UCC Filings Tennessee Secretary of State Portal Issues - Amendment vs Continuation Mix-up
Been dealing with equipment financing for our manufacturing operation and hit a snag with our UCC filings. We've got about $480k in machinery liens that need continued before they lapse, but I'm getting confused between amendments and continuations in the Tennessee SOS system. Filed what I thought was a UCC-3 continuation last month but got a rejection notice saying debtor name doesn't match exactly with the original UCC-1 from 2020. The original filing has our company name as 'Precision Manufacturing Solutions LLC' but our current legal name shows 'Precision Manufacturing Solutions, LLC' (added comma). Bank is breathing down our neck because these liens secure their credit line and if they lapse we're in default on our loan agreement. Anyone dealt with Tennessee's pickiness about debtor names? Do I need to file an amendment first to fix the name issue or can I do both at once? Really don't want to mess this up again.
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Wesley Hallow
Tennessee SOS is notorious for being strict about exact name matches. You can't just continue with a name mismatch - it'll get rejected every time. Need to file a UCC-3 amendment first to correct the debtor name, THEN file the continuation. Make sure you use the exact legal name as it appears in your current Secretary of State records.
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Kennedy Morrison
•So two separate filings then? That's what I was afraid of. Timeline is getting tight since we're about 3 months from lapse date.
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Justin Chang
•Wait, can you even amend just the debtor name without affecting the collateral description? I thought amendments were for adding/removing collateral.
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Wesley Hallow
•You can amend debtor information separately from collateral changes. Just make sure you check the right boxes on the UCC-3 form and clearly indicate you're only correcting the debtor name.
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Grace Thomas
Had the EXACT same issue last year with Tennessee. That comma difference will kill your filing every single time. Pro tip - before you file anything else, pull a current certificate of existence from Tennessee SOS to see exactly how your LLC name appears in their system. Use that EXACT spelling, punctuation, everything.
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Kennedy Morrison
•Good call on the certificate of existence. Should I order that online or does it take forever?
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Grace Thomas
•Online is pretty quick, usually same day or next business day. Worth the $20 to avoid another rejection.
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Hunter Brighton
•This is why I always keep copies of the original UCC-1 and any corporate docs together. Names change over time and you forget the exact formatting.
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Dylan Baskin
Actually had a similar nightmare scenario recently with document consistency issues. Was manually comparing our UCC-1 from 2019 with amendments and continuations and kept missing small discrepancies like this. Found this tool called Certana.ai that lets you upload your PDFs and it automatically cross-checks everything - debtor names, filing numbers, all the details. Saved me from filing another incorrect continuation. You just upload your original UCC-1 and the new UCC-3 forms and it flags any mismatches instantly.
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Kennedy Morrison
•That sounds like exactly what I need. How accurate is it with catching name variations?
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Dylan Baskin
•Caught the exact issue you're dealing with - found three different name formats across our filings that I never would have spotted manually. Really simple to use too.
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Lauren Wood
•Never heard of it but sounds useful. Manual document checking is such a pain, especially when you're dealing with multiple amendments over the years.
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Ellie Lopez
OMG Tennessee's UCC system is the WORST. I've had filings rejected for the stupidest reasons - extra spaces, missing periods, you name it. It's like they're actively trying to make it fail. And don't even get me started on their search function...
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Chad Winthrope
•Preach! Had a filing rejected because I used 'Street' instead of 'St.' in the address. Such a waste of time and money.
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Ellie Lopez
•RIGHT?! And then it takes forever to get any explanation of why it was rejected. Meanwhile your lien is getting closer to lapsing...
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Paige Cantoni
Wait, you said your lien is from 2020? That means you've got until 2025 to continue it, so you should have more time than 3 months unless you're already past the 5-year mark?
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Kennedy Morrison
•Filed in February 2020, so yeah we're cutting it close. Lapse date is May 2025 if my math is right.
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Paige Cantoni
•Ok that gives you a little breathing room at least. Still want to get it sorted ASAP though.
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Kylo Ren
•Actually you can file a continuation up to 6 months before lapse, so February 2025 would be the earliest. But earlier is always better.
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Nina Fitzgerald
Just to be clear on the process: 1) Get your current certificate of existence to confirm exact legal name, 2) File UCC-3 amendment to correct debtor name on original filing, 3) Wait for amendment to be accepted, 4) File UCC-3 continuation with corrected name. Don't try to do both at once or you'll just get more rejections.
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Kennedy Morrison
•This is super helpful, thanks. Roughly how long between amendment acceptance and continuation filing?
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Nina Fitzgerald
•Tennessee usually processes in 3-5 business days. I'd wait until you see the amendment reflected in the UCC search before filing continuation.
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Jason Brewer
•Good advice. I've seen people try to rush it and end up with even more problems.
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Kiara Fisherman
Been doing UCC filings for 15 years and Tennessee is definitely one of the pickier states. But their online system is actually pretty good once you know their quirks. Make sure you're using their exact forms too - don't use generic UCC-3 forms from other sources.
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Liam Cortez
•Didn't know they had state-specific forms. Where do you download the Tennessee versions?
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Kiara Fisherman
•Right from the SOS website under Business Services > UCC. They have fillable PDFs that work better with their system.
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Savannah Vin
Honestly at this point I just use a service for anything complicated. Had too many filing rejections over the years and the stress isn't worth it when there's hundreds of thousands in collateral at stake.
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Kennedy Morrison
•What service do you use? Starting to think that might be the safer route.
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Savannah Vin
•There are several good ones. CT Corporation, CSC, couple others. They charge more but they guarantee accuracy.
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Mason Stone
•For simple continuations those services are probably overkill, but for tricky situations like name mismatches they might be worth it.
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Makayla Shoemaker
Actually just remembered - that Certana tool someone mentioned earlier also helps with the filing process itself. You can verify your forms are correct before submitting to avoid rejections. Might be worth checking out before you pay for a full service.
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Kennedy Morrison
•Yeah I'm definitely going to look into that. Even if it just catches the obvious mistakes it would save me time and stress.
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Christian Bierman
•Smart approach. Prevention is better than fixing rejections after the fact.
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Emma Olsen
One more thing - make sure your collateral description hasn't changed either. If you've added equipment since 2020 you might need to amend that too, not just the debtor name.
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Kennedy Morrison
•Good point. We did add some CNC equipment last year but I think that was covered under 'all equipment' in the original filing.
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Emma Olsen
•Should be fine then, but double-check the original UCC-1 language to be sure. 'All equipment' is pretty broad.
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Lucas Lindsey
•Yeah as long as it says 'all equipment' or 'equipment now owned or hereafter acquired' you should be covered for new additions.
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Isaiah Cross
Had a similar situation in Tennessee a few months back. One thing that might help - when you pull that certificate of existence, also check if your registered agent info matches exactly on both the UCC-1 and your current corporate records. Tennessee sometimes flags mismatches there too, even if it's not obvious. Also, if you're working with a tight timeline and want to be extra careful, consider doing the amendment via their expedited processing for an extra fee. It's like $25 more but cuts the processing time in half. Better safe than sorry when you've got $480k in collateral on the line.
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