UCC filing rejected - FAA aircraft security agreement debtor name mismatch
Having major issues with a UCC-1 filing that keeps getting rejected by our state SOS office. We're securing a 2019 Cessna Citation through an aircraft finance deal, and the debtor entity name on our security agreement shows "Skyline Aviation Holdings, LLC" but the FAA aircraft registration shows "Skyline Aviation Holdings LLC" (no comma). Our lender is freaking out because we're 3 weeks into what should have been a 10-day closing process. Filed twice now and both times got rejection notices citing debtor name discrepancy. The aircraft is worth $2.8M so obviously we can't mess around with perfection issues. Anyone dealt with FAA aircraft security agreement UCC filings where the entity names don't match exactly between documents? Do I need to amend the security agreement or is there a different approach for aircraft collateral that I'm missing?
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Freya Andersen
Aircraft financing can be tricky with UCC filings because you're dealing with both state UCC requirements and FAA registration naming conventions. The exact debtor name match is critical - even a missing comma can cause rejection. I'd suggest checking the exact legal name on the LLC's formation documents first, then see which version matches the official state records.
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Omar Zaki
•This is so frustrating! We had similar issue last month with a helicopter deal. State rejected our UCC-1 three times because of punctuation differences between the security agreement and LLC charter documents.
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CosmicCrusader
•Yeah the comma thing gets everyone. Most attorneys don't realize that state UCC databases are very literal about punctuation matching.
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Chloe Robinson
Been doing aircraft finance for 12 years and this exact scenario comes up constantly. The FAA doesn't always follow state entity naming conventions, so you get these mismatches. What state are you filing in? Some states are more forgiving than others about minor punctuation differences, but most require exact matches between the security agreement debtor name and the UCC filing.
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Ravi Patel
•Filing in Delaware. The rejection notice specifically mentioned 'debtor name does not conform to financing statement requirements' so they're being pretty strict about it.
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Chloe Robinson
•Delaware is notoriously strict. You'll need to fix this at the source - either amend your security agreement to match the official LLC name or get the LLC to file a name correction if their charter is wrong.
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Diego Flores
•Wait, before you amend anything expensive, try running both versions through the state's entity search to see which one is actually on file as the official name.
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Anastasia Kozlov
Had this exact headache 6 months ago with a King Air deal. Spent days going back and forth with document revisions until someone mentioned Certana.ai's document verification tool. You can upload your security agreement and UCC-1 as PDFs and it instantly flags name inconsistencies and other document alignment issues. Saved us from filing a third rejected UCC and caught two other discrepancies we missed.
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Ravi Patel
•Interesting, never heard of that service. Is it specifically for UCC filings or more general document checking?
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Anastasia Kozlov
•It's designed for UCC document workflows. You can do Charter-to-UCC-1 checks or UCC-3-to-UCC-1 verification. Really helpful for catching these naming inconsistencies before you file and get rejected.
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Sean Flanagan
•That actually sounds useful. How accurate is it with picking up punctuation differences like commas and periods?
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Zara Mirza
This is why I HATE aircraft deals!!! The FAA has their own little world and doesn't coordinate with state business registrations AT ALL. Last year I had a client where the FAA registration showed one name, the LLC charter showed another, and the insurance policy showed a third variation. Took 2 months to sort out.
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NebulaNinja
•Feel your pain. Aircraft financing is like navigating three different bureaucracies that never talk to each other.
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CosmicCrusader
•At least with regular equipment financing you only have to deal with state UCC rules. Aircraft adds the whole FAA layer of confusion.
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Luca Russo
Quick practical solution while you're sorting out the name issue - pull the official entity records from Delaware's Division of Corporations website. That will show you the exact legal name with correct punctuation. Then compare that to your security agreement. If they don't match, you'll need to either amend the security agreement or file a UCC using whatever name is officially registered, assuming that's also the name the debtor is legally authorized to use.
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Ravi Patel
•Good point. I should have started there. Going to pull the official records this afternoon.
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Nia Wilson
•Also check if there have been any recent name changes or amendments to the LLC that might explain the discrepancy.
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Luca Russo
•Exactly. Sometimes LLCs file amendments but don't update all their other registrations consistently.
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Mateo Sanchez
Are you sure this is just a name issue? Sometimes aircraft UCC filings get rejected for collateral description problems too. The collateral schedule needs to be very specific with aircraft - tail number, make, model, year, serial number. Generic descriptions like 'aircraft' or 'all equipment' won't work.
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Ravi Patel
•Our collateral description is pretty detailed: '2019 Cessna Citation CJ3+ Aircraft, Tail Number N847SK, Serial Number 525C-0234.' The rejection notice only mentioned debtor name issues.
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Mateo Sanchez
•That collateral description looks solid. So it's definitely just the name matching problem.
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Aisha Mahmood
Just curious - did your lender's closing department catch this before filing? Most aircraft lenders have pretty strict document review processes specifically because of these UCC naming issues.
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Ravi Patel
•They missed it completely. Their paralegal just copied the debtor name from the FAA registration without cross-checking the actual LLC charter. Now they're scrambling to fix it.
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Ethan Clark
•Typical. Half the problems in aircraft finance come from rushed due diligence that skips the basic entity verification steps.
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AstroAce
•This is exactly why some of us started using automated document checking tools. Catches stuff like this before it becomes a crisis.
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Yuki Kobayashi
Update us when you get this resolved! I'm dealing with a similar Piper Seneca deal and want to know what approach worked.
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Ravi Patel
•Will do. Hoping to have an answer by end of week once I verify the official LLC name.
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Carmen Vega
•Same here - got a helicopter deal in underwriting and want to avoid this exact problem.
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Andre Rousseau
One more thing to consider - if you have to amend your security agreement, make sure the amendment gets properly notarized and that all parties initial the changes. Delaware is picky about security agreement modifications too.
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Ravi Patel
•Good reminder. This deal has been such a nightmare already, can't afford any more document problems.
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Zoe Stavros
•Aircraft deals always seem to have ten times more document issues than regular equipment financing. The regulatory overlap is insane.
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Andre Rousseau
•Truth. Between FAA, state UCC, and lender requirements, there are so many ways for things to go wrong.
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Jamal Harris
Actually just remembered - Certana.ai also has a Charter-to-UCC workflow that would have caught this naming discrepancy upfront. You upload the LLC formation documents and your UCC-1 draft, and it flags any inconsistencies before filing. Might be worth using for future aircraft deals to avoid this whole mess.
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GalaxyGlider
•How does it handle multiple entity name variations? Like if the charter shows one version but the FAA registration shows another?
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Jamal Harris
•It identifies the discrepancies and flags them for review. Then you can decide which name version to use based on your specific filing requirements.
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Mei Wong
•That would have saved so much time on our last aircraft deal. We went through four rounds of document revisions.
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Liam Sullivan
Final thought - once you get the UCC-1 filed successfully, make sure to calendar the continuation deadline immediately. Aircraft UCCs need continuation just like any other filing, and with that much collateral value you can't afford to let it lapse.
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Ravi Patel
•Already have that reminder set for 4.5 years out. This deal has been stressful enough without worrying about lapse issues later.
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Amara Okafor
•Smart. I've seen million-dollar aircraft loans lose their perfected status because someone forgot to file the UCC-3 continuation.
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Liam Sullivan
•Exactly why I always set multiple calendar reminders. Too much money at stake to rely on memory.
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Felicity Bud
I've seen this exact scenario multiple times in my practice. The key is to always start with the official state entity records as your source of truth for the debtor name on UCC filings. Don't rely on FAA registrations, insurance documents, or even what's printed on business cards - go straight to the Delaware Division of Corporations database. Once you confirm the exact legal name (including all punctuation), that's what needs to match your security agreement and UCC-1 filing. If there's a mismatch, you'll typically need to amend the security agreement rather than try to file the UCC with an unofficial name variation. Also recommend implementing a checklist for future aircraft deals that includes entity name verification as step one - it'll save you weeks of headaches like this.
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