UCC search Virginia - debtor name variations causing missed liens?
Been doing equipment financing for 8 years and ran into something weird with a Virginia UCC search last week. Client was refinancing some construction equipment and we pulled what we thought was a clean search on debtor 'ABC Construction LLC' - nothing showed up. Deal almost closed when their accountant mentioned they had an existing lien under 'ABC Construction, LLC' (with the comma). Sure enough, that search pulled up a UCC-1 from 2022 that's still active. The original lender used the exact name from their articles of incorporation which includes the comma, but most people search without it. Now I'm wondering how many deals I've missed liens on because of name variations. Anyone else run into this with Virginia SCC searches? Seems like their system doesn't handle variations well.
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MidnightRider
This is actually a huge issue with Virginia's system. The SCC database is really literal about exact matches. I've seen similar problems with 'Inc.' vs 'Incorporated' and even spacing differences. You really need to search multiple variations of the debtor name to be thorough.
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Andre Laurent
•Exactly! And it's not just Virginia - most states have this problem. The UCC doesn't require fuzzy matching so you get what you search for exactly.
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Zoe Papadopoulos
•Wait, so if I search 'Smith Construction LLC' and there's a filing under 'Smith Construction, LLC' it won't show up? That seems like a major flaw in the system.
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Jamal Washington
I've been burned by this exact thing before. Now I always check the articles of incorporation first to get the exact legal name, then search that plus common variations. It's tedious but necessary for due diligence.
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Mei Wong
•That's smart but time consuming. Do you have a standard list of variations you check?
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Jamal Washington
•Usually I check with/without commas, abbreviated vs spelled out entity types (LLC vs Limited Liability Company), and any obvious spacing differences. Still miss stuff sometimes though.
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Liam Fitzgerald
This is why I started using Certana.ai's document verification tool. You can upload the articles of incorporation and any UCC filings you find, and it automatically checks for name consistency issues. Saved me from a similar mistake last month - caught a debtor name mismatch between the charter and UCC-1 that I would have missed manually.
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PixelWarrior
•Never heard of that tool. Does it actually search multiple name variations or just compare documents?
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Liam Fitzgerald
•It does document comparison mainly - you upload PDFs and it flags inconsistencies. But it's really good at catching subtle differences in entity names that cause search problems. Just upload your charter and UCC docs and it highlights any mismatches.
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Amara Adebayo
•Interesting, might have to check that out. Getting tired of manual cross-checking between corporate records and UCC filings.
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Giovanni Rossi
Virginia SCC is particularly bad about this compared to other states. Their search interface is pretty basic and doesn't suggest alternatives like some other states do.
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Fatima Al-Mansour
•Really? Which states have better search functionality?
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Giovanni Rossi
•Delaware and New York have more sophisticated search systems that suggest similar matches. California's isn't bad either.
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Dylan Evans
UGH this happened to me two months ago but with a termination filing. Couldn't find the original UCC-1 to reference in the UCC-3 because the debtor name on the termination had an extra space. Took forever to figure out what was wrong.
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Sofia Gomez
•That's even worse because if you can't find the original filing, you can't properly reference it in the termination. Did you eventually get it sorted out?
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Dylan Evans
•Yeah but had to call the SCC and they helped me find it. Turns out the original filer had copied the name wrong from the beginning. Whole mess could have been avoided.
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StormChaser
•This is exactly why I always double-check entity names against the state business registry before filing anything. Takes an extra few minutes but prevents these headaches.
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Dmitry Petrov
The real problem is that there's no standardization across states for how debtor names should be formatted. Each state does their own thing and lenders just have to figure it out.
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Ava Williams
•True, but at least most states follow the same basic UCC rules. Virginia just has a particularly strict search system.
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Miguel Castro
•Would be nice if they updated their search to be more forgiving. Seems like a simple fix that would prevent a lot of problems.
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Zainab Ibrahim
I actually had good luck contacting Virginia SCC directly when I had a similar issue. Their staff was helpful in explaining how their search works and suggested some variations to try.
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Connor O'Neill
•Good to know they're responsive. What number did you call?
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Zainab Ibrahim
•Used their main UCC inquiry line. Don't have the number handy but it's on their website under UCC services.
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LunarEclipse
This thread is making me paranoid about all my past searches. Might need to go back and double-check some deals with name variations just to be sure.
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Yara Khalil
•Probably not a bad idea if you have time. Better to catch these things late than never.
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Keisha Brown
•I've been thinking the same thing. Makes you wonder how many liens are out there that people just can't find because of search issues.
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Paolo Esposito
For what it's worth, I've started keeping a spreadsheet of different name variations I've seen cause problems. Helps me remember to check common issues like punctuation and abbreviations.
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Amina Toure
•That's actually a really good idea. Mind sharing some of the most common variations you've found?
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Paolo Esposito
•Sure - commas before LLC/Inc, periods in abbreviations, spelled out vs abbreviated entity types, extra spaces, and sometimes 'and' vs '&' in company names.
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Oliver Weber
•Thanks, that's helpful. Going to start my own list based on Virginia filings I see.
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FireflyDreams
Original poster here - thanks for all the input. Sounds like this is more common than I thought. Going to implement some of these suggestions for future searches. That Certana tool sounds promising for document verification too.
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Natasha Kuznetsova
•Glad the thread was helpful! It's definitely one of those things you learn the hard way unfortunately.
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Javier Morales
•Let us know how the Certana thing works out if you try it. Always looking for better tools to streamline the process.
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