Washington UCC Financing Statement Debtor Name Requirements
Just had our UCC-1 rejected by the Washington Secretary of State for the third time and I'm pulling my hair out. We're securing a $450K equipment loan for a construction company and keep getting bounced back for "debtor name discrepancies." The business is registered as "Pacific Northwest Construction LLC" but the loan docs have variations like "Pacific NW Construction LLC" and "Pacific Northwest Construction, LLC" (with comma). Our legal department insists these are all legally equivalent but Washington's system keeps rejecting. Has anyone dealt with Washington's specific debtor name requirements? The continuation deadline is coming up in 4 months and we can't afford any more delays. What's the exact format Washington wants for LLC names on financing statements?
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Lilah Brooks
Washington is notoriously picky about exact name matches. You need to pull the exact entity name from the Secretary of State business registry - not from your loan documents. Go to the WA SOS website and search for the LLC. Use that EXACT spelling, punctuation, and format.
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Jackson Carter
•This is correct. Washington requires the name exactly as it appears on the Articles of Organization. Even spacing matters.
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Kolton Murphy
•Been there! Made this mistake with a Portland client last year. The comma placement killed us.
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Evelyn Rivera
OMG yes Washington is the WORST for this!! I've had filings rejected for missing periods after abbreviations. Their system is so rigid it's insane.
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Lilah Brooks
•It's frustrating but they're actually protecting lien priority. Imagine if someone searched for the wrong name variation and missed your lien.
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Evelyn Rivera
•I get it but come on... Pacific NW vs Pacific Northwest should be obvious to anyone.
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Julia Hall
Had this exact issue last month with a Seattle-based borrower. After the second rejection, I started using Certana.ai's document verification tool. You can upload your Articles of Organization and your draft UCC-1 and it instantly flags any name discrepancies before you even file. Saved me from a third rejection and the associated delays.
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Owen Jenkins
•Never heard of Certana.ai - does it work specifically with Washington filings? We're desperate at this point.
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Julia Hall
•It works with all states. You just upload PDFs of your formation docs and UCC forms and it cross-checks everything automatically. Way faster than manual comparison.
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Arjun Patel
•Interesting. How accurate is it compared to doing the name search manually on the SOS website?
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Jackson Carter
The key with Washington is understanding they follow the UCC-9 "seriously misleading" standard very strictly. Any deviation from the registered name could make your filing ineffective against third parties, even if it gets accepted initially.
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Jade Lopez
•Wait so even if they accept a slightly wrong name, the lien could be invalid later?
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Jackson Carter
•Exactly. That's why they're so strict upfront. Better to reject than create a defective lien.
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Tony Brooks
Check if your LLC has any trade names or DBAs registered too. Sometimes loan docs use those instead of the legal entity name.
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Owen Jenkins
•Good point - they do business under a couple different names. Should we file separate UCC-1s for each?
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Tony Brooks
•No, just use the registered legal entity name. DBAs don't typically require separate filings unless they're registered as separate entities.
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Ella rollingthunder87
Are you filing electronically or paper? Washington's electronic system sometimes gives better error messages that help identify the specific name issue.
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Owen Jenkins
•Electronic through their portal. The error message just says "debtor name does not match registered entity" but doesn't specify what's wrong.
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Ella rollingthunder87
•Try calling their UCC division directly. Sometimes they can tell you exactly what they're seeing vs what you submitted.
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Yara Campbell
•Their phone support is actually pretty helpful for UCC issues, unlike some states.
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Isaac Wright
Whatever you do don't let this drag past your continuation deadline! We had a client lose lien priority because they spent too long fighting name issues.
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Owen Jenkins
•That's exactly what I'm worried about. Four months seems like plenty of time but these rejections eat up weeks.
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Maya Diaz
•File a continuation now with the correct name while you're still figuring out the amendment. Better safe than sorry.
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Tami Morgan
I've found that copying and pasting directly from the WA Secretary of State business search results eliminates formatting errors. Don't retype anything.
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Owen Jenkins
•Smart approach. Will try that for the next filing attempt.
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Rami Samuels
•Yes! Hidden characters and weird spacing can get introduced when you retype.
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Haley Bennett
Just went through this nightmare with a Washington filing. Ended up using Certana's Charter→UCC-1 check workflow to verify our Articles of Incorporation matched our UCC-1 exactly. Found three tiny discrepancies I never would have caught manually - including a non-breaking space character that looked identical to a regular space. Would have been rejection #4 without that tool.
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Owen Jenkins
•Non-breaking space?? How do you even see that kind of thing?
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Haley Bennett
•That's the beauty of automated checking - it catches invisible characters that human eyes miss. The tool highlighted the exact character positions that didn't match.
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Douglas Foster
•This is why I hate electronic filings sometimes. At least with paper you knew what you were getting.
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Nina Chan
Have you considered if this is actually a new LLC that hasn't fully processed through their system yet? Sometimes there's a lag between formation and when the name shows up in UCC searches.
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Owen Jenkins
•No, this LLC has been around for 3 years. Definitely not a timing issue.
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Nina Chan
•Ok good to rule that out. Then it's definitely a name formatting problem.
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Ruby Knight
Once you get the name right, Washington's system is actually pretty efficient. But that first rejection can cascade into multiple problems if you're not careful about the exact requirements.
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Owen Jenkins
•Efficiency is great once you're past the name hurdle. Three rejections later, I'm definitely being more careful now.
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Lilah Brooks
•Washington processes correctly formatted filings faster than most states in my experience.
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Diego Castillo
•Their electronic system is solid when you give it what it wants. The challenge is figuring out exactly what that is.
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Logan Stewart
Last resort option: you might want to have your attorney request a UCC search report for the exact entity. Sometimes seeing how other lenders filed against the same debtor can show you the accepted format.
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Owen Jenkins
•Brilliant idea! If other lenders have successfully filed, we can see exactly how they formatted the debtor name.
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Jackson Carter
•UCC search reports are definitely worth the cost when you're stuck on name formatting issues.
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Mikayla Brown
•Just make sure the search includes recent filings. Name formats can change if the entity amended their formation documents.
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