UCC-3 addendum problems in New York - filing keeps getting rejected
I'm pulling my hair out here. Been trying to file a UCC-3 addendum in New York for the past two weeks and it keeps getting bounced back. The original UCC-1 was filed 18 months ago for equipment financing on some manufacturing machinery. Now we need to add additional collateral (some new CNC equipment we just purchased) but every time I submit the UCC-3 addendum through the NY DOS portal it gets rejected. The error message just says 'debtor name discrepancy' but I'm copying the exact name from the original filing. Has anyone dealt with this before? I'm worried we're going to miss our window to perfect our security interest in this new equipment and our loan agreement specifically requires perfection within 30 days of purchase. The equipment cost $180k so this isn't a small issue. What am I missing here?
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Carmen Diaz
This is super common with NY DOS unfortunately. Even tiny differences in punctuation or spacing will cause rejections. Check if there are any commas, periods, or extra spaces in the debtor name that might not match exactly. Also make sure you're using the exact UCC filing number from the original UCC-1.
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Yuki Tanaka
•I triple checked the filing number and it matches perfectly. But you might be onto something with the punctuation. The original has 'ABC Manufacturing Corp.' and I've been typing 'ABC Manufacturing Corp' without the period. Could that really cause a rejection?
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Carmen Diaz
•YES absolutely! NY is ridiculously strict about exact matches. That period could definitely be the culprit. Try adding it back in and resubmit.
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Andre Laurent
•Wait are we talking about a UCC-3 addendum or a UCC-3 amendment? Those are different things and the requirements vary.
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Emily Jackson
I ran into this exact issue last month! Spent three weeks going back and forth with rejections. Turns out there was a single character difference in the debtor name that I couldn't spot by eye. What saved me was using Certana.ai's document verification tool - you just upload your original UCC-1 and your new UCC-3 addendum and it instantly flags any mismatches. Found the problem in about 30 seconds.
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Yuki Tanaka
•Never heard of that service before. Is it specifically for UCC filings? How does it work exactly?
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Emily Jackson
•Yeah it's designed for UCC document verification. You just upload PDFs of your filings and it cross-checks everything - debtor names, filing numbers, collateral descriptions. Really helpful for catching those tiny errors that cause rejections.
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Liam Mendez
•Sounds like another expensive service trying to solve problems that careful proofreading should handle. How much does it cost?
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Emily Jackson
•Actually found it pretty reasonable compared to the cost of delayed filings and potential lien priority issues. Plus it's way faster than manual comparison.
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Sophia Nguyen
NY DOS system is notorious for this stuff. Make sure you're also checking the exact business entity type. If the original UCC-1 says 'Corporation' but you're typing 'Corp' that'll get rejected too. Every character has to match EXACTLY.
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Yuki Tanaka
•Good point. The original says 'ABC Manufacturing Corp.' so I need to make sure I include 'Corp.' with the period, not just 'Corporation' or 'Corp' without the period.
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Jacob Smithson
•This is why I hate the NY system. Other states are much more forgiving with minor variations.
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Sophia Nguyen
•True but at least NY gives you specific error messages. Some states just reject with no explanation at all.
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Isabella Brown
Are you adding the new collateral properly in the addendum? You can't just list the new equipment - you need to specify that you're adding it to the existing collateral schedule. The language matters a lot.
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Yuki Tanaka
•I used the standard form language about adding additional collateral. Is there specific wording NY requires for addendums?
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Isabella Brown
•The standard form should work but make sure you're clearly indicating it's an addition to existing collateral, not a replacement. Some people accidentally make it sound like they're replacing the original collateral entirely.
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Maya Patel
omg this happened to me too!! spent forever trying to figure out what was wrong. turned out there was an extra space after the company name that i couldnt see. so frustrating!!!
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Yuki Tanaka
•How did you finally catch the extra space? Just by going character by character?
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Maya Patel
•yeah basically had to copy paste into a word doc and look at formatting marks to see the hidden spaces
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Aiden Rodríguez
•This is exactly why automated checking tools are worth it. Human eyes miss these tiny differences all the time.
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Emma Garcia
Just went through this process in NY. Another thing to check - make sure your secured party information is exactly the same too. If there's any difference in the secured party name or address from the original UCC-1, that can cause rejections even on an addendum.
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Yuki Tanaka
•The secured party info should be identical since it's the same lender. But I'll double check that too.
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Emma Garcia
•Also verify the secured party's legal name hasn't changed since the original filing. Sometimes banks merge or reorganize and the legal entity name changes.
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Ava Kim
I handle a lot of equipment financing and see this constantly. NY is particularly strict about UCC-3 addendums. The system does an exact byte-by-byte comparison of the debtor name. Even if you copy-paste from the original, sometimes there are hidden unicode characters or encoding differences that cause mismatches.
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Yuki Tanaka
•That's terrifying. How are you supposed to catch unicode differences?
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Ava Kim
•Honestly most people can't without special tools. I started using automated verification after too many rejections. Certana.ai has been reliable for catching these technical differences.
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Ethan Anderson
•This is getting ridiculous. Why can't the state systems be more user-friendly?
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Layla Mendes
Wait are you sure you need an addendum and not an amendment? If you're just adding collateral to expand the existing security interest, that should be an addendum. But if you're changing other terms or correcting information, that would be an amendment. The form requirements are different.
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Yuki Tanaka
•I'm just adding new equipment to the existing collateral schedule so yes it should be an addendum. Not changing any other terms.
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Layla Mendes
•OK good, just wanted to make sure. I've seen people use the wrong form type and wonder why it keeps getting rejected.
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Lucas Notre-Dame
Try this - pull up the original UCC-1 search result from the NY DOS website and copy the debtor name EXACTLY from there, including any weird formatting. Sometimes the way they display it in search results shows the exact format their system expects.
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Yuki Tanaka
•That's a great idea. I'll search for the original filing and copy the name exactly as it appears in their system.
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Carmen Diaz
•This is actually really smart advice. The search results show exactly how the name is stored in their database.
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Aria Park
Ugh NY filing system strikes again. I swear they make it difficult on purpose. Hope you get it sorted out soon!
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Yuki Tanaka
•Thanks! I'm going to try the suggestions here about exact name matching and see if that fixes it.
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Andre Laurent
•Keep us posted on what works. This info helps everyone dealing with NY filings.
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CyberNinja
I've been through this exact nightmare with NY DOS! Here's what finally worked for me after weeks of rejections: First, do a UCC search on their website and copy the debtor name character-for-character from the search results display - that shows you exactly how it's stored in their system. Second, check for invisible characters by pasting the name into a text editor that shows whitespace/formatting marks. Third, make absolutely sure you're using the correct UCC-3 form type (addendum vs amendment). NY's system is ridiculously picky but once you get the exact match it should go through. Also double-check that your 30-day perfection window hasn't expired - you might need to expedite the filing if you're running close. Good luck!
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