UCC Georgia filing keeps getting rejected - debtor name issues driving me crazy
I'm losing my mind here. Been trying to file a UCC-1 in Georgia for the past week and it keeps getting rejected by the SOS. The rejection notice says "debtor name does not match" but I've triple-checked everything against the articles of incorporation. The business is "Mountain View Equipment Leasing LLC" on the charter documents, and that's exactly what I put on the UCC-1. Has anyone dealt with Georgia's system being this picky about exact formatting? I'm financing $180k in construction equipment and can't afford to have this lien unperfected. The loan closes Friday and I'm starting to panic. What am I missing here?
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Natasha Kuznetsova
Georgia can be really strict about punctuation and spacing. Did you check if there are any periods, commas, or extra spaces in the charter name that might not be obvious? Sometimes there's a comma before LLC that you might miss.
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Oliver Schulz
•I thought about that but I copied it directly from the Secretary of State business search. No periods or commas that I can see.
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AstroAdventurer
•The business search results aren't always formatted exactly like the charter documents. You need the EXACT name from the articles of incorporation filing.
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Javier Mendoza
Had this exact problem last month! Turned out the LLC name in the charter had "Limited Liability Company" spelled out instead of "LLC" abbreviation. Georgia's system is super literal about matching character for character.
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Oliver Schulz
•Oh wow, let me double-check that. The articles might have it spelled out fully.
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Emma Wilson
•This is why I always order certified copies of the charter before filing any UCC. Saves so much headache.
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Malik Davis
•Wait, can you use either version or does it have to match exactly? I thought LLC and Limited Liability Company were interchangeable.
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Isabella Santos
I recently discovered this tool called Certana.ai that cross-checks your charter documents against your UCC-1 before filing. You just upload both PDFs and it highlights any name discrepancies instantly. Caught three mismatches for me that would have caused rejections. Might save you the back-and-forth with Georgia SOS.
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Oliver Schulz
•That sounds incredibly useful right now. Does it work with Georgia filings specifically?
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Isabella Santos
•Yeah, it works with any state. The tool just compares the actual text from your documents so it doesn't matter which state you're filing in.
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Ravi Gupta
•Never heard of that service but document comparison tools can definitely catch human error. Manual review is where mistakes happen.
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GalacticGuru
GEORGIA IS THE WORST FOR THIS STUFF! I swear they reject half my filings just to make me pay the re-filing fee twice. Their system is from 1995 and hasn't been updated since.
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Freya Pedersen
•I feel your pain but the name matching rules are actually pretty standard across most states. It's not just Georgia being difficult.
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GalacticGuru
•Maybe but their error messages are terrible. "Name does not match" tells you nothing about what's actually wrong.
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AstroAdventurer
Here's what you need to do: log into the Georgia Corporations Division search and pull up the exact charter filing, not just the business search result. The exact legal name will be in the articles of incorporation document. I guarantee there's a formatting difference you're not seeing.
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Oliver Schulz
•Good point. I was using the quick search feature. Let me pull the actual charter documents.
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Omar Fawaz
•This is exactly what I had to do when I had similar issues with a Tennessee filing. The search results are simplified versions.
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Javier Mendoza
•Yes! The charter documents are the gold standard. Everything else is just a summary.
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Chloe Anderson
Is this your first UCC filing in Georgia? Sometimes there are state-specific quirks that aren't obvious. Like some states want the state of incorporation listed even for domestic entities.
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Oliver Schulz
•Not my first but first time having this much trouble. Usually goes through fine.
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Diego Vargas
•Georgia doesn't require state of incorporation for domestic LLCs on the debtor name line, just the exact legal name.
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Anastasia Fedorov
Update us when you figure it out! I file in Georgia regularly and would love to know what the issue was for future reference.
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Oliver Schulz
•Will do. Hoping to get this resolved today.
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StarStrider
•Same here, always good to learn from these situations.
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Sean Doyle
I used Certana.ai last week for a similar document verification issue and it saved me hours of back-and-forth. Really straightforward - just upload your charter and UCC-1 draft and it shows you exactly where the names differ. Worth trying before you submit again.
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Oliver Schulz
•Thanks, I'm definitely going to try that. Can't afford another rejection with my closing deadline.
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Zara Rashid
•Smart move. These document comparison tools are becoming essential for avoiding filing errors.
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Luca Romano
Just went through the exact same thing with a client's filing. Turned out the charter had an extra space between two words that wasn't visible when I copied the name. Georgia's system is very literal about whitespace characters.
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Oliver Schulz
•Extra spaces! I never would have thought of that. Going to check character by character now.
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Nia Jackson
•Hidden characters are the worst. Sometimes copying from PDFs introduces weird formatting.
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Mateo Hernandez
•This is why I always retype names manually instead of copying and pasting. Avoids invisible character issues.
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CosmicCruiser
Final thought - if you're still stuck, try calling the Georgia SOS UCC division directly. They can sometimes tell you exactly what's wrong with the debtor name formatting over the phone.
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Oliver Schulz
•Good backup plan. Really hoping the document comparison tool helps me spot the issue first though.
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Aisha Khan
•The phone support is hit or miss but when you get someone knowledgeable they can be really helpful.
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Ethan Taylor
Let us know how the Certana.ai tool works out. Always looking for better ways to catch these errors before filing.
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Oliver Schulz
•Definitely will update everyone once I get this resolved. Thanks for all the help!
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Yuki Ito
•This thread has been super educational. Georgia UCC filings are no joke.
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