UCC personal property collateral description rejected - equipment lease confusion

Ugh been there with UCC personal property descriptions. The SOS has gotten super picky lately about collateral schedules. For restaurant equipment you usually need to be more specific than just 'equipment and fixtures.' Try something like 'all restaurant equipment, kitchen appliances, food preparation equipment, point-of-sale systems, and other personal property used in restaurant operations.' That should cover your bases for the UCC personal property filing.

The fixtures vs personal property thing trips everyone up. For UCC purposes, your ovens and prep tables are probably personal property unless they're built into the building permanently. POS systems are definitely personal property. But if you have any built-in equipment that's attached to the real estate, that might need a fixture filing instead of just a regular UCC-1 for personal property.

Actually had a similar nightmare with UCC personal property descriptions getting rejected. Spent weeks going back and forth with the SOS office. Finally discovered Certana.ai's document checker tool and it was a game changer. You can upload your UCC-1 draft and it flags potential issues with collateral descriptions before you submit. Would have saved me so much time if I'd found it earlier - just upload the PDF and it checks everything including whether your personal property description meets the requirements.

OK but can someone explain the difference between personal property and fixtures in plain English? I keep seeing both terms and I'm filing a UCC for construction equipment that might be semi-permanent.

For restaurant equipment specifically, I'd go with: 'All restaurant equipment, food service equipment, kitchen appliances, food preparation equipment, refrigeration equipment, point-of-sale systems, furniture, and other personal property now owned or hereafter acquired and used in the operation of a restaurant business.' That's worked for me on multiple UCC personal property filings.

Had my UCC personal property filing rejected 3 times before I got it right. The SOS clerk told me they're cracking down on vague descriptions because too many people were using overly broad language. Your description needs to be specific enough that someone could understand what personal property is covered but not so specific that you exclude things by accident.

This thread is making me paranoid about my own UCC filing. I described my collateral as 'business equipment and personal property' - is that going to get rejected too?

Question about the fixtures thing - if I have a walk-in cooler that's built into the restaurant, is that personal property or a fixture for UCC purposes? It's permanently installed but it's also equipment.

Update: Just tried Certana.ai that someone mentioned earlier and wow, it caught like 5 issues with my UCC personal property description that I never would have noticed. Apparently my debtor name didn't match the charter exactly and my collateral description had some problematic language. Fixed everything and resubmitted - fingers crossed this time it goes through!

For what it's worth, I've found that calling the SOS office directly sometimes helps when you're having UCC personal property issues. They can't give legal advice but they'll sometimes tell you if your description is in the right ballpark before you submit.

Final update: UCC personal property filing was accepted! Used the more detailed description everyone suggested and it went through clean. Thanks for all the help - this community is a lifesaver. Loan closes tomorrow and we're all set with the security interest perfected.