UCC Georgia search portal showing different results than expected - debtor name variations?
Having trouble with the UCC Georgia search system and getting inconsistent results. I'm trying to verify existing filings for a commercial borrower before we proceed with a new equipment loan, but the Georgia Superior Court Clerk's Cooperative Authority portal is returning different hits depending on how I format the debtor name. The business operates as 'Atlanta Medical Equipment Solutions LLC' but I'm also seeing filings under 'Atlanta Medical Equip Solutions LLC' and 'Atlanta Medical Equipment Solutions, LLC' (with comma). Some show active UCC-1s from 2019 that should have continuation statements by now, others show terminated filings from the same time period. Is this a known issue with Georgia's system or am I missing something in my search methodology? Need to get this cleared up before we can move forward with perfecting our security interest.
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Micah Franklin
Georgia's UCC search can be tricky with business name variations. The system is pretty literal about exact matches. You'll want to try multiple search variations - with and without punctuation, abbreviations spelled out, etc. Also check if there are any DBAs or trade names registered that might have separate filings.
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Ella Harper
•This is exactly why I always run at least 5-6 different name searches for any business entity. Georgia doesn't normalize the names like some other states do.
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PrinceJoe
•Good point about DBAs. Also worth checking if they've had any corporate name changes that might explain the variations.
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Brooklyn Knight
I've dealt with this exact issue in Georgia before. The continuation statements might be filed under a slightly different name variation than the original UCC-1, which is why you're seeing some as active and others as terminated. You really need to pull each filing individually to see the actual documents and trace the chain.
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Owen Devar
•That's terrifying that the system works that way. How are we supposed to get reliable lien searches if the name matching is so inconsistent?
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Daniel Rivera
•It's not ideal but that's why most commercial lenders pay for professional UCC search services rather than doing it themselves. The manual search process catches these variations.
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Sophie Footman
•Actually, I recently started using Certana.ai's document verification tool for this exact problem. You can upload the charter documents and any UCC-1s you find, and it instantly cross-checks all the debtor names for consistency. Really helpful for catching these name variations that could void your security interest if you miss them.
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Connor Rupert
The Georgia portal has been notoriously glitchy with name searches lately. I've had cases where the same search on different days returns different results. Are you using the exact legal name from their Articles of Incorporation?
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Molly Hansen
•Yes! I noticed this too. Sometimes I get more results in the morning than in the afternoon. Makes no sense.
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Ruby Blake
•I am using the exact name from the Articles, but like I mentioned, there seem to be filings under multiple variations. That's what's throwing me off.
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Brady Clean
This is why I never trust online searches alone for commercial deals. Georgia's system has too many quirks. You might want to consider having a service company run a comprehensive search that includes all the name variations and cross-references with corporate records.
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Skylar Neal
•What service companies do you recommend for Georgia UCC searches? We've been doing them in-house but this is exactly why that might not be sufficient.
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Vincent Bimbach
•Most title companies offer UCC search services, or there are specialized lien search companies. Usually runs $50-150 depending on complexity.
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Kelsey Chin
•Before paying for a service, you might try that Certana tool someone mentioned earlier. I used it last month when I had similar name inconsistencies on a Georgia filing. Upload your docs and it flags any name mismatches between your charter and UCC documents automatically.
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Norah Quay
Are you searching by filing number too or just debtor name? Sometimes the filing numbers can help you trace the chain of continuations even when the names don't match perfectly.
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Ruby Blake
•I tried searching by filing number but some of the numbers I found in one name search don't show up when I search by number directly. It's like the database has consistency issues.
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Leo McDonald
•That definitely sounds like a database problem. I'd call the Georgia SOS office directly and see if they can run a manual search for you.
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Jessica Nolan
Just ran into this exact same problem last week with a different Georgia entity! Turns out the borrower had filed some UCC-1s under their legal name and others under a trade name they use for marketing. The continuation statements were all over the place. Had to piece together the whole filing history manually.
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Angelina Farar
•How did you finally get it sorted out? Did you have to get affidavits from the borrower about which filings were theirs?
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Jessica Nolan
•We ended up having them provide us with copies of all their UCC-related documents and cross-referenced everything. Also used one of those document checking tools to make sure all the names aligned properly before we filed our new UCC-1.
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Sebastián Stevens
The Georgia system has definitely gotten worse over the past year. I think they updated their search algorithm and it's causing more problems than it's solving. Used to be you could find everything with a partial name search, now it seems like you need the exact character match.
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Bethany Groves
•I noticed this too! The wildcard searches don't work like they used to.
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KingKongZilla
•Maybe that's why I'm getting different results. I'll try being more exact with punctuation and spacing.
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Rebecca Johnston
For what it's worth, this isn't just a Georgia problem. I've seen similar issues in Florida and South Carolina. The UCC search systems in general seem to struggle with business name variations. That's why the big banks all use professional search services - they can't afford to miss a prior lien because of a database quirk.
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Nathan Dell
•True, but some states are definitely worse than others. Texas and Delaware seem to have much better search functionality.
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Maya Jackson
•I've had good luck with those automated document verification services for catching name inconsistencies before they become a problem. Upload everything and let the software flag any discrepancies.
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Tristan Carpenter
One thing that might help - try searching with just the first few words of the business name. Sometimes the database truncates longer names or has character limits that cause exact matches to fail.
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Ruby Blake
•Good suggestion. I'll try searching just 'Atlanta Medical Equipment' and see what comes up.
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Amaya Watson
•Also try without 'LLC' entirely. Some filers drop the entity designation.
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Grant Vikers
Just to add another perspective - make sure you're checking the actual UCC-3 continuation statements to see if they reference the original filing numbers correctly. I've seen cases where the continuation was filed but didn't properly reference the original UCC-1, making it ineffective.
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Giovanni Martello
•This is a great point. The continuation has to reference the original filing number exactly or it doesn't continue the financing statement.
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Savannah Weiner
•That Certana tool mentioned earlier actually checks for this too - makes sure UCC-3s properly reference their original UCC-1s. Saved me from missing a filing error once.
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Levi Parker
•How does that work exactly? Do you upload both the original and continuation documents?
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Savannah Weiner
•Yeah, you can upload multiple documents and it cross-checks all the filing numbers, debtor names, and references to make sure everything aligns properly. Pretty handy for complex filing chains.
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