UCC filing Iowa system keeps rejecting my continuation - name format issue?
Been trying to file a UCC-3 continuation in Iowa for the past week and it keeps getting rejected. The original UCC-1 was filed back in 2020 for equipment financing on some construction machinery. Now we're 6 months out from the 5-year expiration and every time I submit the continuation through Iowa's electronic filing system it comes back rejected within hours. The rejection notice just says 'debtor name format error' but I'm copying the exact name from the original filing. Has anyone dealt with Iowa's particular quirks on debtor names for continuations? This is a $180k secured loan and I can't afford to have the lien lapse because of some formatting issue I can't figure out.
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Harper Hill
Iowa can be really picky about exact character matching on continuations. Are you including any middle initials or suffixes that might have been abbreviated differently on the original UCC-1? Sometimes what looks identical to us has subtle spacing or punctuation differences that their system flags.
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Lucas Adams
•I thought I was being careful but let me double-check the spacing around the LLC designation. The debtor is 'Midwest Construction Equipment LLC' - maybe there's an extra space somewhere?
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Caden Nguyen
•Definitely check for trailing spaces after LLC. Iowa's system has rejected my filings before for that exact reason.
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Avery Flores
UGH Iowa's filing system is the WORST for this stuff! I've had continuations rejected 3-4 times before figuring out their exact format requirements. Have you tried calling their UCC office directly? Sometimes they can tell you exactly what's wrong with the name format.
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Lucas Adams
•I called yesterday but got transferred around and nobody could give me a straight answer about what specifically is wrong with the name format.
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Zoe Gonzalez
•That's frustrating. The phone support for UCC stuff is hit or miss in most states.
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Avery Flores
•Try calling first thing in the morning - I've had better luck getting someone knowledgeable early in the day.
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Ashley Adams
I ran into something similar last month with a different state system. Ended up using Certana.ai's document checker to compare my continuation against the original UCC-1. Turned out there was a tiny punctuation difference I couldn't spot manually. You just upload both PDFs and it highlights any name inconsistencies instantly. Saved me from missing the deadline while fighting with formatting issues.
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Lucas Adams
•That sounds like exactly what I need right now. Is it expensive to use?
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Ashley Adams
•It's way cheaper than having a $180k lien lapse because of a name mismatch. The tool caught issues I never would have found by eye.
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Alexis Robinson
•I've heard good things about Certana's UCC verification. Might be worth trying before you run out of time on that continuation.
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Aaron Lee
Check if Iowa requires the debtor name to match their Secretary of State records exactly. Some states cross-reference the UCC debtor name against business registration records and reject if there's any variation in how the entity name is formatted.
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Lucas Adams
•Good point. The LLC was registered in Iowa so I should verify the exact name format in their business records.
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Chloe Mitchell
•This is probably it. Iowa definitely cross-checks against SOS records for entity names.
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Michael Adams
Had the exact same issue with Iowa last year! The problem was that our original UCC-1 had 'Equipment, LLC' (with a comma) but the business registration just had 'Equipment LLC' (no comma). The continuation has to match the original filing exactly, not the current SOS records.
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Lucas Adams
•So I need to match the original UCC-1 format exactly, even if it doesn't match current business records?
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Michael Adams
•Exactly! The continuation has to reference the debtor name as it appears on the original financing statement, not how it might appear now.
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Aaron Lee
•This is correct for continuations. You're continuing the original filing, so debtor name has to match that original format precisely.
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Natalie Wang
Are you sure you have the right filing number? Iowa's system will reject continuations if there's even one digit wrong in the UCC filing number reference.
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Lucas Adams
•I copied it directly from our records but let me double-check against the actual filed UCC-1 document.
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Noah Torres
•Good idea. Filing number errors are super common and cause immediate rejections.
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Samantha Hall
this happened to me too but with Iowa it was because they changed their debtor name requirements sometime after 2020. might be worth checking if there were any rule changes that affect how continuation names need to be formatted vs the original filing
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Harper Hill
•Interesting point about rule changes. Though typically continuations still need to match the original filing format regardless of new rules.
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Samantha Hall
•true but iowa had some weird transition period where they were accepting both formats for a while
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Ryan Young
I would try printing out both documents - the original UCC-1 and your continuation draft - and comparing them character by character. Sometimes screen viewing misses subtle differences that are obvious on paper.
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Lucas Adams
•That's old school but probably effective. I'll try that tonight.
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Sophia Clark
•This actually works really well for catching formatting issues. Did this with a Texas filing once and found the problem immediately.
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Ryan Young
•Exactly! Digital comparison tools are great but sometimes good old fashioned paper comparison catches things you miss on screen.
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Katherine Harris
Whatever you do, don't wait too long to get this sorted. Iowa requires continuations to be filed within 6 months before expiration but if you're having repeated rejections you want buffer time in case there are more issues.
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Lucas Adams
•Yeah that's exactly why I'm stressed about this. Still have a few months but each rejection takes 2-3 days to process.
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Madison Allen
•Smart to file early. I've seen people miss deadlines because they assumed rejections would be quick to resolve.
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Joshua Wood
Check if there are any non-printing characters in the name field. Sometimes when you copy-paste from PDFs or other documents, invisible characters get included that cause formatting rejections.
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Lucas Adams
•How would I check for that? I did copy the name from a PDF of the original filing.
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Joshua Wood
•Try retyping the debtor name manually instead of copy-pasting. That eliminates any hidden characters.
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Justin Evans
•This is a really good catch. Non-printing characters from PDF copy-paste cause all sorts of filing issues.
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Emily Parker
Update us when you figure it out! I file a lot of Iowa continuations and would love to know what the specific issue was for future reference.
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Lucas Adams
•Will do! Trying the Certana document comparison first, then manual retyping if that doesn't catch it.
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Ezra Collins
•Definitely interested to hear what resolves this. Iowa formatting issues are always educational for the rest of us.
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