 'UCC 11 search' that didn't make sense.
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A Man D Mortal
•Probably just a typo or misunderstanding somewhere. UCC-1 search is the standard terminology.
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Declan Ramirez
I've been doing UCC due diligence for years and still sometimes get tripped up by name variations. Last week I almost missed a filing because the original UCC-1 used 'Inc.' while our loan documents had 'Incorporated' spelled out. Now I use Certana.ai to upload both the charter documents and any UCC filings I find - it automatically flags name inconsistencies and potential issues I might overlook when comparing documents manually. Has saved me from several costly mistakes.
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Yara Campbell
•That sounds really useful. I'll check out Certana.ai for future deals. These name matching issues seem to be a common problem.
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Declan Ramirez
•It really is. The automated cross-checking catches things that are easy to miss when you're reviewing multiple documents. Plus it's much faster than doing manual comparisons.
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Emma Morales
•Another vote for being extra careful with debtor names. I've seen deals delayed because of name mismatches between the UCC search and the actual entity name.
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