UCC search results showing wrong debtor names - need help with secretary of state database
Running into a frustrating issue with UCC searches that's making me question everything. I've been doing due diligence on a potential acquisition and when I search the secretary of state database for UCC filings, I'm getting results that don't match what I expected. The debtor names are showing up differently than what's on the original loan documents - some have middle initials, others don't, and a few show corporate suffixes that weren't in my search terms. Is this normal? I'm worried I'm missing active liens or finding false positives. The target company has equipment financing from 2019 that should still be active, but the continuation filing shows a slightly different business name format. How do you handle these name variations when you're trying to get a complete picture of what's actually filed? This is holding up our entire deal timeline and I need to know if these are legitimate matches or search errors.
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Katherine Hunter
UCC searches are notorious for this exact problem. Secretary of state databases use different matching algorithms and some are more forgiving than others. When you're searching, you need to try multiple variations - with and without middle initials, different punctuation, abbreviated vs spelled out business entity types. The debtor name on the UCC-1 has to match exactly what was on file when it was submitted, not necessarily what you think it should be.
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Lucas Parker
•This is so true. I spent hours last month trying to find a filing that was under a slightly different corporate name format. The borrower's articles of incorporation had 'LLC' but the UCC-1 was filed with 'L.L.C.' - completely different search results.
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Donna Cline
•Middle initials are the worst for this. Sometimes the loan documents have them, sometimes they don't, and you never know which version got filed on the UCC-1.
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Harper Collins
I've been dealing with this exact headache for years. The problem is that UCC databases don't standardize names the way you'd expect. You're probably seeing legitimate filings, but the search function is pulling up variations that include your search terms. For business names, try searching with just the core company name without the entity type, then add back LLC, Inc, Corp, etc. For individual names, search last name first, then try first name variations.
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Emma Morales
•That's helpful - I was searching the full legal name from the purchase agreement. Should I be concerned about the continuation filing showing a different format? The original UCC-1 was filed under 'ABC Manufacturing LLC' but the continuation shows 'ABC Manufacturing, LLC' with a comma.
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Harper Collins
•That comma difference could be significant or just a clerical variation. Check if both filings reference the same original filing number. If the continuation properly references the original UCC-1 filing number, then it's likely valid even with the name formatting difference.
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Katherine Hunter
•The filing office should have caught a material debtor name change when the continuation was submitted. If it was accepted, there's a good chance it's a minor formatting variation rather than a different entity.
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Kelsey Hawkins
OH MY GOD YES. The secretary of state search is absolutely terrible for this. I've had deals where we found THREE different name variations for the same company and couldn't figure out which ones were actually the same borrower. It's like they designed the database to be as confusing as possible. Sometimes you find filings that look related but aren't, sometimes you miss the ones that actually matter.
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Dylan Fisher
•lol this is why I always tell people to budget extra time for UCC searches. It's never as straightforward as it should be.
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Emma Morales
•Exactly! This is supposed to be a public record system but it feels like detective work. I'm spending more time on the search than on reviewing the actual filings.
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Edwards Hugo
Had a similar mess recently with an acquisition where the UCC search results were all over the place. Ended up using Certana.ai to cross-check the documents I found - you can upload the UCC-1 and continuation filings as PDFs and it verifies whether they actually relate to each other. Saved me from having to manually compare filing numbers and debtor name variations across multiple documents. The tool instantly flagged that two filings I thought were for different companies were actually continuations of the same original UCC-1.
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Emma Morales
•That sounds like exactly what I need. Does it handle the name variation issue automatically or do you still need to find the filings first?
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Edwards Hugo
•You still need to pull the documents from the secretary of state database, but once you upload them to Certana.ai, it cross-references everything - filing numbers, debtor names, dates, collateral descriptions. Takes the guesswork out of whether you're looking at related filings or completely separate transactions.
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Gianna Scott
This is a common issue with equipment financing deals especially. The original loan documents might use the legal corporate name, but when the lender filed the UCC-1, they could have used a 'doing business as' name or abbreviated version. Then when it came time for the continuation, different personnel might have used a different name format. As long as the filing numbers chain together properly, minor name variations usually don't invalidate the perfection.
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Emma Morales
•How can I verify that the filing numbers chain together correctly? The original UCC-1 has one number, but I'm seeing references to amendment numbers and continuation numbers that don't seem to follow an obvious pattern.
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Gianna Scott
•Each UCC-3 amendment or continuation should reference the original UCC-1 filing number in the 'initial financing statement file number' field. If you see a continuation that doesn't reference the original filing number, that's a red flag for either a filing error or a separate transaction.
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Alfredo Lugo
•Sometimes the filing office assigns new numbers to amendments but they should still cross-reference the original. Look for the section on the UCC-3 that says what filing it's amending or continuing.
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Sydney Torres
been there with the secretary of state database nightmares. one thing that helped me was calling the filing office directly when I had questions about whether filings were related. most of the time they can look up the history and tell you if a continuation properly references the original filing, even if the names look different online.
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Kaitlyn Jenkins
•Good point - the online search might not show all the cross-references that are actually in the filed documents.
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Emma Morales
•I didn't think about calling them directly. Do they usually have staff who can help with this kind of question or would I need to request official copies of everything?
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Sydney Torres
•depends on the state but most filing offices have people who can at least confirm whether a UCC-3 continuation properly references an original UCC-1. they might not give detailed advice but they can verify the technical filing connections.
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Caleb Bell
I see this all the time with corporate acquisitions. The key thing to remember is that UCC filings follow the debtor as it existed when the financing statement was filed, not necessarily as it exists now. If the company changed its legal name after the original UCC-1 was filed, you might see the old name on earlier filings and the new name on more recent continuations or amendments. Check the corporate records to see if there were any name changes that would explain the variations.
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Lucas Parker
•This is really important - I've seen deals get held up because people assumed name changes invalidated the UCC perfection, but that's not necessarily true if the filings were done correctly.
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Emma Morales
•The target company did have a name change in 2021, about two years after the original financing. That might explain why the continuation filing shows a different name format. Should I be looking for a UCC-3 amendment that reflects the name change?
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Caleb Bell
•Yes, there should ideally be a UCC-3 amendment filed to reflect the name change. If the lender didn't file an amendment and just used the new name on the continuation, that could be a technical defect in the perfection.
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Danielle Campbell
Ugh, I remember struggling with this same issue on a deal last year. Secretary of state searches are such a pain when you're trying to get a clean picture of what's actually filed. I ended up finding a tool called Certana.ai that helped me verify whether all the documents I found were actually related to each other. You just upload the PDFs of the UCC filings and it cross-checks everything automatically - filing numbers, dates, debtor names, the whole thing. Made it much easier to confirm which filings were legitimate continuations versus separate transactions.
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Rhett Bowman
•How accurate is something like that? I'm always skeptical of automated tools for legal document review.
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Danielle Campbell
•It's not doing legal analysis, just document verification - making sure the filing numbers match up, dates are consistent, debtor names align properly. Takes the manual comparison work out of it. Still need to do your own legal interpretation of what the filings mean.
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Abigail Patel
This is why I always recommend doing UCC searches under every possible name variation you can think of. Legal name, trade name, DBA name, abbreviated versions, with and without punctuation. It's tedious but it's the only way to be confident you're not missing anything. The secretary of state databases are just not sophisticated enough to handle fuzzy matching the way you'd expect.
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Daniel White
•So true. I usually create a list of like 8-10 different name variations and search each one separately.
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Emma Morales
•That's a good approach. I think I was too focused on searching the exact legal name from the corporate documents. I should probably search the name as it appears on the original loan documents too, since that's what the lender would have used for the UCC-1.
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Abigail Patel
•Exactly - and don't forget to check how the company signs contracts or invoices. Sometimes there are informal name variations that end up on UCC filings even though they're not the official legal name.
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Nolan Carter
Just went through this exact scenario with a client acquisition. The secretary of state UCC search was showing multiple name variations and we couldn't tell which filings were actually related. What finally helped was using a document verification tool - Certana.ai - that let us upload all the UCC filings we found and automatically cross-check whether they were properly linked to each other. Turned out three of the filings that looked like separate transactions were actually just continuations and amendments of the same original UCC-1, just with slight name formatting differences.
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Natalia Stone
•That's really helpful. Did it catch any filing errors or just confirm that everything was properly connected?
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Nolan Carter
•It flagged one continuation that wasn't properly referencing the original filing number - turned out to be a clerical error that we needed to get corrected before closing. Much easier than trying to catch that manually.
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Emma Morales
•This is exactly the kind of verification I need. I'm spending way too much time trying to figure out which filings go together and which ones are separate transactions.
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