UCC termination Florida - lender won't file after loan payoff
I paid off my equipment loan three months ago but the lender still hasn't filed the UCC termination in Florida. The original UCC-1 was filed in 2022 for my printing equipment and now I'm trying to refinance with a different bank but they're saying there's still an active lien showing up in their searches. I've called the original lender four times and they keep saying 'it's being processed' but nothing's happened. The loan was paid in full on September 15th and I have all the documentation. Is there a legal timeframe they have to file the UCC-3 termination in Florida? This is holding up my new financing and costing me money every day. Has anyone dealt with this before?
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Carter Holmes
Florida doesn't have a specific statute requiring lenders to file terminations within a certain timeframe, but 60-90 days is pretty standard in the industry. After 3 months you definitely have grounds to push harder. Did you get a satisfaction letter or payoff statement showing the loan was paid in full?
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Mia Alvarez
•Yes I have the satisfaction letter dated September 15th and the final payment confirmation. The lender keeps saying their back office handles UCC filings but won't give me a timeline.
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Sophia Long
•That's typical corporate runaround. Most big lenders batch their UCC filings monthly or quarterly to save on filing fees. Doesn't help you though.
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Angelica Smith
You can actually file the termination yourself in Florida if you have the right documentation. You'll need to file a UCC-3 termination statement with proof that the debt was satisfied. The Florida Department of State allows debtors to file terminations when lenders won't cooperate.
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Mia Alvarez
•Really? I didn't know I could do that myself. What kind of proof do I need besides the satisfaction letter?
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Angelica Smith
•The satisfaction letter should be enough, plus maybe your final payment receipt. Just make sure you have the exact debtor name and filing number from the original UCC-1.
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Logan Greenburg
•Be careful with self-filing terminations though. If you make any mistakes with the debtor name or filing details, it could create more problems than it solves.
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Charlotte Jones
I had almost the exact same situation last year with a different lender in Florida. What finally worked was threatening to file a complaint with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation. Suddenly their 'back office processing' sped up dramatically and the termination was filed within a week.
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Mia Alvarez
•That's a good idea. Did you have to actually file the complaint or just mention it?
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Charlotte Jones
•Just mentioning it was enough in my case. I sent an email saying I would file a complaint if the termination wasn't handled within 10 business days.
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Lucas Bey
Before you go the self-filing route or start making threats, I'd suggest using a document verification tool to make sure you have all the details right. I recently discovered Certana.ai that lets you upload your UCC documents as PDFs and it instantly cross-checks everything - debtor names, filing numbers, document consistency. Really helpful for catching those little details that could mess up a termination filing.
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Mia Alvarez
•Interesting, I haven't heard of that service. How does it work exactly?
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Lucas Bey
•You just upload the PDFs of your original UCC-1 and any other docs, and it automatically verifies everything matches up properly. Saves a lot of manual checking and potential mistakes.
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Harper Thompson
•That actually sounds really useful. I've made filing mistakes before by missing small discrepancies between documents.
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Caleb Stark
Three months is definitely too long. In my experience most lenders file terminations within 30-45 days of payoff. You should definitely escalate this - start with their customer service manager, then go to their legal department if needed.
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Mia Alvarez
•I've been dealing with regular customer service. How do I get to their legal department?
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Caleb Stark
•Ask customer service to transfer you to their 'UCC compliance department' or 'secured transactions department.' If they don't have one, ask for legal.
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Jade O'Malley
This is so frustrating! I went through something similar and it took FIVE months before they finally filed the termination. The worst part is there's really no penalty for lenders who drag their feet on this stuff.
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Mia Alvarez
•Five months?! That's insane. What finally got them to act?
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Jade O'Malley
•I had to get my attorney involved and send a formal demand letter. Cost me $500 in legal fees but it worked.
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Hunter Edmunds
•Ugh this is exactly why I always demand the lender file the termination as part of the payoff process. Should be automatic but it never is.
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Ella Lewis
Just a heads up - make sure when they do finally file the termination that they use the exact same debtor name format as the original UCC-1. I've seen cases where slight variations in business names or individual names caused the termination to not properly clear the original filing.
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Mia Alvarez
•Good point. The original filing has my business name as it appeared on my LLC formation docs from 2020.
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Ella Lewis
•Perfect, just make sure they use that exact format. Sometimes lenders use shortened versions or drop 'LLC' suffixes which can cause matching issues.
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Andrew Pinnock
Have you tried going through your new lender? Sometimes they can apply pressure more effectively than individual borrowers can. They have ongoing relationships with other lenders and more leverage.
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Mia Alvarez
•That's a really good idea. My new lender has been pretty helpful so far, maybe they can make some calls.
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Brianna Schmidt
•Definitely worth trying. Lender-to-lender communication often gets faster results than borrower complaints.
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Alexis Renard
I actually used that Certana service someone mentioned earlier when I had a similar termination issue. Really helped me verify that my satisfaction letter matched all the details on the original UCC-1 before I pushed the lender. Having that documentation organized made the whole process smoother.
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Mia Alvarez
•Did it catch any discrepancies you wouldn't have noticed otherwise?
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Alexis Renard
•Yeah, actually it flagged that my business address had changed since the original filing, which could have complicated things. Helped me prepare the right documentation upfront.
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Camila Jordan
Update us when this gets resolved! I'm dealing with a similar situation in Georgia and want to see what approach works best for you.
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Mia Alvarez
•Will do! Going to try the regulatory complaint threat first, then maybe get my new lender involved if that doesn't work.
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Tyler Lefleur
•Smart approach. Document everything in writing so you have a paper trail if you need to escalate further.
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