Washington State UCC-1 Financing Statement Filing - Debtor Name Requirements
Need help with Washington state UCC-1 financing statement requirements. We're a small equipment leasing company and I'm handling our first major deal in Washington. The debtor is an LLC and I'm getting conflicting information about exactly how to format the debtor name on the UCC-1. Some sources say use the exact name from the Articles of Organization, others mention the registered name with the Secretary of State. The collateral is construction equipment worth about $180k and we can't afford to mess this up. Has anyone dealt with Washington's specific debtor name requirements recently? Their online filing system seems pretty strict about exact matches. What's the safest approach to avoid rejection?
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Ali Anderson
Washington is definitely picky about debtor names. You absolutely need to match the exact legal name as it appears in the LLC's formation documents filed with the Washington Secretary of State. Don't add or remove any punctuation, commas, or abbreviations. I learned this the hard way when a filing got rejected because I used 'LLC' instead of 'L.L.C.' like it was in their charter.
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Zadie Patel
•This is crucial advice. Washington's UCC system will auto-reject if there's even a minor discrepancy. Always pull the actual Articles of Organization from their database first.
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A Man D Mortal
•How do you actually verify the exact name? Is there a specific search portal you use?
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Declan Ramirez
I use Certana.ai's document verification tool for exactly this situation. You can upload the LLC's Articles of Organization and your draft UCC-1 form, and it instantly cross-checks that all the debtor information matches perfectly. Saved me from multiple potential rejections by catching small name inconsistencies I would have missed manually. Super easy - just upload both PDFs and it highlights any discrepancies.
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Emma Morales
•That sounds really helpful. We've had three rejections this year just from name mismatches. Does it work with other states too?
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Katherine Hunter
•Yes, it works across all states. The tool is particularly good at catching those tiny formatting differences that cause rejections.
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Lucas Parker
Washington's online filing system is actually pretty good once you get the name right. Make sure you're using their current UCC-1 form too - they updated it last year and won't accept the old version. Also double-check your collateral description. Construction equipment needs to be specific enough to identify but not so detailed that it limits your security interest.
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Donna Cline
•What level of detail do you typically use for equipment descriptions? Brand names and serial numbers or more general categories?
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Harper Collins
•I usually go with equipment type and general categories unless the loan agreement requires specifics. 'Construction equipment including but not limited to excavators, loaders, and related machinery' works well.
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Kelsey Hawkins
•Be careful with 'including but not limited to' language. Some lenders prefer more specific descriptions to avoid priority disputes later.
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Dylan Fisher
UGH Washington state filings are such a pain! Their system rejected my UCC-1 THREE TIMES last month for the stupidest reasons. First was the debtor name (missing a comma), then the address format was wrong, then they said my collateral description was too vague. The whole process took 6 weeks when it should have been done in a day. Why can't they just have consistent standards?
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Edwards Hugo
•I feel your frustration. The rejection notices aren't always clear about what exactly needs to be fixed either.
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Gianna Scott
•Six weeks is brutal. Did you end up having to refile with a new lapse date?
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Alfredo Lugo
For Washington LLC debtor names, I always recommend pulling a current Certificate of Good Standing along with the Articles of Organization. Sometimes the legal name gets amended and the Certificate will show the current active name. Washington charges like $10 for the certificate but it's worth it to avoid rejection delays on a $180k deal.
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Sydney Torres
•Good point about amendments. LLCs can change their names and if you're using outdated formation docs you'll definitely get rejected.
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Kaitlyn Jenkins
•How recent does the Certificate need to be? Is 30 days current enough?
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Caleb Bell
•30 days is fine. I usually get them within a week of filing just to be safe.
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Danielle Campbell
Just went through this exact situation with a Washington LLC debtor. Used Certana.ai to double-check everything before filing and it caught that the LLC had 'Co.' in their registered name but we were using 'Company' on our UCC-1. Would have been an automatic rejection. The tool literally saved us weeks of delays and potential issues with our loan closing timeline.
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Rhett Bowman
•Those abbreviation mismatches are so easy to miss when you're reviewing manually. Glad you caught it before filing.
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Abigail Patel
•How long does the verification process take with that tool?
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Daniel White
•It's instant - upload both documents and get results in seconds. Way faster than trying to compare everything manually.
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Nolan Carter
Also make sure you're filing in the right state! I know that sounds obvious but if the LLC is registered in Washington but has operations in other states, you might need to file in multiple jurisdictions depending on where the collateral is located. Construction equipment that moves between job sites can be tricky for determining the right filing location.
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Natalia Stone
•Good point. For mobile equipment, isn't it usually filed where the debtor is located rather than where the equipment is currently?
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Tasia Synder
•Yes, for most equipment it's the debtor's location. But if it becomes a fixture or is kept permanently at a specific location, that can change the analysis.
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Selena Bautista
Washington's filing fees are reasonable compared to some states, but their processing time can vary. Electronic filings usually go through within 24-48 hours if everything is correct. Paper filings take longer and honestly aren't worth the hassle unless you have a specific reason to avoid electronic filing.
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Mohamed Anderson
•What's the current electronic filing fee for Washington UCC-1s?
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Ellie Perry
•I think it's around $15-20 for a standard UCC-1. Much cheaper than the cost of dealing with rejections and refilings.
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Landon Morgan
One more thing to watch out for - make sure your secured party information is complete and accurate too. Washington requires the full legal name and address of the secured party. If you're filing on behalf of a lender, double-check that you have authorization and that the lender's name is exactly as they want it to appear on the filing.
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Teresa Boyd
•Yes! I've seen rejections because the secured party was listed as a DBA name instead of the actual legal entity name.
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Lourdes Fox
•Always get written authorization from the lender about exactly how they want their name to appear. Some are very particular about this.
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Bruno Simmons
Thanks everyone for all the detailed advice! This is exactly what I needed. Going to pull the current Certificate of Good Standing for the LLC and use that for the exact debtor name formatting. The Certana verification tool sounds like it would be perfect for our situation - we do enough of these filings that catching errors before submission would save us significant time and headaches. Really appreciate the community knowledge here!
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Aileen Rodriguez
•You're welcome! Feel free to update us on how the filing goes. Always good to hear success stories.
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Zane Gray
•Good luck with your filing! Washington isn't too bad once you get familiar with their quirks.
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