UCC-3 form Delaware filing getting rejected - debtor name issues?
Having major headaches with a UCC-3 form Delaware amendment that keeps bouncing back from the SOS office. This is for a $340K equipment loan where we need to add additional collateral (three new excavators) to an existing UCC-1 from 2022. The debtor is an LLC that changed their registered name slightly last year - went from 'Morrison Heavy Equipment LLC' to 'Morrison Heavy Equipment Solutions LLC' but I'm not sure if that's causing the rejection. The original filing shows the old name and I used the current legal name on the UCC-3 amendment form. Delaware SOS portal just says 'debtor name mismatch' but doesn't specify what exactly is wrong. Anyone dealt with this specific situation? The lapse date is coming up in 8 months and I need to get this collateral added before we fund the additional equipment purchase. Really frustrated because the amendment seemed straightforward but something about the name verification is failing their system.
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Olivia Van-Cleve
Delaware is really strict about exact debtor name matches between the original UCC-1 and any UCC-3 amendments. If the LLC changed their legal name officially, you'll need to use the exact name from the original filing for the UCC-3, then potentially file a separate amendment to update the name if needed. Check your Secretary of State records to see exactly how the name appears on the original filing.
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Mason Kaczka
•This is correct - Delaware won't accept amendments if there's any deviation in the debtor name from the original UCC-1. Even adding or removing punctuation can cause rejections.
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Sophia Russo
•Wait, so even if the company legally changed their name, I have to use the old name? That seems backwards for identifying the actual debtor.
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Evelyn Xu
I ran into this exact issue last month with a Delaware UCC-3 continuation. The key is you need to match the debtor name character-for-character with what's on the original UCC-1. If Morrison Heavy Equipment LLC changed to Morrison Heavy Equipment Solutions LLC, the UCC-3 has to reference 'Morrison Heavy Equipment LLC' to match the original filing. You can then file an additional UCC-3 to change the debtor name to reflect their current legal status.
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Amara Torres
•So I'd need two separate UCC-3 forms? One for the collateral addition using the old name, and another to update the debtor name to the current legal name?
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Evelyn Xu
•Exactly. Delaware requires the amendment to reference the exact debtor name from the original UCC-1 first. Then you can file a name change amendment.
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Dominic Green
•This is why I always triple-check the debtor name spelling before filing anything. These rejections waste so much time when you're dealing with equipment financing deadlines.
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Hannah Flores
Had a similar nightmare with Delaware UCC filings recently. After getting multiple rejections and spending hours trying to figure out the exact formatting requirements, I started using Certana.ai's document verification tool. You can upload your original UCC-1 and your proposed UCC-3 amendment, and it instantly cross-checks the debtor names, filing numbers, and document consistency. Would have saved me days of back-and-forth with the Delaware SOS office. Just upload both PDFs and it shows you exactly where the discrepancies are.
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Sophia Russo
•Never heard of this tool before. Does it work with all states or just Delaware? These name matching issues seem to happen everywhere.
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Hannah Flores
•It works across different states since it's comparing the actual documents rather than trying to interpret each state's specific rules. Really helpful for catching those tiny formatting differences that cause rejections.
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Kayla Jacobson
•Interesting - so it's basically automated proofreading for UCC documents? Might be worth trying since manual comparison is such a pain.
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William Rivera
Delaware's online filing system is particularly finicky about debtor names. I've seen rejections for things like extra spaces, different capitalization, or even the order of business entity suffixes. The original UCC-1 might show 'MORRISON HEAVY EQUIPMENT LLC' in all caps, so your UCC-3 needs to match exactly.
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Amara Torres
•That's a good point about capitalization. I should pull up the original filing and check the exact formatting they have on file.
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Grace Lee
•YES! I got burned by this once - the original filing had 'Smith & Associates, LLC' with a comma, but I filed the amendment as 'Smith & Associates LLC' without the comma. Rejected immediately.
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Mia Roberts
•These systems are so literal it's ridiculous. A human would know it's the same company but the computer sees completely different entities.
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The Boss
For equipment financing like excavators, timing is crucial since you need the lien perfected before funding. Delaware typically processes UCC-3 amendments within 2-3 business days if everything matches correctly. Make sure you're also including the correct filing number from the original UCC-1 - that's another common rejection point.
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Amara Torres
•Good reminder about the filing number. I double-checked that one but hadn't thought about the exact name formatting being so critical.
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Evan Kalinowski
•Equipment loans always seem to have these tight deadlines. At least with Delaware you get pretty quick turnaround once the filing is correct.
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Victoria Charity
Just went through this with a client's UCC-3 termination in Delaware. The debtor name has to be absolutely identical to avoid rejection. I ended up calling the Delaware SOS office directly and they confirmed that even though the LLC updated their legal name with the state, the UCC system still requires the original name for amendments until you file a specific name change amendment.
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Jasmine Quinn
•Wait, you can actually call them? I've been struggling with their online help system which is basically useless.
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Victoria Charity
•Yeah, their UCC division has a phone line but expect to be on hold for a while. They're actually pretty helpful once you get through.
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Oscar Murphy
•This whole name matching requirement seems like an outdated system limitation rather than good policy. Companies change names all the time.
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Nora Bennett
Another thing to watch out for with Delaware UCC-3 forms - make sure you're checking the right boxes for 'AMENDMENT' vs 'CONTINUATION' vs 'TERMINATION'. I've seen people accidentally file continuations when they meant to file amendments for additional collateral.
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Amara Torres
•I did double-check that I selected amendment since I'm adding collateral, not continuing or terminating the existing filing.
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Ryan Andre
•Good catch though - those boxes are easy to mix up when you're rushing through the form.
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Lauren Zeb
Equipment financing attorney here - I deal with Delaware UCC amendments regularly for construction equipment loans. The debtor name issue you're describing is very common. Delaware's system performs an exact string match against the original UCC-1. Since Morrison Heavy Equipment LLC became Morrison Heavy Equipment Solutions LLC, you need to file the UCC-3 using 'Morrison Heavy Equipment LLC' to match the original. Then file a second UCC-3 for the name change to 'Morrison Heavy Equipment Solutions LLC'. Both filings reference the same original filing number.
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Amara Torres
•This confirms what others have said. So the process is: 1) UCC-3 amendment for additional collateral using old name, 2) UCC-3 amendment for name change. Two separate filings?
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Lauren Zeb
•Correct. You could potentially combine them into one filing, but Delaware's system is more reliable if you do them separately. The additional collateral amendment first, then the name change.
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Daniel Washington
•Makes sense from a legal standpoint - you're establishing the lien on the new collateral first, then updating the debtor information.
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Aurora Lacasse
I've been doing UCC filings for 15 years and Delaware is definitely one of the more strict states about exact name matches. The good news is once you get the format right, their system processes quickly. For future reference, I always recommend keeping a copy of the original UCC-1 as filed (not just your draft) so you can reference the exact debtor name formatting for any amendments.
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Anthony Young
•That's smart - I usually just keep my working drafts but you're right that the final filed version might have formatting differences.
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Charlotte White
•Delaware actually emails you a confirmation with the exact details as filed, so that's a good reference document to save.
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Admin_Masters
Update: I tried another document checking tool after reading about Certana.ai here and it immediately flagged the name discrepancy between my original UCC-1 and the UCC-3 amendment I was trying to file. Turns out the original filing had the full LLC name in all caps, and I was using standard capitalization. Fixed that and the amendment went through on the next submission. Thanks for the advice everyone!
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Matthew Sanchez
•Great outcome! These name matching issues are so common but once you know what to look for, they're easy to fix.
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Ella Thompson
•Glad you got it sorted before your funding deadline. Equipment loans don't wait for filing corrections.
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JacksonHarris
•The capitalization thing gets people all the time. Delaware's system is super literal about that stuff.
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Ryder Ross
This thread is a perfect example of why I always stress to my junior associates that UCC filings are all about precision - one misplaced comma or wrong capitalization and you're back to square one. Delaware's strict name matching requirements might seem excessive, but they actually protect the integrity of the public record system. When you're dealing with equipment financing worth hundreds of thousands like these excavators, that 2-3 day processing time in Delaware is actually pretty reasonable compared to some other states. The key takeaway here is always work from the filed version of your original UCC-1, not your draft documents, since the state's system may have made formatting changes during processing.
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Zoe Dimitriou
•This is really helpful insight, especially about working from the filed version rather than drafts. As someone new to UCC filings, I'm wondering - is there a way to easily access that filed version from Delaware's system, or do you need to request it separately? I want to make sure I'm building good habits from the start since precision seems so critical in this area.
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