UCC lien search Hawaii - debtor name variations causing missed filings?
Running into some issues with UCC lien searches in Hawaii and wondering if anyone else has dealt with this. I'm working on due diligence for a commercial loan and the borrower's legal name has changed twice in the past 8 years (corporate restructuring). When I search the Hawaii Bureau of Conveyances UCC database, I'm getting different results depending on which version of the debtor name I use. Some filings show up under the old entity name, others under the current name, and I'm worried I'm missing active liens that could affect our security position. The borrower insists there are no outstanding UCC filings but my searches are pulling up what looks like at least 3 active UCC-1s from different time periods. Has anyone dealt with Hawaii's system for handling debtor name changes? Do I need to search every possible variation of the company name to get a complete picture? This is for a $2.8M equipment financing deal and I can't afford to miss any existing liens.
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Charlotte Jones
Hawaii's UCC search system is notoriously finicky with name variations. You absolutely need to search every version of the debtor name you can think of. The system doesn't automatically cross-reference name changes like some other states do. I learned this the hard way on a deal last year where we missed a UCC-1 because the debtor had a slight spelling difference in their articles of incorporation vs their assumed name certificate.
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Lucas Bey
•This is exactly why I always request copies of all articles of incorporation, amendments, and DBA filings before running UCC searches. The debtor name has to match exactly what's on the financing statement.
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Harper Thompson
•wait so hawaii doesn't have any kind of automated system to catch name variations? that seems like a huge gap in their filing system
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Caleb Stark
I've been doing UCC searches in Hawaii for 15 years and yes, you need to be exhaustive with name variations. Also check for: exact legal name from articles of incorporation, any DBA names, previous corporate names from amendments, common abbreviations (Corp vs Corporation, LLC vs Limited Liability Company), and even minor punctuation differences. Hawaii's Bureau of Conveyances search is very literal.
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Jade O'Malley
•15 years? wow. do you have any tips for making sure I don't miss anything? this is my first big deal in hawaii and I'm terrified of screwing up the lien search
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Caleb Stark
•Get the complete corporate history from the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs first. Then use every name variation they've ever had in your UCC search. Also search individual names of principals if it's a small company - sometimes personal guarantees get filed as separate UCC-1s.
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Hunter Edmunds
•I actually found a tool that helps with this exact problem. Certana.ai has a UCC document verification system where you can upload the corporate docs and it automatically flags potential name mismatches before you even start searching. Saved me from missing a critical filing on a Hawaii deal last month.
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Ella Lewis
The $2.8M size of your deal definitely warrants being extra careful. What specific name variations are you seeing in your searches? Sometimes the pattern can tell you if there are other versions you haven't tried yet.
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Logan Greenburg
•The current legal name is 'Pacific Manufacturing Solutions LLC' but I'm finding filings under 'Pacific Mfg Solutions LLC', 'Pacific Manufacturing Solutions, LLC' (with comma), and 'PMS Holdings LLC' which I think was an old name. There might be others I haven't found yet.
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Andrew Pinnock
•You need to search 'Pacific Manufacturing Solutions Limited Liability Company' spelled out fully too. Hawaii sometimes has filings under the full legal form even if the company uses abbreviations.
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Brianna Schmidt
•PMS Holdings definitely sounds like a predecessor entity. Check if they filed any UCC-3 amendments transferring collateral when they changed names.
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Alexis Renard
This is giving me anxiety just reading it. I hate UCC searches for exactly this reason - you never know if you've found everything. The Hawaii system seems especially prone to missing things because of the name matching issues.
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Camila Jordan
•I feel you on the anxiety. That's why I always budget extra time for UCC searches in states like Hawaii. Better to over-search than miss something critical.
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Tyler Lefleur
•honestly the whole UCC system feels like it was designed in 1960 and never updated. why can't they just have better search algorithms?
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Madeline Blaze
HAWAII'S UCC SYSTEM IS THE WORST. I've been burned by their search limitations before. The Bureau of Conveyances search function is so literal that even a missing comma can cause you to miss filings. For a $2.8M deal I would honestly consider hiring a local attorney who specializes in UCC searches just to make sure you don't miss anything.
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Max Knight
•That seems excessive for a UCC search but I guess for that amount of money it might be worth it
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Emma Swift
•Not excessive at all. Missing a senior lien on a $2.8M deal could cost way more than a few hundred in attorney fees.
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Isabella Tucker
Have you tried searching by the last four digits of the EIN? Sometimes that can help catch filings where the debtor name was entered incorrectly but the tax ID is right.
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Logan Greenburg
•I didn't know you could search by EIN in Hawaii. Is that a separate search field in their system?
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Isabella Tucker
•It's not obvious but if you put the EIN in the debtor name field sometimes it will pull up results. Worth a try for thoroughness.
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Jayden Hill
•I tried the EIN search method in Hawaii last year and it didn't work for me. Maybe they changed something in their system?
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LordCommander
Just went through this same issue on a Hawaii equipment loan. What I ended up doing was using Certana.ai to cross-check all the corporate documents against the UCC search results. It caught two filings I had missed because of slight name variations. You upload the articles of incorporation and the UCC search results and it flags any potential mismatches. Really saved my butt on that deal.
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Lucy Lam
•How does that work exactly? Do you just upload PDFs and it compares them automatically?
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LordCommander
•Yeah exactly. You upload the corporate docs and then upload screenshots or PDFs of your UCC search results and it identifies potential name inconsistencies you might have missed. Takes like 5 minutes vs hours of manual comparison.
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Aidan Hudson
For Hawaii specifically, I always search these variations: exact legal name, legal name with/without punctuation, abbreviated versions (Corp/Corporation, LLC/Limited Liability Company), any DBA names, former legal names from corporate amendments, and common misspellings. Also check if they're registered as a foreign entity - sometimes the registered name differs from the home state name.
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Zoe Wang
•This is a great checklist. I'm saving this for future Hawaii deals.
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Connor Richards
•Don't forget to check assumed name certificates too. In Hawaii these can create additional name variations that might appear on UCC filings.
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Grace Durand
The fact that you're finding multiple UCC-1s under different name variations is actually helpful - it confirms there are active filings out there and validates your concern about being thorough. Better to find too many potential matches and investigate each one than miss something critical.
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Steven Adams
•Good point. At least finding multiple filings means the search is working, just need to be systematic about all the name variations.
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Logan Greenburg
•That's actually reassuring. I was worried I was being too paranoid but sounds like thoroughness is the right approach for Hawaii UCC searches.
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Alice Fleming
I did a deal in Hawaii last month and used every trick mentioned here plus one more - I searched for the street address of their registered office. Sometimes if the debtor name was entered wrong on the UCC-1, the address might still be right and you can catch filings that way.
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Hassan Khoury
•That's actually brilliant. Never thought of using the address as a backup search method.
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Victoria Stark
•Does Hawaii's UCC search allow searching by address? I thought most states only did debtor name searches.
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Alice Fleming
•Hawaii has an advanced search option that includes address fields. It's not foolproof but can help catch filings where the name was mangled but address is correct.
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