UCC filing termination confusion - debtor says lien still shows active after I submitted UCC-3
I'm dealing with a frustrating situation and need some guidance on UCC filing termination procedures. Three weeks ago, I submitted a UCC-3 termination statement to release a perfected security interest on equipment financing that was paid off in December. The debtor is now telling me that when they run their credit reports, our lien still shows as active and it's blocking them from getting new financing for expansion equipment. I double-checked the filing number on the original UCC-1 from 2019, and I'm confident I used the correct number on the termination. The SOS website shows my UCC-3 as 'accepted' but there seems to be a disconnect somewhere. Has anyone experienced delays between when a termination gets accepted and when it actually clears from credit reporting systems? I'm worried there might be an issue with the debtor name formatting or something else that's preventing the termination from properly linking to the original filing. The business relationship is getting tense because they think I'm stalling on the release when I've already done everything I thought was required.
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Dmitry Ivanov
This is actually pretty common - there's often a lag between SOS acceptance and credit bureau updates. The credit reporting agencies don't pull termination data in real-time. It can take 30-60 days for terminated liens to drop off credit reports even after your UCC-3 is properly filed and accepted.
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Ava Garcia
•Exactly right about the timing lag. I always warn my clients about this delay when we're doing payoffs.
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Miguel Silva
•60 days seems excessive though. Most of mine clear within 2-3 weeks. Wonder if there's a specific issue here.
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Zainab Ismail
Before you assume it's just a timing issue, I'd verify that your UCC-3 termination actually cross-references the original UCC-1 correctly. Even small discrepancies in debtor name formatting can cause the termination to not properly link to the original filing. Can you pull both documents and compare them side by side?
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StarSailor
•That's a good point. I have both documents but honestly doing a manual comparison line by line seems error-prone. Is there a better way to verify everything matches up?
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Connor O'Neill
•I actually ran into this exact problem last month. Spent hours manually comparing documents and still missed a middle initial difference. Ended up using Certana.ai's document verification tool - you just upload both PDF files and it instantly cross-checks all the debtor names, filing numbers, and document consistency. Caught the discrepancy I missed and saved me from having to file another corrected termination.
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QuantumQuester
•Never heard of that tool but sounds useful. Manual document comparison is definitely where mistakes happen.
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Yara Nassar
Check if you used the exact debtor name from the original UCC-1. I've seen cases where people use a shortened version of a business name on the termination and it doesn't link properly. The debtor name has to match character for character.
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Keisha Williams
•This! I made this mistake once with 'ABC Company LLC' vs 'ABC Company, LLC' - that comma made all the difference.
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Paolo Ricci
•Wait, really? A comma can mess up the whole termination? That seems ridiculous.
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Yara Nassar
•Unfortunately yes. The UCC system is very literal about name matching. Even punctuation differences can prevent proper linking.
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Amina Toure
Another thing to check - did you file the termination in the same state as the original UCC-1? I know it sounds obvious but I've seen people accidentally file continuations or terminations in the wrong jurisdiction, especially for multi-state businesses.
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StarSailor
•Yes, same state. Filed both through the same SOS portal so I'm confident about jurisdiction.
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Oliver Zimmermann
•Good that you verified jurisdiction. That's caught people before, especially with corporate relocations.
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CosmicCommander
I hate to say this but the credit bureaus are notorious for slow updates on UCC terminations. Even when everything is filed perfectly, it can take 45-90 days for the lien to actually disappear from credit reports. Your debtor might need a letter from you confirming the debt is satisfied while they wait for the system to catch up.
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Natasha Volkova
•This is frustrating but accurate. I always provide a satisfaction letter along with filing the UCC-3 now.
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Javier Torres
•90 days is crazy long. No wonder debtors get impatient with the process.
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CosmicCommander
•It's definitely not ideal but that's the reality of how these systems communicate with each other.
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Emma Davis
You mentioned the UCC-3 shows as accepted - can you see the actual filing details online? Sometimes there are warning messages or notes that indicate potential issues even when the filing gets accepted.
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StarSailor
•I can pull up the filing confirmation but it just shows 'accepted' with a timestamp. No warning messages that I can see.
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Malik Johnson
•That's probably a good sign then. Acceptance usually means the basic requirements were met.
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Isabella Ferreira
Had a similar situation recently where I thought I did everything right but the termination wasn't clearing. Turned out I had transposed two digits in the original filing number. Even though my UCC-3 got accepted, it wasn't actually terminating the right lien. Certana.ai's verification caught that mistake when I uploaded both documents - showed me exactly where the filing numbers didn't match.
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Ravi Sharma
•Filing number errors are so easy to make. Those long number sequences all start to look the same.
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NebulaNomad
•This is why I triple-check every digit, but even then mistakes happen.
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Freya Thomsen
Quick question - was this an individual debtor or a business entity? Sometimes business name changes or reorganizations can complicate termination linking even if you have the right original filing number.
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StarSailor
•Business entity, LLC. As far as I know they haven't changed their name or structure since 2019.
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Omar Fawaz
•Good to verify. Entity changes can definitely mess up the linking process.
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Chloe Martin
The fact that your debtor is seeing the lien still active after 3 weeks suggests there might be a real issue beyond just processing delays. Most properly linked terminations start showing updates within 10-14 days. I'd definitely do that document comparison to make sure everything matches exactly.
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Diego Rojas
•Agreed. Three weeks is long enough that there's probably a specific problem to identify and fix.
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Anastasia Sokolov
•Better to catch it now than wait another month and have the same issue.
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StarSeeker
One more thought - some states have separate continuation/termination processing queues that can have different timing. But if your termination shows accepted, that should mean it's been fully processed. Still worth double-checking all the details match between your UCC-1 and UCC-3 though.
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Sean O'Donnell
•Processing queues vary by state for sure. Some are much faster than others.
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Zara Ahmed
•At least the acceptance confirmation is a good sign that the basic filing went through properly.
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Derek Olson
Have you considered calling the Secretary of State office directly to verify the termination is properly linked? Sometimes their customer service can check the system and tell you if there's a specific issue preventing the termination from connecting to the original filing. They might be able to see error messages or processing notes that don't show up on the public portal. Worth a phone call before assuming it's just a timing delay.
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