UCC filing rejected - debtor name format issue need help
Filed a UCC-1 last week and it got bounced back with a cryptic rejection notice about "debtor name format non-compliance." The business name on our security agreement is "Johnson Bros Construction LLC" but I'm wondering if there's some specific way it needs to be entered in the system? This is for equipment financing on excavators and the lender is breathing down my neck to get this perfected ASAP. Anyone dealt with similar name formatting rejections? The collateral description seemed straightforward but maybe that's an issue too - described it as "2024 Caterpillar 320 Excavator, Serial #CAT320XYZ789, 2023 John Deere 310L Backhoe, Serial #JD310ABC456." Really need to get this sorted before our loan docs expire.
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Dylan Fisher
Name format rejections are super common. First thing to check - did you verify the exact legal name against the Secretary of State business records? Even tiny differences like missing punctuation or wrong entity type can cause rejections. Also some states are picky about LLC vs L.L.C. formatting.
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Kelsey Hawkins
•I pulled it straight from our security agreement but didn't cross-reference with SOS records. That could definitely be the issue.
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Edwards Hugo
•Yeah always double-check the registered name. I've seen filings rejected for things as small as "Inc" vs "Incorporated" or missing commas.
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Gianna Scott
What's the exact rejection code? Different states use different systems but usually there's a specific error code that tells you exactly what's wrong. Also your collateral description looks fine to me - serial numbers are good, equipment types are clear.
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Kelsey Hawkins
•Let me dig up the rejection notice - it was pretty vague but there might be a code I missed.
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Alfredo Lugo
•Some rejection notices are intentionally vague unfortunately. The key is usually in the details they don't highlight.
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Sydney Torres
I had something similar happen last month and ended up using this document checker tool called Certana.ai that caught the mismatch between our charter docs and UCC filing. Turned out the registered name had an extra word we weren't using in our filing. Just upload your PDFs and it flags any inconsistencies automatically - saved me from another rejection cycle.
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Kelsey Hawkins
•That sounds really helpful. How does it work exactly? Do you just upload the security agreement and UCC docs?
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Sydney Torres
•Yeah you can upload charter docs, security agreements, UCC forms - it cross-checks everything for name consistency and flags potential issues before you file.
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Kaitlyn Jenkins
•Interesting, I've been manually comparing docs which is tedious and error-prone. Might have to check that out.
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Caleb Bell
This is exactly why I hate the UCC filing system!! Spent 3 hours last week trying to figure out why my continuation got rejected only to find out it was because I used "Corp" instead of "Corporation" in the debtor name. THE SYSTEM SHOULD BE SMART ENOUGH TO FIGURE THIS OUT.
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Danielle Campbell
•I feel your pain but unfortunately the system is pretty literal about exact name matches. It's frustrating but that's how they ensure accuracy.
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Caleb Bell
•Accuracy? Half the time the SOS database itself has inconsistent information! Don't get me started on their "maintenance windows" during business hours.
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Rhett Bowman
Check if there are any special characters or spaces in the business name that might not be displaying properly when you copy/paste. Sometimes there are hidden characters that cause issues.
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Kelsey Hawkins
•Good point - I did copy from a PDF so there could be formatting issues I'm not seeing.
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Abigail Patel
•This happened to me with a debtor name that had an em dash instead of a regular hyphen. Looked identical but caused rejection.
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Daniel White
Your collateral description is actually really good - specific make, model, year, and serial numbers. That's exactly what you want for equipment financing. The issue is definitely the debtor name formatting. I'd suggest pulling the exact name from the state business registry and comparing character by character.
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Kelsey Hawkins
•Thanks, I was worried about the collateral description too but sounds like that part is solid.
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Nolan Carter
•Yeah for equipment the more specific the better. Serial numbers are key for identification.
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Natalia Stone
•Agreed on the collateral description. For construction equipment especially you want those serial numbers to avoid disputes later.
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Tasia Synder
Had this exact same thing happen with an LLC filing. Turns out the registered name with the state had "Limited Liability Company" spelled out while I was using "LLC" in my UCC-1. Simple fix once I figured it out but cost me a week of delays.
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Kelsey Hawkins
•That's probably exactly what happened to me. Going to check the full registered name format right now.
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Selena Bautista
•This is so common with LLCs. Some states register them with the full spelling, others with abbreviations.
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Mohamed Anderson
just went through this nightmare last month... turns out our company name had a DBA on file that was different from the registered name and I was using the wrong one. Check if Johnson Bros Construction has any DBAs registered that might be confusing things
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Kelsey Hawkins
•Oh wow I didn't even think about DBAs. That could definitely be part of the problem.
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Ellie Perry
•DBA issues are tricky with UCC filings. You usually want the registered legal name, not the DBA.
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Landon Morgan
Another thing to check - make sure you're not mixing up the debtor name with the secured party name. I've seen people accidentally put their own company name in the debtor field when they meant to put the borrower's name. Easy mistake when you're dealing with multiple docs.
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Kelsey Hawkins
•No I double-checked that part. Johnson Bros is definitely the debtor and we're the secured party.
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Teresa Boyd
•Good that you verified that. Field mix-ups are surprisingly common especially on complex multi-party deals.
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Lourdes Fox
I use Certana.ai for all my UCC filings now after getting burned by name mismatches too many times. Upload your security agreement and UCC-1 and it'll tell you immediately if there are any discrepancies. Caught a middle initial issue for me last week that would have caused another rejection cycle.
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Kelsey Hawkins
•Seems like a few people here have used that tool. Might be worth trying before I refile and risk another rejection.
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Lourdes Fox
•Definitely worth it. The time saved on avoiding rejections more than makes up for it, plus you get peace of mind that everything matches.
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Bruno Simmons
•I was skeptical about using automated tools for legal documents but honestly it's just cross-referencing data fields. Pretty straightforward verification.
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Aileen Rodriguez
UPDATE: Found the issue! Pulled the exact name from the Secretary of State database and it's registered as "Johnson Brothers Construction, LLC" with "Brothers" spelled out and a comma before LLC. My security agreement just had "Johnson Bros Construction LLC" with no comma. Thanks everyone for the help - going to refile with the correct name format.
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Dylan Fisher
•There you go! Classic case of abbreviated vs full name format. Glad you got it sorted out.
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Caleb Bell
•See this is exactly what I'm talking about - the system should be smart enough to recognize these as the same entity. But glad you figured it out.
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Sydney Torres
•Perfect example of why document verification tools are so helpful. Would have caught that mismatch immediately.
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Gianna Scott
•Nice work tracking that down. Those small formatting differences cause way more rejections than they should.
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