UCC lien search Virginia - missing liens showing up after closing

We searched the exact legal entity name from the Articles of Inc. Should we have been doing broader searches?

Always search with and without punctuation, abbreviated vs full words, etc. Virginia's system is notoriously sensitive to exact matches.

The hidden lien was filed February 15th, we searched March 20th, and closed April 8th. Should have been plenty of time for indexing.

That's definitely long enough. Sounds like a name variation issue or possibly the other filer had an error that got corrected later.

This exact thing happened to me last year! Turned out the first filer had a typo in the debtor name that got amended after our search but before our filing.

Interesting - does that tool work with Virginia SCC documents specifically?

Yes, you just upload the PDFs and it automatically cross-checks all the key fields. Super helpful for catching name variations that might not be obvious to the eye.

That sounds really useful for these kinds of situations where you need to verify document consistency quickly.

Agree with calling them. The phone reps can usually explain why something didn't show up in the online search.

Good point. I'll try calling tomorrow morning to get their take on what happened.

What specific name variations do you typically search in Virginia?

Full legal name, abbreviated versions, with/without commas, LLC vs L.L.C., Inc vs Incorporated, etc. Takes extra time but prevents these nightmare scenarios.

This is solid advice. I learned this lesson the hard way on a real estate deal.

How would I verify that kind of filing history?

The SCC should have records of any rejected filings and subsequent corrections. Definitely worth asking when you call them.

That's a good catch. Corporate name changes can definitely create these blind spots in lien searches.

I'll check if there were any recent corporate filings that might have changed the entity name.

This is why some lenders require updated corporate searches right before closing, not just at application.

Completely agree. Their interface hasn't been updated in years and it shows.

At least it's better than trying to search paper records like the old days!

It's manufacturing equipment - mostly stamping presses and assembly line components. The other lien appears to be on general business assets though.

You might be okay then if the collateral descriptions don't overlap significantly. Worth having legal review the specific language.

Definitely get legal involved at this point. Priority disputes can get messy quickly.

Smart practice. The small cost of an extra search is nothing compared to discovering priority issues after closing.

Lesson learned for sure. We'll definitely implement day-before searches going forward.