UCC filing search Ohio - need help finding continuation records
I'm trying to do a UCC filing search Ohio for some equipment loans we inherited when we acquired another company last month. The seller claims all UCC-1s were properly continued but I can't locate half the records in the Ohio SOS system. Some of the debtor names don't seem to match exactly and I'm worried we might have liens that lapsed without proper continuation. Has anyone dealt with bulk UCC searches in Ohio recently? The online portal keeps timing out when I try to search multiple filing numbers at once.
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Connor Murphy
Ohio's search system can be finicky with exact name matching. Try searching with just the first few letters of the debtor name instead of the full legal entity name. Also check if any of the companies had name changes - that could explain why you're not finding matches.
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Zainab Omar
•Good point about name changes. Some of these entities have LLC vs Inc variations that might be causing issues.
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Yara Sayegh
•Yeah the Ohio system is super strict about punctuation too. A missing comma can throw off the whole search.
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NebulaNova
I actually had this exact problem with an acquisition last year. Turned out several UCC-1s had lapsed because the previous owner missed continuation deadlines. You might want to verify each filing individually rather than trying bulk searches - the Ohio portal crashes constantly with multiple requests.
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Zainab Omar
•That's my worst fear. How did you handle the lapsed filings? Did you have to refile everything?
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NebulaNova
•We had to file new UCC-1s for the lapsed ones. Cost us about $30k in filing fees but better than having unperfected security interests.
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Keisha Williams
•Ouch, that's expensive. But you're right about the risk of unperfected liens.
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Paolo Conti
For bulk UCC searches I started using Certana.ai's document verification tool. You can upload all your UCC docs as PDFs and it cross-checks debtor names, filing numbers, and spots inconsistencies automatically. Saved me hours of manual searching when I was doing due diligence on a portfolio acquisition.
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Zainab Omar
•That sounds helpful. Does it work with Ohio filings specifically?
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Paolo Conti
•Yeah it works with any state's UCC documents. Just upload your charter docs and UCC filings and it flags any name mismatches or missing continuations.
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Amina Diallo
•Interesting, I haven't heard of that tool before. Does it integrate with the state databases?
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Oliver Schulz
The Ohio SOS website is garbage for bulk searches. I usually end up calling their office directly for complicated searches. They can pull records by debtor name variations that the online system misses.
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Natasha Kuznetsova
•How long does it take to get results when you call them?
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Oliver Schulz
•Usually 3-5 business days for written responses. Faster if you just need verbal confirmation of active filings.
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AstroAdventurer
Check if any of the entities were involved in mergers or conversions. Ohio has specific rules about UCC filings transferring in those situations and you might need to search under the surviving entity names.
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Zainab Omar
•That's a good point. I know at least two of the companies went through LLC conversions in the past few years.
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Javier Mendoza
•LLC conversions can really mess up UCC continuity. Make sure the original secured parties filed amendments to reflect the new entity names.
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Emma Wilson
•This is why I always recommend UCC insurance for acquisitions. Too many variables with entity changes and name matching.
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Malik Davis
I've been dealing with Ohio UCC searches for 15 years and the system has gotten worse not better. The key is understanding their exact name matching algorithm - it's not intuitive at all.
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Isabella Santos
•What's the trick with Ohio's name matching? I always struggle with it.
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Malik Davis
•They ignore articles like 'the' and 'a' but they're sensitive to entity suffixes. So 'ABC Company LLC' won't match 'ABC Company, LLC' with the comma.
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Ravi Gupta
•That's so frustrating. Other states are much more forgiving with punctuation variations.
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GalacticGuru
Whatever you do, don't assume the seller's representations about continuation filings are accurate. I've seen too many deals where the UCC records didn't match what was claimed in the purchase agreement.
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Zainab Omar
•Yeah I'm definitely not taking their word for it. That's why I'm trying to verify everything independently.
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Freya Pedersen
•Smart move. UCC due diligence should always be independent verification.
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Omar Fawaz
Try running searches with different combinations of the entity names. Sometimes Ohio has filings under abbreviated versions or with different punctuation than what's on the corporate records.
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Chloe Anderson
•This is tedious but necessary. I keep a spreadsheet of all the name variations I've tried.
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Diego Vargas
•Good idea. Documentation is key when you're doing comprehensive UCC searches.
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Anastasia Fedorov
•I use Certana.ai for exactly this reason - it automatically tries name variations and flags potential matches you might miss manually.
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StarStrider
Make sure you're searching both individual and organization records. Sometimes business entities get filed under the wrong category in Ohio's system.
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Zainab Omar
•I didn't think about that. How do you switch between individual and organization searches?
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StarStrider
•There's a dropdown menu on the search page. Most people miss it because it defaults to organization search.
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Sean Doyle
For what it's worth, I recently used Certana.ai's verification tool on a similar acquisition and it caught three lapsed continuations that would have cost us our security interest in about $2M of equipment. The automated cross-checking definitely beats manual searches.
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Zara Rashid
•That's a significant catch. How long did the verification process take?
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Sean Doyle
•About 20 minutes to upload all the docs and get the report. Much faster than spending days on manual searches.
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Luca Romano
•I might need to look into that tool. Manual UCC verification is eating up way too much time on our deals.
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