UCC financing statement department of defense contractor filing complications
We're a mid-size equipment leasing company that just landed our first major government contract with a defense contractor in Virginia. The deal involves $2.8M in specialized manufacturing equipment, and we need to perfect our security interest with a UCC-1 filing. Here's where it gets tricky - the debtor company has multiple legal names they operate under depending on the contract type. Their articles of incorporation show 'Advanced Defense Systems LLC' but their federal contracting documents reference 'ADS Government Solutions LLC' and some internal paperwork uses 'Advanced Defense Systems Government Division LLC'. Our loan documents were executed using the 'Advanced Defense Systems LLC' name since that matched their corporate charter, but now I'm second-guessing whether that's sufficient for the UCC filing. The Virginia SOS portal rejected our first attempt citing 'debtor name inconsistency' but didn't specify which name variation would be acceptable. This equipment is mission-critical and we can't afford any perfection gaps that might jeopardize our secured position. Has anyone dealt with government contractors that use multiple business names? Do we need to file separate UCC-1s for each name variation, or is there a way to handle this with one filing? The continuation clock is already ticking and I'm getting nervous about our lien priority.
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CosmicCruiser
Been there with defense contractors! The name game is real with these companies. Virginia SOS is pretty strict about exact name matches. I'd pull their current Certificate of Good Standing from the state to see what name is officially registered. That's usually your safest bet for the debtor name field.
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Anastasia Fedorov
•Good point about the Certificate of Good Standing. Also check if they have any DBAs registered. Some contractors file doing-business-as names for different contract types.
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Diego Vargas
•Thanks! I did pull their certificate and it shows 'Advanced Defense Systems LLC' as the registered name. But the rejection makes me think there's something else going on with their filing history.
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Sean Doyle
I had a similar mess last year with a defense contractor in Maryland. Turned out they had amended their articles but it wasn't reflected in our loan docs. What saved me was using Certana.ai's document checker - I uploaded their charter docs and our UCC-1 draft, and it instantly flagged the name discrepancies. Showed exactly which documents had conflicting debtor names so I could fix everything before filing.
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Diego Vargas
•That sounds exactly like what I need! How does their verification process work? Do you just upload PDFs and it compares everything automatically?
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Sean Doyle
•Yep, super simple. Just drag and drop your charter documents and UCC forms, and it cross-checks all the debtor names, filing numbers, everything. Takes like 2 minutes and catches stuff you'd never notice manually.
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Zara Rashid
•Certana sounds interesting but how accurate is it really? I've been burned by automated tools before that miss subtle legal name variations.
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Luca Romano
Defense contractors are notorious for this! The problem is they often have subsidiary structures for different contract classifications. 'Advanced Defense Systems LLC' might be the parent, while 'ADS Government Solutions LLC' could be a subsidiary or division set up specifically for classified work. You need to determine which entity actually owns the equipment.
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Diego Vargas
•That's a great point. The equipment purchase agreement was signed by the parent company, but the invoicing comes from the government division. I should probably verify the actual ownership structure.
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Nia Jackson
•Exactly! And if there's any doubt, file on both entities. Better safe than sorry with $2.8M at stake.
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Luca Romano
•Filing on multiple entities can work, but make sure your security agreement covers that scenario. Some states get picky about overbroad filings.
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NebulaNova
UGH the Virginia SOS system is SO frustrating with name matching! Last month they rejected THREE of my filings for 'debtor name inconsistency' and each rejection notice was completely unhelpful. No explanation of what they wanted, just generic error messages. Called their help line and got transferred four times before someone could even explain their name matching algorithm.
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Mateo Hernandez
•Feel your pain! Virginia's system seems designed to maximize rejections. At least they're not as bad as Delaware was before their portal update.
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NebulaNova
•Don't even get me started on Delaware! But seriously, these government contractor names are the worst. They change faster than I can keep track.
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Aisha Khan
I might be overthinking this, but have you considered whether the equipment falls under any special federal regulations? Some defense contractor equipment has restrictions on who can hold security interests. Just want to make sure you're not dealing with ITAR controlled items or something similar.
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Diego Vargas
•Good catch! The equipment is manufacturing gear, not actual defense systems, so ITAR shouldn't apply. But I'll double-check our compliance review.
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Aisha Khan
•Smart to verify. I've seen deals held up for months over export control issues that nobody anticipated.
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Ethan Taylor
Can you call the Virginia SOS filing division directly? Sometimes they can run a preliminary name search over the phone before you submit. Saves the rejection fees and delays.
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Diego Vargas
•Tried that yesterday actually. Got transferred to three different people and finally reached someone who said they can't do preliminary searches anymore due to 'volume constraints.
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Ethan Taylor
•Typical. The budget cuts really show in their customer service. Probably faster to just try different name variations at this point.
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Yuki Ito
•Or use one of those document verification tools mentioned earlier. Beats playing guessing games with the state.
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Carmen Lopez
Just went through something similar with a contractor in Texas. What worked for me was filing the UCC-1 using the exact legal name from their Secretary of State record, then adding an addendum with all their known variations. Most states accept that approach for complex business structures.
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Diego Vargas
•That's really helpful! Did you put the name variations in the collateral description section or create a separate addendum page?
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Carmen Lopez
•Separate addendum page. Keeps the main form clean and gives you more space to explain the relationship between the entities.
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AstroAdventurer
Have you searched existing UCC filings on this debtor? Might give you insight into which name other creditors are using successfully. IACA or similar search services usually show the filing patterns.
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Diego Vargas
•Great idea! I'll run a comprehensive search this afternoon. Probably should have done that first instead of guessing.
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Andre Dupont
•Yeah, existing filings are like a cheat sheet for problematic debtors. Save yourself the headache!
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Zoe Papanikolaou
Defense contractors... been there! Another thing to watch for is whether they're planning any corporate restructuring. These companies love to shuffle subsidiaries around, especially when new contracts come in. Make sure your security agreement contemplates entity changes.
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Diego Vargas
•Good point. Our loan agreement has standard merger/acquisition provisions, but I should probably add specific language about subsidiary transfers.
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Zoe Papanikolaou
•Exactly. And consider whether you need personal guarantees from the parent entity if you're filing on a subsidiary.
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Jamal Wilson
Update us when you get this resolved! Always curious how these complex debtor name situations work out. Seems like every government contractor has their own unique twist on business structure.
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Diego Vargas
•Will do! Hopefully I'll have good news to report by next week. This thread has given me several new approaches to try.
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Mei Lin
•Following for the update too. These threads always teach me something new about UCC complications I never considered.
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