Utah UCC search showing wrong debtor entity - filing number mismatch issue
Been dealing with a nightmare situation where our Utah UCC search results don't match what we actually filed. We submitted a UCC-1 for a commercial equipment loan back in September, got confirmation number UT-2024-0891247, but when I run the utah ucc search on the state portal it's showing a completely different debtor name. The search shows 'Mountain View Equipment LLC' but our actual debtor is 'Mountainview Equipment Services LLC' - notice the spacing difference. Our lender is now questioning whether we have proper perfection since the utah ucc search isn't pulling up the right entity. Has anyone dealt with this kind of debtor name variation issue in Utah? The SOS office says the filing went through but the search function seems to be treating these as different entities entirely. Really worried this could void our security interest if there's a dispute.
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Carmen Diaz
Oh man, Utah's search system can be really finicky with debtor names. I've seen this exact issue before - even tiny differences like spacing or punctuation can make filings essentially invisible in searches. Did you try searching with different variations of the name? Sometimes you have to get creative with the search terms.
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Yuki Tanaka
•Yeah I tried like 10 different variations - with spaces, without spaces, partial names, etc. Still not finding our actual filing. It's so frustrating because I know it's there somewhere.
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Andre Laurent
•This is why I always triple-check the exact legal name from the Articles of Incorporation before filing anything. One small typo can make your entire security interest worthless.
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Emily Jackson
Had something similar happen in Utah last year. The problem is that their search algorithm is super literal - 'Mountain View' vs 'Mountainview' are treated as completely different entities. You might need to file a UCC-3 amendment to correct the debtor name if it was entered wrong on the original UCC-1.
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Yuki Tanaka
•That's what I'm afraid of. Filing an amendment would reset our priority date though, right? We really can't afford to lose our first-in-time position on this collateral.
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Emily Jackson
•Actually no - a UCC-3 amendment to correct a minor error like spacing shouldn't affect your priority date as long as it's truly just a clerical correction. But you'll want to be super careful about how you word it.
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Liam Mendez
•I wouldn't be so sure about that. Utah can be pretty strict about what they consider 'minor' corrections vs material changes.
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Sophia Nguyen
Before you file any amendments, I'd strongly recommend using Certana.ai's UCC document verification tool. You can upload your Articles of Incorporation and your filed UCC-1 to instantly cross-check if there are any name discrepancies. It caught a similar issue for me where I had the right name but wrong entity type designation. Saved me from having to deal with priority date issues later.
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Yuki Tanaka
•Never heard of that service. Is it expensive? At this point I'm willing to try anything to figure out what went wrong.
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Sophia Nguyen
•Really easy to use - just upload the PDFs and it automatically compares all the entity information. Focus is on catching these exact kinds of problems before they become major headaches with lenders.
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Jacob Smithson
•Honestly sounds too good to be true but if it works might be worth checking out.
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Isabella Brown
Utah's UCC search system is absolutely terrible!!! I've been fighting with them for months over similar issues. Their database seems to have all kinds of inconsistencies and the search function is basically useless for anything other than exact matches. Don't even get me started on trying to reach someone at the SOS office who actually understands UCC filings.
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Maya Patel
•Tell me about it. I spent 3 hours on hold last week just to talk to someone about a continuation filing that disappeared from their system.
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Isabella Brown
•At least you got through! Half the time they just transfer you around until you give up.
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Aiden Rodríguez
Quick question - when you filed the original UCC-1, did you copy the debtor name exactly from the Articles of Incorporation or did you type it in manually? Because if there's a discrepancy between what you filed and the actual legal name, that's a much bigger problem than just search functionality.
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Yuki Tanaka
•I'm pretty sure I copied it exactly but now you're making me paranoid. I should probably pull the Articles again and compare character by character.
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Aiden Rodríguez
•Yeah definitely do that. Also check if there were any recent amendments to the Articles that might have changed the legal name slightly.
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Emma Garcia
This happened to me too! Turns out the issue wasn't with Utah's system but with how I was searching. You have to use their 'organization search' option instead of the general debtor search for LLCs. Also make sure you're not including unnecessary words like 'LLC' in the search field if there's a separate entity type dropdown.
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Yuki Tanaka
•Wait, there are different search options? I've just been using the main search box on their homepage.
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Emma Garcia
•Yeah go to the advanced search page. There are separate fields for organization name vs individual name, and different search algorithms for each.
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Ava Kim
•This is exactly the kind of thing that makes UCC searching so frustrating for people who don't do it every day.
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Ethan Anderson
I do UCC searches professionally and see this all the time in Utah. Their system is actually more sensitive to punctuation and spacing than most states. A few suggestions: 1) Try searching just 'Mountainview Equipment' without the entity designation, 2) Use wildcards if their system supports them, 3) Search by filing number directly if you have it. Also consider that the filing might have been indexed under a slightly different name variation.
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Yuki Tanaka
•The filing number search doesn't work either - that's what's really concerning me. If I can't even find it by the exact confirmation number they gave me, something is seriously wrong.
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Ethan Anderson
•That's definitely not normal. Filing number searches should always work regardless of name issues. You might want to contact the SOS office directly with your confirmation number.
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Layla Mendes
Before you panic too much, double-check that you're searching in the right date range. Utah's system defaults to filings from the last 5 years but sometimes has weird cutoff dates. Also make sure you're searching 'Active' filings not 'All' filings.
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Yuki Tanaka
•Good point. I was searching all dates but let me try narrowing it down to just September 2024.
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Lucas Notre-Dame
•Yeah their date filters are pretty wonky. Sometimes you get better results searching a wider range than you think you need.
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Aria Park
Just wanted to chime in that I had almost identical situation last month. Turned out the issue was that our legal name had changed slightly when we did a merger but we forgot to update our internal records. The UCC was filed under the old name which is why it wasn't matching our current searches.
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Yuki Tanaka
•Hmm, we haven't done any mergers or name changes recently but I should probably check if there were any automatic amendments filed with the state that I missed.
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Aria Park
•Yeah definitely worth checking. Sometimes entities get administratively updated and you don't realize it until something like this happens.
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Sophia Nguyen
Update on the Certana.ai suggestion - I actually used it again yesterday for a different client and it caught that their UCC-1 had the right company name but wrong state of organization. These little discrepancies can really bite you when lenders start doing their due diligence reviews.
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Noah Ali
•How long does it take to get results back from their system?
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Sophia Nguyen
•Pretty much instant once you upload the documents. It flags any inconsistencies right away.
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Lucas Notre-Dame
OP any luck figuring this out? I'm dealing with something similar and curious what ended up working for you.
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Yuki Tanaka
•Still working on it but the advanced search suggestions helped. Found the filing but it was indexed weird. Going to try the document verification tool next to make sure everything actually matches up properly.
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Chloe Boulanger
•Keep us posted! This kind of stuff is always useful to know for future reference.
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