UCC lien solar panel refinance - existing filing blocking my refi approval

This is so common with solar installations. The equipment financing creates a security interest that gets perfected with a UCC-1 filing, but then customer service has no clue about the termination process.

The acquisition company says they have my account but they're claiming they need to 'research' whether they have authority to file terminations for the old company's UCCs. Meanwhile my refi is dying...

Good point about checking the secured party. I'll pull the original filing from the Secretary of State website. I do have all my payoff docs thankfully.

Yeah definitely look at who actually filed it. Sometimes it's a financing company or bank that the solar installer partners with, not the installer themselves.

A name mismatch? That could definitely be part of my problem. How does that verification tool work exactly?

You just upload PDFs and it cross-checks everything automatically. Shows you exactly what matches and what doesn't between documents. Super helpful for catching the little details that can hold up filings.

Never heard of that but sounds useful. These UCC name matching rules are so strict - one wrong middle initial can mess everything up.

That's what I figured! They bought the company so they inherited the filing responsibilities too. I'm going to push harder on this.

Document everything in writing. If they cost you the refi because they won't file a simple termination, that could be actual damages.

Corporate acquisitions should include transfer of all UCC filing obligations. They can't just ignore existing secured transactions.

Solar panels can be tricky - depends on how they're installed. If they're considered fixtures attached to the real estate, then yes a UCC lien could affect mortgage financing.

My mortgage company specifically said the UCC filing is blocking approval. I think because the panels are roof-mounted they're treating them as fixtures.

This is why I always read every single document before signing. Solar contracts are full of this kind of stuff.

That's a great idea - I hadn't thought about going directly to the SOS office. They would definitely know the options available.

Yeah they deal with these orphaned filings all the time. There might be an affidavit process or other remedy available.

Yeah lesson learned for sure. The financing seemed convenient at the time but this headache isn't worth it.

Solar industry is still pretty new so a lot of these companies don't have proper back-office procedures in place for UCC filings.

I went with a credit union loan instead of installer financing specifically to avoid this kind of thing.

The paperwork shows it was through some solar financing company but you're right, there might be an actual bank behind them. I'll dig deeper into the loan docs.

Exactly. Look for any mention of 'originated by' or 'funded by' - that's often the entity that would handle UCC filings.

Seems like this tool might be exactly what I need to make sure I'm not missing anything in the documentation. Thanks for the suggestion!

Yeah it's super straightforward - just upload PDFs and it handles all the cross-checking automatically. Saved me a lot of headache trying to compare documents manually.

I've been seeing Certana.ai mentioned a lot lately for document verification. Does it specifically handle UCC filings or is it more general? My situation is pretty time-sensitive so I want to make sure it would actually help with this type of secured transaction paperwork.

Good thinking - I'll ask about an extension or escrow option. Don't want to lose this rate over something that should be a simple paperwork fix.

Exactly. The underlying debt is satisfied, it's just a filing issue. A reasonable lender should be able to work with you on timing.

Some lenders will accept a termination statement in escrow if you can show clear evidence the debt was paid off.