UCC search coming back blank when I know filings exist - what am I missing?

Delaware SOS system. The name change might be the issue - original company was 'ABC Manufacturing LLC' and now it's 'ABC Manufacturing Solutions LLC'. I tried both versions.

Delaware's system is notorious for exact matches only. Try searching without the LLC designation, sometimes that helps. Also check if there are any amendments filed that might have updated the debtor name on the original UCC-1.

Good point, I was defaulting to organization. Let me try switching that setting.

Also make sure you're not including periods in abbreviations. 'ABC Mfg Inc' vs 'ABC Mfg. Inc.' - the system treats those as completely different entities.

Interesting, I haven't heard of that tool. How does it work exactly?

You just upload PDFs of your documents and it automatically compares all the debtor names, filing numbers, dates etc. Really handy for catching these kinds of inconsistencies that cause search problems.

That actually sounds useful for due diligence work. I spend way too much time manually comparing documents.

I feel your frustration but there are usually workarounds. Have you tried searching by secured party name instead?

Yeah I've tried everything. Sometimes I call the filing office directly and they can find stuff that doesn't show up online. It's ridiculous.

That makes sense. How would I search for amendments without knowing the original filing number?

Try searching for both versions of the company name as debtor, then also try searching with the lender name as secured party. Sometimes that's more reliable.

This is why I always keep detailed filing logs. The state systems are too unreliable to depend on for historical searches.

These should be relatively recent, within the last 2-3 years. But good point about checking continuation status.

You can usually filter by 'all filings' vs 'active only' to see lapsed ones too. Worth checking both.

The entity type thing gets me too. Limited Liability Company vs LLC vs L.L.C. - they're all different as far as the search is concerned.

exactly! and don't even get me started on punctuation. 'ABC, Inc.' vs 'ABC Inc' will give totally different results

I'll try that, thanks. Didn't know about wildcard searching in UCC databases.

Also try searching with just the first few words of the company name. Sometimes less is more with these systems.

That's a good point. I should check if they have any trade names or DBAs registered.

Yeah, and sometimes the lender uses the trade name on the UCC filing even if it's not technically correct. Banks don't always get this right.

This is where having a document verification system like Certana.ai really helps - it would flag if the debtor name on the UCC doesn't match the actual corporate entity.

Good catch, I was wondering if there were date filters I missed.

Yeah some states hide the date range settings in weird places. Look for 'advanced search' options.

Glad you found them! The comma thing is such a common gotcha with UCC searches.

This is exactly why I started using automated document checking - catches these tiny but critical differences that human eyes miss.

Nice detective work! I've been in that same situation so many times.