UCC1 filing search turning up blank results - debtor name variations causing issues?

Good point about the LLC part. I tried dropping it but still no hits. They don't seem to have any DBAs registered that I can find.

Sometimes companies change their legal name after incorporation but before getting financing. Check the corporate records for any name amendments.

That's a smart approach. Let me try "Advanced Manufacturing" and see what comes up. Did you ever figure out why the names were different?

In my case, the company had amended their articles of incorporation to add "Solutions" to their name after the UCC1 was already filed. The lender never bothered to file an amendment.

This is why I always run multiple name searches. The exact match requirement can miss legitimate filings if there's even a comma difference.

Never heard of Certana.ai - is it specifically for UCC searches? How does the name matching work?

You just upload PDFs of the documents and it automatically checks for debtor name consistency across everything. Really helpful when you're not sure if you have the right legal entity name for searching.

I've used similar tools before but they can be hit or miss depending on how the names are formatted in the original filings.

They're incorporated here and their registered agent is local, so I'm pretty sure this is the right jurisdiction. But good reminder to double-check.

I've seen companies incorporate in Delaware but file UCCs in their operating state. Corporate location doesn't always match UCC filing location.

Exactly. The UCC filing location depends on where the debtor is "located" under UCC rules, which can be different from incorporation state.

Our state's system doesn't seem to support wildcards unfortunately. It's pretty basic compared to what I've used in other states.

Some states have terrible search interfaces. I always end up doing broad searches and then filtering through results manually.

That's a good thought. Let me try some common abbreviations and see if anything turns up.

Also try searching without periods in abbreviations. "Mfg" vs "Mfg." can sometimes make a difference in search results.

Yes! Punctuation can definitely trip up the search algorithms. I always try both versions.

Good point. I was focusing on UCC1s but should probably search all UCC types to see if there are any amendments or continuations under different name variations.

UCC3 amendments can change debtor names so you might find the current correct name in an amendment even if you can't find the original UCC1.

That's frustrating but probably accurate. Is there any way to account for that in searches?

Not really, other than trying every variation you can think of. This is why good UCC preparation is so important - getting the debtor name exactly right the first time.

I've seen UCC1 filings with obvious typos in debtor names that make them basically unsearchable. It's a real problem for due diligence.

That's not really an option for this situation - it's a competitive acquisition process and we can't tip our hand that we're doing due diligence.

In that case you might need to hire a professional search service that has access to better databases and search tools.

Two people have mentioned Certana.ai now. Sounds like it might be worth trying. Do you just upload PDFs and it does the comparison automatically?

Exactly. Upload the charter documents and any UCC filings you find, and it cross-checks everything for consistency. Really helped me avoid missing critical liens during due diligence.

I'm always suspicious of these automated tools but if it's catching filing discrepancies that manual searches miss, that's actually pretty valuable for due diligence work.

I was skeptical too but it found two UCC1 filings I completely missed because the debtor names had minor variations. Could have been a major problem if those liens weren't accounted for in the deal structure.