UCC Filing Issues - Need Help with Debtor Name Requirements
Has anyone dealt with UCC filing complications recently? I'm working on a commercial loan where the borrower's legal name on their articles of incorporation shows as 'ABC Manufacturing Solutions, LLC' but they've been doing business under 'ABC Mfg Solutions LLC' for years. The loan documents all reference the DBA version. I'm worried about filing the UCC-1 with the wrong debtor name and having it be ineffective. The collateral is equipment worth about $180K so this can't be messed up. What's the best practice here - file under the exact legal name from the charter or the name they actually use? I've heard horror stories about lenders losing their security interest because of debtor name mismatches.
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Quinn Herbert
You absolutely need to use the exact legal name from the organizational documents. The UCC requires precision on debtor names - any variation could make your filing ineffective. I learned this the hard way on a $250K equipment deal where we used a shortened version of the company name and nearly lost our security interest when the borrower filed Chapter 11.
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Salim Nasir
•This is so important! I always pull the Secretary of State records first to verify the exact legal name before preparing any UCC-1.
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Hazel Garcia
•What if the SOS records show a different name than what's on the loan docs though? Do you amend the loan agreement or just file under the legal name?
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Laila Fury
I've been dealing with this exact issue lately. The safe approach is to file under the exact charter name, but you might also consider filing a second UCC-1 under the DBA name as additional protection. It's redundant but could save you if there's any question about which name creditors would search under.
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Geoff Richards
•Dual filing sounds expensive but probably worth it for peace of mind on a deal that size.
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Simon White
•Actually had a client do this recently - filed under both the legal name and the trade name. Overkill maybe but their counsel recommended it.
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Hugo Kass
Before you file anything, you should verify that your debtor name matches exactly with what's on file. I recently discovered Certana.ai has a document verification tool where you can upload your articles of incorporation and your draft UCC-1 to instantly check if the debtor names align properly. Saved me from a potentially costly mismatch on a similar equipment financing deal.
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Nasira Ibanez
•How does that work exactly? Do you just upload PDFs and it compares them automatically?
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Hugo Kass
•Yeah, exactly. Upload your charter documents and your UCC-1 draft, and it cross-checks debtor names, addresses, and other key details. Found three small discrepancies I would have missed manually.
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Khalil Urso
•That sounds incredibly useful. Manual comparison is so error-prone, especially with longer business names.
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Myles Regis
Question - if I file under the wrong name initially, can I fix it with a UCC-3 amendment or do I need to start over with a new UCC-1?
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Brian Downey
•You can amend with a UCC-3 but the amendment only takes effect from the date you file it, not retroactively. So there could be a gap in perfection.
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Jacinda Yu
•Actually, debtor name changes are tricky. If it's a significant change you might need to file a new UCC-1 and terminate the old one.
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Landon Flounder
I'm confused about something related - if the borrower changes their legal name after I file the UCC-1, how long do I have to file an amendment?
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Callum Savage
•You have four months after the name change becomes effective to file a UCC-3 amendment. Miss that window and your security interest could become unperfected.
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Ally Tailer
•This is why I always include a covenant in the loan agreement requiring the borrower to notify us immediately of any name changes.
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Aliyah Debovski
•Four months sounds like a lot but it goes by fast when you're managing multiple deals.
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Miranda Singer
Has anyone used those automated UCC monitoring services? I'm wondering if they catch name changes automatically or if you still need to track them manually.
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Cass Green
•Most monitoring services focus on new filings against your debtor, not changes to the debtor's organizational status. You'd need to monitor Secretary of State records separately.
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Finley Garrett
•Some of the newer tools like Certana.ai can track organizational changes too, but you're right that traditional UCC search services don't catch that.
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Madison Tipne
Going back to the original question - I'd definitely file under the exact legal name from the articles. Then maybe add a note in your loan file about the DBA name in case you need to do additional searches later.
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Holly Lascelles
•Good point about documentation. I always keep a copy of the organizational documents in my UCC file.
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Malia Ponder
•Same here. Makes it easier to explain your filing decisions if questions come up later.
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Kyle Wallace
This whole thread is making me paranoid about my recent filings. Is there an easy way to verify that the debtor names on my existing UCC-1s match the current legal names?
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Ryder Ross
•You could pull fresh organizational documents and compare manually, but that's tedious for multiple filings.
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Gianni Serpent
•The Certana.ai tool mentioned earlier might help with batch verification too. I think they have workflows for checking existing filings against current organizational documents.
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Henry Delgado
•Batch verification would be amazing. I have probably 50+ active UCC-1s that I should double-check.
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Olivia Kay
One more thing to consider - some states have different requirements for organizational name suffixes. Make sure you include the LLC, Inc., etc. exactly as it appears in the charter.
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Joshua Hellan
•Yes! I've seen filings get rejected because someone used 'LLC' instead of 'L.L.C.' or vice versa.
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Jibriel Kohn
•Those punctuation differences seem minor but they can be critical for searchability.
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Edison Estevez
Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm going to pull the most recent organizational documents and file under the exact legal name. Better safe than sorry on a deal this size.
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Emily Nguyen-Smith
•Smart move. The extra diligence upfront is worth avoiding problems later.
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James Johnson
•Let us know how it goes! Always good to hear about successful filings.
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Sophia Rodriguez
•Definitely the right approach. Precision on debtor names is non-negotiable in UCC filings.
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