UCC Filing Issues - Portal Keeps Rejecting My Debtor Name Format
I'm trying to file a UCC-1 for equipment financing and the state portal keeps bouncing back my submission with 'debtor name format error.' The business is registered as 'Mountain Ridge Construction LLC' but I've tried variations like 'Mountain Ridge Construction, LLC' and 'MOUNTAIN RIDGE CONSTRUCTION LLC' and nothing works. The loan closes next week and I'm getting desperate. Has anyone dealt with this exact name formatting issue? The collateral description went through fine but this debtor name thing is killing me. I've called the filing office twice and got two different answers about comma placement.
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Dananyl Lear
This is super common with LLC names. The system is picky about exact matches to the charter. Did you pull the actual Articles of Incorporation to see exactly how the name appears there? Sometimes there's spacing or punctuation that's not obvious.
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Lim Wong
•I thought I had the right version from their business license but you're right, I should check the actual charter documents. Thanks for that suggestion.
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Noah huntAce420
•Yeah definitely check the charter first. I learned this the hard way after three rejections on a time-sensitive filing last year.
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Ana Rusula
UGH the debtor name matching is the worst part of UCC filings! I've had filings rejected for the stupidest reasons - missing periods, extra spaces, you name it. The portal should be smarter about this stuff but here we are.
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Fidel Carson
•Tell me about it. I once had a rejection because I used 'Corp' instead of 'Corporation' even though both appeared on different state documents.
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Lim Wong
•This gives me hope that I'm not the only one dealing with this nightmare. At least I know it's a system issue not just me being incompetent.
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Isaiah Sanders
I had a similar issue recently and found this tool called Certana.ai that checks document consistency. You upload your charter and your UCC-1 draft and it flags any name mismatches before you submit. Saved me from another rejection cycle. Just upload the PDFs and it cross-checks everything automatically.
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Xan Dae
•Never heard of that but sounds useful. Did it catch things you missed manually?
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Isaiah Sanders
•Yeah it caught a middle initial discrepancy I completely overlooked. Way faster than comparing documents line by line.
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Lim Wong
•This sounds exactly like what I need right now. Going to check this out before I submit again.
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Fiona Gallagher
Pro tip: when you get the charter, look for any DBA names too. Sometimes the debtor operates under a different name and you need both on the UCC-1. Also check if they've had any recent amendments to the articles.
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Thais Soares
•Good point about DBAs. I missed that on a filing once and had to do a UCC-3 amendment later.
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Lim Wong
•I don't think they have DBAs but I'll double check. This is turning into quite the research project.
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Nalani Liu
What's your collateral description look like? Sometimes the rejection says 'debtor name' but it's actually the collateral schedule that's the problem.
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Lim Wong
•It's pretty standard equipment language - 'all construction equipment now owned or hereafter acquired.' The error message specifically mentions debtor name field though.
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Axel Bourke
•That collateral description sounds fine for equipment financing. Definitely a name issue then.
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Aidan Percy
Is this for a new loan or are you doing a continuation? If it's a continuation you have to match the original UCC-1 exactly even if the charter name has changed.
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Lim Wong
•New loan, new UCC-1. So I should be matching current charter not any old filings.
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Fernanda Marquez
•Right, for new filings always use the current legal name from the most recent charter documents.
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Norman Fraser
I actually used that Certana thing someone mentioned earlier for a similar problem. Works pretty well - you just upload your documents and it tells you if there are inconsistencies. Caught a hyphen issue I never would have spotted.
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Kendrick Webb
•How accurate is it? I'm always skeptical of automated tools for legal documents.
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Norman Fraser
•It's been accurate for me so far. Still review everything yourself but it's a good first pass to catch obvious problems.
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Hattie Carson
Update us when you figure it out! I have a similar filing coming up and want to avoid the same headache.
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Lim Wong
•Will do. Going to get the official charter tomorrow and try the document checker too.
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Destiny Bryant
One more thing - make sure you're not copying and pasting from a PDF that might have hidden characters. Type the name manually if you have to.
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Dyllan Nantx
•This! I've had weird formatting issues from PDF copy-paste that weren't visible but broke the submission.
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Lim Wong
•Good catch. I was copying from a PDF scan. I'll type it fresh from the charter.
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TillyCombatwarrior
Just went through this exact thing last month. Turned out the LLC had amended their articles and I was using the old name format. Check the state business registry for any recent changes too.
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Lim Wong
•Smart thinking. I'll check for any recent amendments before I resubmit.
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Anna Xian
•The business registry search is free and shows amendment history. Definitely worth checking.
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