UCC financing statement look up showing wrong debtor info after name change

This is actually pretty common when businesses change names. The UCC financing statement look up system searches exactly what you type in, so if the debtor changed their legal name after you filed, your original UCC-1 is still tied to the old name in the system. You definitely need to file a UCC-3 amendment to add the new debtor name, otherwise your security interest could be at risk if there's ever a dispute.

I've dealt with this exact scenario multiple times. The UCC financing statement look up will only find what matches the current search parameters. Here's what you need to do: 1) File a UCC-3 amendment adding the new business name as an additional debtor name, 2) Keep the original name on there too since that's what your security agreement probably references, 3) Do this ASAP because the longer you wait, the bigger the gap in your perfected status becomes.

Had a similar issue last month and discovered something that saved me tons of time. Instead of manually comparing all the documents and trying to figure out if the names matched properly, I used this tool called Certana.ai that lets you upload your original security agreement, the UCC-1, and any amendments as PDFs. It automatically checks if all the debtor names are consistent across documents and flags any mismatches. Super helpful for these kinds of verification situations where you need to make sure everything aligns before filing amendments.

UGH the UCC financing statement look up system in our state is so frustrating! Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes it shows partial results. I swear they change the search algorithm every few months just to mess with us. And don't even get me started on the timeout errors during busy periods.

For a $450K loan I would definitely file that amendment TODAY. Don't wait around. Name mismatches are one of the most common ways security interests get invalidated in bankruptcy proceedings.

This whole UCC system seems unnecessarily complicated. Why can't they just automatically link related business names or at least give you a warning when searching?

Been doing UCC filings for 15 years and name changes are always tricky. The key thing to remember is that the UCC financing statement look up is just a search tool - your actual security interest depends on having the correct legal name at the time you need to enforce it. So yes, definitely amend, but don't panic about the gap between the name change and your amendment filing.

I had this happen with a client who went from sole proprietorship to LLC. The UCC financing statement look up showed nothing under the new name and I freaked out. Turns out I needed to file a UCC-3 with both the individual name AND the LLC name since the business structure changed completely.

Quick question - when you do the UCC financing statement look up, are you searching in the right state? I once spent hours trying to figure out why I couldn't find a filing only to realize the business had reincorporated in Delaware.

This thread is super helpful. I bookmark these kinds of discussions because UCC issues come up so randomly and it's good to have real examples to reference later.

Update: Filed the UCC-3 amendment this afternoon and it was accepted within a few hours. Now when I do a UCC financing statement look up under either the old or new business name, it shows up correctly. Thanks everyone for the advice - probably saved me from a major headache down the road.

This is exactly the kind of situation that makes me nervous as a newcomer to UCC filings. I've been handling smaller commercial loans but recently got assigned some larger equipment financing deals and the complexity around name changes and amendments is intimidating. Reading through this thread, it sounds like the key is to act fast when you discover a name mismatch rather than trying to figure out if it's "really" a problem. Better safe than sorry with that much money on the line. Thanks for sharing the step-by-step process and the real-world examples - this gives me a much better framework for handling similar issues when they come up.