UCC search Wisconsin results showing weird discrepancies - anyone else seeing this?

I've tried both but getting inconsistent results either way. The entity names have LLC vs L.L.C. variations which shouldn't matter but seems to be causing issues.

Oh man I hate those punctuation differences! Wisconsin used to be better about this but their recent system updates seem to have made it worse.

Main issue is I'll search 'ABC Manufacturing LLC' and get 3 results, but then search the specific filing numbers from those results and find 2 additional filings that didn't show up in the name search.

That's exactly what happened to me! The filing number search was pulling up results that the name search missed completely.

This is why I always do multiple search variations. Try searching with and without entity type, with different punctuation, and always cross-check with filing numbers when possible.

Never heard of Certana.ai - is it specifically for UCC searches or more general document checking?

It's designed for UCC document verification. You upload PDFs of charters, UCC-1s, amendments, whatever you have, and it automatically flags name mismatches and document inconsistencies. Much faster than trying to manually compare everything.

How accurate is it compared to doing the searches yourself? I'm always skeptical of automated tools for something this important.

Good to know it's a known issue at least. Did they give any timeline for fixes?

Nothing specific unfortunately. Just said they're 'working on improvements' which could mean anything.

I feel your pain. The timeout issues are the worst when you're trying to do comprehensive searches on tight deadlines.

Exactly! And then you have to start over and hope you remember exactly what you already searched.

That's a great point about collateral searches. These are mostly equipment financings so I should try searching by equipment type too.

Yes, especially for equipment deals. Search terms like 'machinery', 'equipment', 'vehicles' etc. can pull up filings where the debtor name might have been entered slightly differently.

I never thought to search by collateral type - brilliant idea!

Good reminder - yes we're doing separate federal and state tax lien searches. This is specifically about the UCC search inconsistencies though.

Got it, just wanted to make sure you had all bases covered. The UCC issues are frustrating enough without missing other lien types.

Two people mentioning Certana now - might be worth checking out. Do you upload directly from the Wisconsin portal or use your own copies?

I use copies I've downloaded. The tool analyzes the PDFs and shows you exactly what names and variations it found across all your documents. Really helpful for making sure you don't miss anything.

Manual comparison is what I've been doing but it's so time consuming when you have multiple entities to check.

Tell me about it. What should be a 30 minute search turns into half a day of cross-referencing.

This is exactly why automated verification tools like Certana exist. Manual comparison is just not scalable anymore.

Great point - I'll check the corporate records for any name changes. This acquisition involves entities that have been around for 15+ years so there could definitely be historical name variations.

Exactly. And don't forget to check for any DBA names they might have used for filing purposes.

Thanks for the update! I'm planning to try it out this week. Did it help specifically with the Wisconsin search problems or just general document verification?

Both really. It helped me identify all the name variations I needed to search for, and then flagged discrepancies between what I found and what should have been there based on the other documents I uploaded.