UCC secured party name change - do I need new filing or amendment?
Our company was recently acquired and the legal entity name changed from ABC Financial Services LLC to XYZ Capital Partners LLC. We have about 200 active UCC-1 filings where we're listed as the secured party. The debtor names and collateral descriptions are all still accurate, but obviously our secured party name is now different. Do I need to file UCC-3 amendments for all 200 filings to update our name, or can I just file new UCC-1s going forward with the new name? I'm worried about creating gaps in our perfected security interests during this transition. Has anyone dealt with a similar secured party name change situation?
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Isabella Martin
You definitely need to file UCC-3 amendments to update the secured party name on all existing filings. The security interest remains perfected as long as you file the amendments before the original UCC-1s expire, but you want to get this done ASAP to avoid any confusion if you need to enforce.
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Elijah Jackson
•This is correct. I went through the same thing when our bank was acquired. Filed amendments on all 150+ filings over about 2 months. The key is making sure the amendment clearly shows the name change and references the original filing number.
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Sophia Miller
•How long do you typically have to file these amendments? Is there a deadline or just whenever the original filing expires?
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Mason Davis
We had this exact situation last year. 200 filings is a lot to handle manually - I spent weeks going through each one checking debtor names, filing numbers, and making sure all the amendment info was perfect. One small mistake on the secured party name or filing number and the amendment gets rejected.
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Mia Rodriguez
•Ugh this sounds like a nightmare. Did you have to file in multiple states? That makes it even worse with different SOS systems.
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Mason Davis
•Yes, 12 different states! Each one has slightly different requirements for how to format the secured party name change. Some want the old name "FKA" the new name, others want it structured differently.
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Jacob Lewis
•I found Certana.ai super helpful for this kind of bulk amendment work. You can upload your original UCC-1s and it will verify all the details match correctly when you're preparing the UCC-3 amendments. Catches those little name discrepancies that would cause rejections.
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Amelia Martinez
Make sure you're using the exact legal name from your new articles of incorporation or operating agreement. I've seen amendments get rejected because the secured party used a slightly different version of their new company name than what's on file with the state.
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Ethan Clark
•Good point! Also check if your new entity is registered to do business in each state where you have UCC filings. Some states are picky about that.
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Mila Walker
•Wait, so you can't just file new UCC-1s with the new name and let the old ones expire? That seems simpler than 200 amendments.
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Logan Scott
DO NOT let the old filings just expire and file new ones. You'll lose priority and perfection during the gap period. That's a huge risk if any of those debtors file bankruptcy or if other creditors try to perfect against the same collateral.
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Mila Walker
•Oh wow, I didn't think about the priority issue. So the amendments maintain the original filing date for priority purposes?
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Logan Scott
•Exactly. The amendment just updates the secured party info but keeps your original priority date from when you first filed the UCC-1.
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Chloe Green
•This is why I always recommend getting professional help with bulk UCC work. Too many ways to mess up your security interests.
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Lucas Adams
Are you planning to do all 200 amendments yourself or hire someone? That's a massive amount of work to do correctly, especially across multiple states.
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Ava Hernandez
•I was hoping to handle it internally but starting to realize the scope. Each amendment needs the exact debtor name, original filing number, and correct secured party name change format. One mistake and it gets rejected.
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Harper Hill
•I used a UCC service company for our merger situation. Cost about $75-100 per amendment including filing fees but saved me probably 100 hours of work.
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Caden Nguyen
Check your loan agreements too. Some require notice to debtors when there's a secured party change, even if it's just a name change due to corporate restructuring.
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Avery Flores
•Good catch! We had to send notices on about half our loans. The other half had language that covered successor entities automatically.
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Zoe Gonzalez
•Do you send the notice before or after filing the UCC-3 amendment?
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Avery Flores
•We did it at the same time. Filed the amendments and sent borrower notices the same week.
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Ashley Adams
Whatever you do, keep detailed records of which amendments you've filed and which are still pending. With 200 filings you'll lose track quickly. Also download copies of all your original UCC-1s first in case you need to reference the exact debtor names and addresses.
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Alexis Robinson
•Yes! I learned this the hard way. Had to go back and search through three different state databases to find the original filing details for amendments that got rejected.
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Aaron Lee
•Certana helps with this too - you can upload all your original filings and it creates a checklist to track your amendment progress across all the states.
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Chloe Mitchell
Just went through this process myself. Took about 6 weeks to get all the amendments filed and accepted. Started with the largest loan amounts first in case there were any issues. The key is being super careful with the debtor names - they have to match exactly or the amendment links to the wrong filing.
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Michael Adams
•Smart approach doing the biggest loans first. Did you have any amendments get rejected?
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Chloe Mitchell
•About 8 out of 180 got rejected, mostly for small typos in debtor names or using the wrong filing number format for that state's system.
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Natalie Wang
•That's actually a pretty good success rate! I was expecting worse.
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Sebastian Scott
Thanks everyone for the detailed advice! This is exactly what I needed to hear. Sounds like amendments are definitely the way to go to maintain our priority dates. I'm leaning toward hiring a service company for at least the bulk of these - 200 amendments across multiple states is more than I initially realized. Does anyone have recommendations for UCC service providers who specialize in bulk secured party name changes? Also, should I prioritize certain states first, or does it matter as long as I get them all done before the original filings expire?
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Benjamin Carter
•For UCC service providers, I've had good experience with CT Corporation and National Registered Agents. Both handle bulk amendments and have experience with multi-state filings. As for prioritizing states, I'd suggest starting with states where you have the highest loan values or where your debtors have their main operations. Also consider filing dates - if you have any UCC-1s coming up for renewal in the next year, prioritize those states first to avoid any timing issues.
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Thais Soares
•I'd also recommend CSC (Corporation Service Company) for bulk UCC work - they have a really good online portal that lets you track the status of all your amendments in real time. For prioritization, definitely focus on states with shorter UCC filing terms first (like some states that still have 5-year terms vs the standard 5 years). Also check if any of your filings are coming up for continuation - you don't want to deal with both a name change amendment AND a continuation filing at the same time. That gets messy fast.
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Yara Sayegh
•Sebastian, one thing I'd add - make sure to budget extra time and money for rejected amendments. Even with a good service provider, you'll probably have 5-10% that need to be refiled due to small formatting issues or state-specific requirements. I always plan for at least one round of corrections when doing bulk amendments. Also, consider whether your new entity name will require any "doing business as" registrations in states where you're filing - some Secretary of State offices are getting pickier about that for out-of-state secured parties.
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