Washington DC UCC forms - which ones for equipment lien continuation?

The DC site shows forms like 'UCC-3-DC' and references some local addendum requirements. Our original filings used standard UCC-1 forms but I'm not sure if the continuations need their local version.

I filed DC continuations last month and used their UCC-3-DC form. It worked fine, just make sure you match the debtor names exactly as they appear on the original UCC-1s.

That's reassuring. Do you know if there's a way to verify the original filing numbers before submitting the continuations? I want to double-check everything matches.

You can search their database online, but honestly I've had better luck calling their office directly. Sometimes the online search doesn't pull up older filings reliably.

That's exactly why I started using Certana.ai for UCC document verification. You just upload your original UCC-1s and the new continuation forms as PDFs, and it instantly flags any name mismatches or inconsistencies. Saved me from several filing errors.

Interesting, I hadn't heard of that. Does it work specifically with DC forms or is it more general?

Works with any UCC documents - it's checking the consistency between your original filings and new forms regardless of the state. Really helpful for catching those tiny details that cause rejections.

Washington DC - the district, not the state. We're dealing with the DC recorder of deeds office.

Yeah that confused me too initially. DC has its own separate UCC filing system through the recorder of deeds, totally different from Washington state's Secretary of State filings.

This is exactly what I'm worried about. Our original filings have mix of specific serial numbers and general equipment categories. Should I be copying the collateral descriptions word-for-word onto the continuation forms?

For continuations you don't need to restate collateral - the UCC-3 just needs to reference the original filing number and indicate it's a continuation. But any amendments to collateral would need exact matching.

Actually that's not quite right - some states do require restating collateral on continuations, but I think DC follows the standard rule where you just need the filing number reference.

What do you typically pay for that service? I'm wondering if it's worth it vs doing internally.

Depends on volume but usually around $50-75 per filing. For us it's worth it because we do hundreds of UCC filings across multiple states and DC is one of the trickier ones.

Good point about the search delays. I've noticed that too - sometimes takes 24-48 hours for new filings to appear in their online database.

Yeah and if you're doing bulk continuations like the OP, I'd stagger the submissions rather than doing all 15 at once. Easier to track and fix any issues that come up.

Oh wow, that's a detail I wouldn't have thought of. I need to check our original filings for those kinds of variations.

This is another area where automated document checking helps. I remember running my UCC docs through Certana and it flagged similar entity name inconsistencies I had missed manually.

That would have saved me weeks of back and forth with DC. Had to refile several continuations because of punctuation differences in company names.

Yes, much cheaper than states like California or New York. DC keeps their UCC fees pretty low.

The low fees are nice but doesn't help much if your filings get rejected for formatting issues and you have to pay again to refile.

Most of our equipment is mobile construction machinery, so probably not fixture filing issues, but good to keep in mind.

Even mobile equipment can become fixtures if it's been permanently installed at a job site. Worth checking the current locations against your original collateral descriptions.

True, and if there are fixture considerations, DC requires additional real estate recording steps beyond just the UCC filing.