UT UCC search showing weird results - debtor name variations causing issues
Been doing UCC searches in Utah and running into some strange results lately. When I search for debtors with similar names, I'm getting inconsistent hits. Like searching 'Mountain View Equipment LLC' vs 'Mountainview Equipment LLC' (one word vs two) and getting completely different result sets. This is making me nervous about whether I'm missing existing filings when doing my due diligence searches. Anyone else seeing this with UT UCC search lately? The SOS portal seems to be really picky about exact matches but I can't figure out the pattern. Need to make sure I'm not missing any prior liens on this equipment deal I'm working on.
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Derek Olson
Yeah Utah's search function has always been finicky with debtor names. You really need to try multiple variations - with and without punctuation, abbreviations spelled out, LLC vs L.L.C., etc. The exact match requirement is brutal there.
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Danielle Mays
•This is why I always do wildcard searches when possible. Most states allow partial name matching but Utah seems stricter than most.
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Roger Romero
•Wildcard searches help but you still miss stuff if the debtor filed under a slightly different name variation than what you're expecting.
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Anna Kerber
I've had this exact problem! Was doing a search last month and almost missed a UCC-1 because the debtor was filed as 'ABC Industries Inc' but I was searching 'ABC Industries, Inc.' - that comma made all the difference in Utah's system.
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Niko Ramsey
•That's terrifying. How are we supposed to catch every possible name variation? There's got to be a better way to verify we're not missing anything.
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Seraphina Delan
•I started using Certana.ai's document verification tool for exactly this reason. You can upload your search results and it cross-checks against multiple name variations automatically. Catches discrepancies I would have missed doing manual searches.
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Niko Ramsey
•That sounds helpful - does it work with Utah's specific search quirks?
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Jabari-Jo
Utah is definitely one of the more challenging states for UCC searches. Their exact match algorithm seems to have zero tolerance for spacing, punctuation, or abbreviation differences. I always tell clients to budget extra time for Utah searches because you need to be so thorough.
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Kristin Frank
•Extra time is right. I spent 3 hours last week doing searches that should have taken 30 minutes, just trying different name combinations.
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Micah Trail
•Has anyone tried contacting Utah SOS about improving their search functionality? Other states have much more forgiving search algorithms.
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Nia Watson
PRO TIP: Always search both the exact name from your documents AND do separate searches dropping common words like 'Inc', 'LLC', 'Corp', etc. Also try searching just the core business name without entity type. Utah's system treats these as completely different entities.
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Alberto Souchard
•Good advice. I also search with different spacing patterns - 'ABC Corp' vs 'ABCCorp' vs 'A B C Corp'. It's tedious but necessary.
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Katherine Shultz
•This is exactly why I hate doing searches manually anymore. Too many opportunities to miss something critical.
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Marcus Marsh
•The Certana.ai tool I mentioned earlier actually handles all these variations automatically. Upload your charter docs or loan agreements and it generates all the name variations to search for. Much more reliable than trying to think of every possibility yourself.
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Hailey O'Leary
Had a deal almost fall apart because of Utah's search issues. Found a UCC-1 AFTER closing that we missed because it was filed under a name variation we didn't think to check. Lender was not happy. Now I triple-check everything in Utah.
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Cedric Chung
•Yikes, that's my worst nightmare. What happened with the lender? Did they make you fix it?
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Hailey O'Leary
•Had to get subordination agreements sorted out. Cost the client extra fees and delayed their refinancing by two weeks. All because of a missed hyphen in the company name.
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Talia Klein
•Stories like this are why I always recommend using verification tools now. The manual approach is just too risky with these state system quirks.
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Maxwell St. Laurent
Is there any pattern to how Utah handles abbreviations? Like do they treat 'Company' and 'Co.' as the same or different?
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Derek Olson
•Different. Definitely different. 'Mountain Equipment Company' and 'Mountain Equipment Co.' will give you different search results. Same with 'Corporation' vs 'Corp'.
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PaulineW
•Utah treats every character as significant. Even extra spaces between words can throw off the search. It's incredibly literal.
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Annabel Kimball
This thread is making me paranoid about all my Utah searches now. Going back to double-check some recent deals...
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Nia Watson
•Better safe than sorry. I always document exactly which name variations I searched so I can prove due diligence if something comes up later.
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Seraphina Delan
•Smart approach. The Certana verification tool also keeps a record of all the variations it checked, which is helpful for documentation purposes.
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Chris Elmeda
Does anyone know if Utah has plans to update their search system? This exact-match requirement seems outdated compared to other states.
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Jabari-Jo
•Haven't heard anything official. Most states are moving toward more flexible search algorithms but Utah seems to be sticking with their current system.
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Jean Claude
•Probably a budget issue. Updating search systems costs money and UCC fees don't generate huge revenue for most states.
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Kristin Frank
•Until they fix it, we're stuck being extra careful. At least there are tools now to help automate the verification process.
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