UCC lien massachusetts continuation filed late - still valid?

Massachusetts doesn't send automatic reminders - you have to track your own dates. Most lenders use calendar systems or hire services to monitor this stuff.

Yeah learned that the hard way. We were relying on our old system and it didn't flag the date properly.

That's what I was afraid of. How do I check for other filings during that gap period? Is there a search function on the Massachusetts SOS website?

Yes, you can search UCC records on the Massachusetts Secretary of State website. Search by debtor name for filings between your lapse date and continuation date.

Wait, I thought if you file the continuation late it just backdates to cover the gap? That's not how it works?

No, continuations don't backdate. A late continuation only perfects from the date it's actually filed, not from the original expiration date.

Interesting approach. Would filing a new UCC-1 give us priority from the new filing date, or would we still be junior to anything filed during the gap?

New UCC-1 would give you priority from its filing date only. You'd be junior to anything properly filed during your gap period. That's why checking for competing filings is so important.

Never heard of that service but sounds useful. Is it expensive? We're always looking for ways to avoid these kinds of mistakes.

It's pretty reasonable for what it does. Main value is catching discrepancies early rather than finding out about problems later when it's too late to fix them.

I feel your pain! Had a filing rejected because the debtor name had an extra space somewhere. Took forever to figure out what was wrong.

Most states don't send reminders actually. It's considered the filer's responsibility to track their own deadlines.

It's manufacturing equipment - pretty specialized stuff that's still at their facility. What kind of options are you thinking about?

With equipment, you could potentially take possession or have a third party take possession on your behalf, which would perfect your interest without requiring UCC filing. Though that's pretty drastic and would probably trigger default provisions.

That's true but probably not practical for ongoing business operations. Better to focus on cleaning up the UCC filing issues first.

That's smart. I'm going to start doing the same thing. This thread is giving me anxiety about all my upcoming deadlines!

Yeah it's worth the extra effort. The stress isn't worth trying to wing it with these deadlines.

Good question. The lapsed filing is already ineffective, so terminating it isn't legally required. But it's good practice to clean up the records to avoid confusion for future searchers.

I usually recommend terminating the old one just to keep things clean, especially if you're filing a new UCC-1 with similar collateral descriptions.

Filed in early 2020, so the 5-year deadline was early January 2025. Today is late January so yeah, about 3 weeks late.

Oh got it, that makes sense. Time flies when you're not paying attention to UCC deadlines apparently!

Good point about other types of liens. Is there a single search that covers all of that or do I need to check multiple databases?

For Massachusetts you'll probably need to check UCC records, judgment records, and possibly federal tax liens separately. Some search companies can do comprehensive reports but it costs more.

This is another area where document verification tools like Certana.ai help - you can upload multiple filings to check for conflicts and inconsistencies across different document types.

Will do. Meeting with our attorney tomorrow to figure out next steps. Definitely learned my lesson about tracking these deadlines better.

Yeah this stuff keeps me up at night sometimes. Good luck with everything!