UCC business search showing conflicting results for debtor name verification

Good point about the certificate of good standing. I did pull that and it shows 'Advanced Manufacturing Solutions, LLC' with a comma before LLC. But the UCC business search doesn't seem to distinguish between comma vs no comma formatting.

The comma thing trips people up all the time. Most UCC systems treat 'Solutions LLC' and 'Solutions, LLC' as different names even though they're the same entity. Always go with exactly what's on the state filing.

Filing in Ohio. Their UCC business search seems pretty basic compared to what I've used in other states.

Ohio's system can be tricky. I usually cross-reference with their business entity search too, not just the UCC business search. Sometimes the entity database has more current name information.

Ohio definitely requires exact name matches. I learned that the hard way when a UCC-1 got rejected because I used 'Inc' instead of 'Incorporated' even though both showed up in search results.

How does that work exactly? Do you just upload PDFs and it compares the names automatically?

Yeah exactly - upload the charter docs and UCC form as PDFs and it highlights any inconsistencies in debtor names, addresses, even filing numbers if you're doing amendments. Takes like 30 seconds vs manually comparing everything.

That actually sounds really helpful. I'm always paranoid about missing these kinds of details that could void the perfection.

Calling the SOS office is usually a good backup plan when the online search results are unclear. They can confirm the current legal name on file.

Yeah but it took like 45 minutes on hold! The online systems really need to be better integrated.

That's a really good point. I did see some older filings under the abbreviated name from 2019. Should I be concerned about those affecting this new filing?

If they're still active liens, they might be under the old name format. You'd want to verify with the secured party whether those need UCC-3 amendments to update the debtor name to match current records.

This is why name changes can be such a headache for secured transactions. The old UCC filings don't automatically update when a company changes its name.

Smart approach. I do the same thing, especially with company names that have common abbreviations or multiple formatting options.

Do you search both the debtor name exactly as it appears on organizational docs AND how it might appear with common variations?

Exactly. I'll search the official name, then variations like with/without commas, abbreviated versions, different entity designations. Takes extra time but prevents filing problems.

How did you confirm which entity was current? Through the secretary of state business entity search?

Yep, cross-referenced with the business entity database to confirm active status and current name. The UCC business search doesn't always indicate entity status clearly.

Is that part of their regular service or do you have to pay extra for document verification?

It's included in their standard document checking tool. Really convenient for catching these small but critical details before filing.

Good reminder. This company does have a DBA they use for marketing but I don't think there are any UCC filings under that name.

Still worth checking though. I've seen cases where previous lenders filed under the DBA instead of the legal entity name.

Absolutely. And then when you need to do continuations or amendments later, you have to match exactly what was on the original UCC-1, even if the company name has changed since then.

That's why I always keep detailed records of exactly how I formatted debtor names on original filings. Makes future amendments much easier.

Smart practice. I've seen UCC-3 amendments get rejected because the debtor name didn't match the original filing exactly, even though both versions were technically correct legal names.