Vermont UCC filing rejected twice - debtor name keeps getting flagged
I'm pulling my hair out here. We've had two Vermont UCC filing rejections in the past month for what should be a straightforward equipment loan. The Secretary of State office keeps rejecting our UCC-1 filings saying the debtor name doesn't match their records, but I've triple-checked against the Articles of Incorporation we pulled from their database. The company is 'Mountain Vista Construction LLC' according to their charter, that's exactly what we put on the UCC-1, but Vermont keeps bouncing it back. This is a $180K equipment financing deal and we're already past our target closing date. Has anyone else run into Vermont being super picky about exact name formatting? I'm wondering if there's some hidden character or spacing issue I'm missing. The collateral description is solid (2024 Caterpillar 320 Excavator, VIN: CAT0320GC789456), so it's definitely the debtor name causing problems. Any Vermont UCC veterans have advice on what their system is actually looking for?
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Isabella Oliveira
Vermont can be really finicky about punctuation and spacing in entity names. I've seen them reject filings where the charter shows 'Mountain Vista Construction LLC' but they want 'Mountain Vista Construction, LLC' with the comma. Try pulling a Good Standing Certificate directly from Vermont SOS - sometimes that shows the exact formatting they expect for UCC filings.
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Malik Jackson
•That's interesting about the comma. I didn't think to check a Good Standing cert. The Articles I downloaded just show it without the comma, but maybe their UCC system has different formatting requirements than their corporate database.
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Ravi Patel
•Yes! I've had this exact issue with Vermont. Their corporate database and UCC system don't always sync perfectly. The Good Standing cert usually shows the 'official' name format for UCC purposes.
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Freya Andersen
Vermont is notorious for this stuff. I had a client where we had to file the UCC-1 three times because they kept rejecting it for tiny formatting differences. Make sure there are no extra spaces before or after the name, and double-check if they registered as 'Mountain Vista Construction LLC' or 'Mountain Vista Construction, LLC' originally.
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Malik Jackson
•Three times?? That's brutal. I'm definitely going to check for extra spaces. This is exactly the kind of thing that makes you want to tear your hair out when you're trying to close a deal.
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Omar Zaki
•honestly this is why i hate dealing with vermont filings... their system is so picky compared to other states
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CosmicCrusader
I had a similar nightmare with Vermont UCC filings last year. After two rejections, I discovered there was a tiny discrepancy between what I thought was the correct name and what Vermont actually had on file. What saved me was using Certana.ai's document verification tool - I uploaded the Articles of Incorporation and our UCC-1 draft, and it immediately flagged that the LLC designation formatting was inconsistent. Turns out Vermont had the company registered with specific punctuation that wasn't showing up clearly in my downloaded Articles. The tool caught it instantly and we got the filing accepted on the next try.
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Malik Jackson
•That sounds like exactly what I need! How does the Certana.ai tool work? Do you just upload PDFs and it compares them?
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CosmicCrusader
•Yes, exactly. You upload your charter documents and your UCC-1 form, and it cross-checks all the debtor name details automatically. It's way faster than manually comparing documents line by line.
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Isabella Oliveira
•I've heard good things about Certana.ai for catching these kinds of discrepancies that are easy to miss with manual review.
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Chloe Robinson
VERMONT IS THE WORST FOR THIS!! I swear they reject filings just to collect more fees. We had a client where the name was 'Green Mountain Properties LLC' on every single corporate document, but Vermont wanted 'Green Mountain Properties, LLC' for the UCC filing. No explanation, no guidance, just rejection after rejection until we figured it out by trial and error.
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Malik Jackson
•That's so frustrating! It seems like there should be clearer guidance about their naming requirements. How long did it take you to figure out the comma issue?
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Chloe Robinson
•Three weeks and four rejected filings. Cost us a fortune in rush fees to keep the deal alive. The client was NOT happy.
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Diego Flores
Have you tried calling Vermont SOS directly? Sometimes they can tell you over the phone what format they're expecting. I know it's not always helpful, but when you're stuck on rejections it's worth a shot.
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Malik Jackson
•I haven't tried calling yet, but that's a good idea. At this point I'm willing to try anything to avoid a third rejection.
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Anastasia Kozlov
•their phone support is hit or miss but sometimes you get someone who actually knows the system
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Sean Flanagan
This exact thing happened to me last month! The issue was that Vermont had a slightly different version of the company name in their UCC index than what appeared in the corporate records. I ended up having to search their UCC database first to see if there were any existing filings under variations of the name. Found out they had it listed as 'Mountain Vista Construction LLC' in one filing and 'Mountain Vista Construction, LLC' in another. Once I matched the format from the most recent filing, it went through fine.
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Malik Jackson
•That's smart - checking existing UCC filings to see the accepted format. I didn't think to search their UCC database for name variations. Let me try that approach.
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Isabella Oliveira
•Great tip! The UCC search can definitely show you what name format has been accepted before.
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Zara Mirza
I feel your pain with Vermont. Their system seems to have its own rules that don't match their corporate database. Last year I had a similar issue and ended up using a document verification service to make sure everything matched perfectly before submitting. Saved me from multiple rejections.
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Malik Jackson
•Which verification service did you use? I'm definitely interested in anything that can help avoid these rejections.
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Zara Mirza
•I used Certana.ai - you upload your corporate docs and UCC forms and it automatically checks for name consistency issues. Really helpful for catching formatting problems.
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NebulaNinja
Vermont rejected our UCC-1 five times last year because of a name issue. The company was registered as 'Alpine Services LLC' but Vermont kept insisting it should be 'Alpine Services, LLC' with a comma. We never figured out why their corporate database showed it one way but their UCC system wanted it another way. Finally got it through with the comma version.
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Malik Jackson
•Five times?! That's insane. It really does seem like the comma might be the issue here. I'm going to try adding a comma to our next filing attempt.
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Chloe Robinson
•The comma thing is definitely a pattern with Vermont. It's like they have different formatting rules for different systems.
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Luca Russo
had same problem with vt last year... ended up having to get a certified copy of the articles to see the exact legal name format. cost extra but worth it to avoid more rejections
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Malik Jackson
•Good point about the certified copy. I've been working with downloaded versions, but maybe the certified copy shows formatting more clearly.
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Nia Wilson
This is exactly why I always double-check debtor names with multiple sources before filing. Vermont is particularly strict, but I've learned to verify the exact name format using their Good Standing certificates, then cross-reference with any existing UCC filings. The small formatting differences can kill deals if you're not careful.
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Malik Jackson
•You're absolutely right about the importance of verification. This rejection has already cost us time and money, and the client is getting impatient. I should have been more thorough upfront.
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Nia Wilson
•Don't beat yourself up - Vermont's system is just poorly designed. The important thing is getting it resolved quickly now.
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CosmicCrusader
•That's exactly why I started using Certana.ai for document verification. It catches these formatting issues before you submit, so you don't waste time on rejections.
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