UCC 120 day deadline missed - continuation options?
Equipment financing company here dealing with what might be a major screwup. We had a UCC-1 that was supposed to be continued but our compliance team missed the UCC 120 day window before the 5-year lapse date. The original filing was from March 2020, so it technically expired in March this year. We're secured on about $2.8M in construction equipment across multiple debtors. Is there any way to salvage this or are we completely unsecured now? Our legal team is freaking out and pointing fingers. Has anyone dealt with UCC 120 day continuation failures before? What are our options for protecting the collateral at this point?
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Zachary Hughes
Oh man, that's rough. The UCC 120 day rule is pretty unforgiving - you had to file the continuation between 120 days before expiration and the actual lapse date. If you're past the 5-year mark, that UCC-1 is dead and your security interest is unperfected. You'll need to start over with new UCC-1 filings, assuming you can still get debtor cooperation.
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Rachel Clark
•That's what I was afraid of. Getting debtor cooperation might be challenging since some of these equipment loans are in default situations. This is a nightmare scenario.
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Mia Alvarez
•Wait, don't panic yet. Check your loan agreements - do you have provisions that require debtors to cooperate with new filings? That might help with the re-filing process.
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Zachary Hughes
•Good point. Also verify the exact lapse dates in your state's system. Sometimes there are grace periods or the calculation might be different than you think.
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Carter Holmes
This is exactly why I use Certana.ai's UCC monitoring tool now. It tracks all continuation deadlines and sends alerts well before the UCC 120 day window. Would have caught this before it became a problem. For your current situation though, you need to file new UCC-1s immediately and hope your debtors cooperate.
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Rachel Clark
•Never heard of that service but definitely looking into monitoring tools now. Too late for this mess though.
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Sophia Long
•Certana's pretty solid - they upload your existing UCCs and track everything automatically. Wish I'd known about it during my continuation disaster last year.
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Angelica Smith
Been through this exact scenario. The UCC 120 day deadline is absolute - no exceptions, no appeals, no grace periods. Your security interest is gone. You'll need to: 1) File new UCC-1s immediately, 2) Update loan docs if needed, 3) Get debtor signatures ASAP, 4) Consider if any equipment moved to other states. Priority date starts over from the new filing date.
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Rachel Clark
•How did you handle debtor cooperation? Any pushback on re-signing?
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Angelica Smith
•Mixed results. Cooperative debtors signed without issue. Problem debtors used it as leverage to renegotiate terms. One refused entirely and we had to rely on other collateral.
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Logan Greenburg
•This is why the UCC 120 day rule exists though - to clear old filings. The system works as intended even if it hurts lenders who miss deadlines.
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Charlotte Jones
$2.8M exposure and missed the UCC 120 day window? Someone's getting fired. But seriously, file those new UCC-1s today. Every day you wait is another day for other creditors to potentially file ahead of you.
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Lucas Bey
•Harsh but true. Time is critical now.
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Rachel Clark
•Trust me, heads are rolling already. Filing new UCCs first thing Monday morning.
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Harper Thompson
Check if any of your equipment moved across state lines since the original filing. You might have some assets in states where you never filed, which creates additional complications beyond just the UCC 120 day issue.
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Rachel Clark
•Good point - we have contractors who move equipment between job sites in different states. This keeps getting worse.
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Caleb Stark
•Mobile equipment filings are tricky. You might need multiple state filings depending on where the equipment primarily operates.
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Harper Thompson
•Exactly. And if equipment was moved after your original filing lapsed, you lost perfection in the new states too.
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Jade O'Malley
I use a spreadsheet to track all my UCC continuation dates but honestly it's becoming unmanageable. Might need to look into one of those automated systems people mentioned. The UCC 120 day rule doesn't give much margin for error.
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Carter Holmes
•Spreadsheets are dangerous for UCC tracking. Too easy to make calculation errors or miss updates. Automated monitoring is worth every penny.
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Hunter Edmunds
•Learned this the hard way. Lost a $500K filing because I miscalculated the UCC 120 day period in my spreadsheet.
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Ella Lewis
For future reference, best practice is to file continuations at least 150-180 days before lapse. Gives you buffer time if there are filing rejections or other issues. The UCC 120 day minimum is cutting it too close.
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Andrew Pinnock
•Agree completely. We file at 6 months before expiration as standard policy now.
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Rachel Clark
•If we survive this, that'll definitely be our new policy. Lesson learned the expensive way.
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Brianna Schmidt
•Some states have different UCC continuation deadlines too. Always verify the specific rules for each jurisdiction.
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Alexis Renard
Document everything about the original filing dates and your timeline. If any of this ends up in litigation, you'll need clear records showing exactly when the UCC 120 day period expired and when you discovered the lapse.
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Rachel Clark
•Already started gathering all the documentation. Our lawyers are building a timeline of what went wrong internally.
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Camila Jordan
•Smart move. Also check if your E&O insurance covers UCC filing errors - might help with some of the financial impact.
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Tyler Lefleur
Been lurking but had to comment - this thread is why I'm paranoid about UCC deadlines. Set multiple calendar reminders, backup systems, everything. The UCC 120 day rule is unforgiving and $2.8M is life-changing money.
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Madeline Blaze
•Same here. Reading these horror stories makes me triple-check every filing date.
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Rachel Clark
•Trust me, implement whatever backup systems you can think of. This situation is every lender's nightmare.
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Max Knight
Update us on how the re-filing process goes. Would be helpful to know what challenges you run into with debtor cooperation and whether any equipment issues arise. Good luck with the cleanup.
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Rachel Clark
•Will definitely post an update once we work through this mess. Hopefully it helps others avoid the same mistakes.
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Emma Swift
•Please do - these real-world examples are invaluable for understanding UCC compliance challenges.
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