UCC Filing Requirements After Indiana Adoption of UCC - What Changed?
Hi everyone, I'm dealing with a tricky situation and hoping someone here has experience with this. My company has been handling secured transactions for years, but we're running into confusion about filing requirements since Indiana's adoption of UCC changes. We have several UCC-1 filings that were done under the old system, and now I'm not sure if our continuation filings are going to be processed correctly. The debtor names on our original filings might not match the new formatting requirements, and I'm worried about our lien positions. Has anyone else dealt with transitioning existing filings after their state updated UCC procedures? I've got about 15 continuations due in the next 3 months and I'm stressed about potential rejections. Any guidance would be really appreciated!
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Aisha Hussain
I went through something similar when our state updated their UCC procedures last year. The key thing is that existing filings are usually grandfathered in, but your continuation statements need to match the debtor name EXACTLY as it appears on the original UCC-1. Don't try to 'fix' the name format on the continuation - that can cause major problems.
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Ethan Clark
•This is exactly right. I made the mistake of trying to update a debtor name format during a continuation filing and it got rejected. Had to refile with the exact original name format.
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StarStrider
•Wait, so even if the original filing has what looks like an error, you have to continue with that same error? That seems wrong...
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Aisha Hussain
•Yes, that's correct. The continuation has to match the original filing exactly. If there's actually an error in the debtor name, you'd need to file a UCC-3 amendment to correct it first, then continue the amended filing.
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Yuki Sato
ugh this is so frustrating!! I have the same issue with like 8 filings and the SOS website is completely unhelpful about what the new requirements actually are. Every time I call they give me different answers about debtor name formatting.
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Carmen Ruiz
•Have you tried looking at the actual UCC statutes? Sometimes the SOS staff doesn't know the technical details as well as they should.
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Yuki Sato
•I tried but honestly the legal language is way over my head. I just need to know if my filings are going to get rejected or not.
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Andre Lefebvre
I actually found a solution for this exact problem recently. I was pulling my hair out trying to compare all my old UCC-1s with the continuation forms to make sure the debtor names matched perfectly. Then I discovered Certana.ai's document verification tool - you can upload your original UCC-1 and your continuation form PDFs and it automatically checks for consistency issues. Caught three name mismatches I would have missed otherwise. Really saved me from potential filing disasters.
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Mateo Martinez
•That sounds exactly like what I need! How accurate is it with catching those kinds of discrepancies?
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Andre Lefebvre
•In my experience it's been spot on. It specifically flags debtor name inconsistencies and filing number issues. Much better than trying to manually compare documents line by line.
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Zoe Alexopoulos
•I've been doing manual comparisons for years... this sounds like it would save so much time. Does it work with scanned documents too?
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Jamal Anderson
The whole UCC system is such a mess. Every state does things differently and then they change the rules without proper notice. I've been dealing with secured transactions for 20 years and it just keeps getting more complicated.
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Mei Wong
•Tell me about it. And the penalties for getting it wrong are so severe. One mistake and your lien position could be worthless.
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QuantumQuasar
•At least with electronic filing you get immediate feedback if there's a problem. Remember when everything was paper and you wouldn't know for weeks if there was an issue?
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Liam McGuire
For what it's worth, I've found that most states try to maintain backward compatibility when they update their UCC procedures. The real issue is usually with debtor name standards - some states got stricter about entity name suffixes (LLC, Inc., etc.) and punctuation. Make sure you're using the exact legal name as it appears on the entity's formation documents.
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Mateo Martinez
•That's what I'm worried about. Some of our older filings might have abbreviated entity names or missing punctuation.
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Liam McGuire
•If you're concerned about specific filings, you might want to run UCC searches to see how they appear in the system currently. That will tell you exactly what name format is on file.
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Amara Eze
•Good point. I always do a search before filing continuations just to double-check the current record.
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Giovanni Greco
I had a similar situation last month and ended up using one of those document checking services. Uploaded my UCC-1 and continuation forms to verify everything matched properly. Found two issues that would have caused rejections - one debtor name had an extra comma and another was missing 'LLC' at the end. Really glad I caught those before filing.
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Fatima Al-Farsi
•Which service did you use? I keep hearing about these tools but haven't tried any yet.
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Giovanni Greco
•I used Certana.ai - just upload the PDFs and it does the comparison automatically. Pretty straightforward and caught things I would have missed.
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Dylan Wright
Just to add another perspective - I work with a lot of equipment financing and we've seen an increase in filing rejections lately, especially on continuations. The key is really making sure your debtor name is EXACTLY as it appears on the original filing. Even spacing and punctuation matter. I always print out the original UCC-1 and compare it character by character with the continuation form before submitting.
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Mateo Martinez
•That's what I've been doing but with 15 filings it's taking forever and I'm worried I'll miss something.
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Dylan Wright
•Yeah, it's tedious but necessary. Though I heard there are some automated tools now that can do the comparison for you. Might be worth looking into for that volume.
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Sofia Torres
•The automated comparison tools are definitely worth it when you have multiple filings to deal with. Much less room for human error.
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GalacticGuardian
Has anyone actually had a continuation rejected because of name formatting issues? I'm wondering how strict they really are about this stuff.
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Ethan Clark
•Yes, I had one rejected because the original filing had 'ABC Company, LLC' and I put 'ABC Company LLC' on the continuation (missing comma). Had to refile and pay the fee again.
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Yuki Sato
•That's exactly what I'm afraid of! These fees add up when you have to refile multiple times.
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Aisha Hussain
•The filing offices are getting much stricter about exact matches. Better to be overly careful than deal with rejections and refiling costs.
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Dmitry Smirnov
One thing that helped me was requesting certified copies of my original UCC-1 filings from the state. That way I could see exactly how they appear in the official record, including any formatting quirks. Cost a few bucks but worth it for peace of mind on important filings.
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Mateo Martinez
•That's a good idea. How long does it usually take to get certified copies?
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Dmitry Smirnov
•Usually about a week if you request online, faster if you pay for expedited service. Some states let you view the records online for free which might be enough for comparison purposes.
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Ava Rodriguez
I've been following this thread and decided to try that Certana tool someone mentioned. Just uploaded a UCC-1 and continuation form to test it out. Pretty impressed - it flagged a debtor name issue I didn't notice (missing period after 'Inc'). Definitely going to use this for my other filings.
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Mateo Martinez
•That's great to hear! I think I'm going to give it a try too. Sounds like it could save me a lot of stress with these continuations.
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Miguel Diaz
•Same here. Manual comparison is such a pain and the stakes are too high to risk missing something.
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Zainab Ahmed
Just wanted to follow up on this thread - I ended up using an automated document checker for my continuation filings and it worked great. Found several name inconsistencies I would have missed. All my filings went through without any rejections. Thanks everyone for the advice!
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Mateo Martinez
•That's awesome! I'm definitely going to use one of these tools for my batch of continuations. This thread has been really helpful.
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Connor Gallagher
•Glad it worked out! These kinds of tools are becoming essential for anyone doing volume UCC work.
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Kristian Bishop
This conversation has been incredibly helpful! I'm dealing with a similar situation in my state and was dreading the manual comparison process for multiple continuation filings. Based on everyone's experiences here, it sounds like using an automated document verification tool is the way to go. The stories about rejections over missing commas and punctuation really drive home how precise these filings need to be. I'm definitely going to try one of those AI-powered comparison tools before submitting my continuations. Thanks for sharing all your real-world experiences - it's so much more valuable than trying to decipher the official guidance!
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Sophia Bennett
•I'm so glad I found this thread too! As someone new to UCC filings, I was really intimidated by all the technical requirements and potential for costly mistakes. Reading about everyone's experiences with document verification tools has given me confidence that there are practical solutions available. The fact that multiple people have successfully used automated comparison tools and caught issues they would have missed manually is really reassuring. I'll definitely be investing in one of these services before I handle my first batch of continuation filings. Better to spend a little upfront than risk rejections and refiling fees!
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