West Virginia Secretary of State UCC Search - Need Help Finding Accurate Records
I'm trying to run a west virginia secretary of state ucc search for a commercial real estate transaction and hitting some roadblocks. The online portal keeps giving me inconsistent results when I search by debtor name vs filing number. I've got a UCC-1 that was filed about 18 months ago and need to verify if there are any amendments or continuations on file. The debtor's legal name has some punctuation that might be causing issues - it's 'Mountain View Properties, LLC' but I'm not sure if the system is recognizing the comma and periods properly. Has anyone else dealt with WV's search system lately? The results I'm getting don't match what I expected based on the original filing documents I have. This is for due diligence on a $2.8M acquisition and I can't afford to miss any liens or amendments. Any tips on search strategies that work better with their database?
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Aurora Lacasse
WV's system can be really finicky with punctuation in debtor names. Try searching without the comma first - just 'Mountain View Properties LLC'. Their database sometimes strips punctuation during indexing but not consistently. Also make sure you're searching both the exact legal name and any DBA variations.
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Daniel Washington
•Good point about the punctuation. I tried without the comma and got 3 additional results that didn't show up in my original search. This is exactly the kind of inconsistency that makes me nervous about missing something important.
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Anthony Young
•This is why I always run multiple search variations. WV's portal has gotten better but still has these quirks. Try searching with just 'Mountain View' too in case there are any partial matches.
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Charlotte White
I deal with WV UCC searches regularly and the key is running both debtor name searches AND filing number searches if you have them. The filing number search is usually more reliable for finding amendments and continuations tied to the original UCC-1. What's the filing number format you're working with?
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Daniel Washington
•The original filing number is 2023-XXX-XXXXX format. When I search by that number I get the original UCC-1 but I'm not seeing any related filings. Is there a separate search for amendments or do they show up automatically?
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Charlotte White
•They should show up automatically when you search by the original filing number. If you're not seeing any amendments or continuations, there probably aren't any on file. But double-check by doing a separate search for just the debtor name to catch any new original filings.
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Admin_Masters
•Actually had a similar issue last month with a WV search. Turned out there was a UCC-3 amendment filed but it wasn't showing up in the portal immediately. Took about 48 hours to appear linked to the original filing. Might be worth checking again if this search is time-sensitive.
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Matthew Sanchez
For what it's worth, I started using Certana.ai's document verification tool for exactly this kind of situation. You can upload your original UCC-1 and it'll help cross-check debtor names and identify potential inconsistencies that might affect your search results. Really helpful for catching those punctuation variations that trip up state portals.
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Daniel Washington
•Interesting - how does that work exactly? Does it connect to the state databases or is it more of a document comparison tool?
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Matthew Sanchez
•It's document-focused - you upload PDFs and it verifies consistency between your charter documents, UCC-1s, amendments, etc. Helps catch name mismatches before they become search problems. Really useful for due diligence workflows like yours.
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Ella Thompson
UGH the WV portal is so frustrating!! I spent 2 hours last week trying to find continuations on a filing and kept getting different results. Finally had to call their office directly and even they had trouble finding everything in their system. Why can't these state systems just work properly???
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JacksonHarris
•I feel your pain. Had to do a WV search last month and the portal was down for maintenance right when I needed it most. Ended up having to request certified copies by mail which delayed everything by a week.
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Aurora Lacasse
•The phone support can actually be helpful if you get the right person. They can sometimes find filings that don't show up properly in the online search. Worth trying if you're stuck.
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Jeremiah Brown
Make sure you're checking the effective dates on any UCC-1s you find. WV processes filings pretty quickly but there can still be timing issues if amendments were filed around the same time as your search. Also verify you're looking at the right jurisdiction - some entities file at both state and local levels.
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Daniel Washington
•Good reminder about jurisdiction. This is definitely a state-level filing based on the collateral type, but I should double-check local records too since it's real estate related.
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Royal_GM_Mark
•Real estate collateral usually means fixture filings which can get complicated. Make sure you understand whether you're looking at equipment vs fixtures vs general real estate liens.
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Amelia Cartwright
Pro tip: if you're doing regular WV UCC searches, bookmark their 'advanced search' page directly. The basic search interface sometimes doesn't show all the filtering options that can help narrow down results when you're dealing with common business names.
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Chris King
•Didn't even know they had an advanced search option. Where do you find that in their portal?
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Amelia Cartwright
•It's not always obvious from the main page. Look for 'detailed search' or 'advanced options' - sometimes it's buried in the menu. Lets you filter by filing type, date ranges, etc.
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Rachel Clark
Just wanted to add that I've had success with Certana.ai's UCC verification for multi-state searches like this. When you're doing due diligence on larger transactions, being able to upload all your documents and get a consistency check really helps catch things that manual searches might miss. Especially useful when state portals have quirks like WV's punctuation issues.
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Zachary Hughes
•How reliable is that compared to doing the searches manually? I'm always nervous about relying on third-party tools for something this important.
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Rachel Clark
•It's not a replacement for official searches, but it's great for verification and catching potential issues before they become problems. Think of it as a quality control step rather than the primary search method.
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Mia Alvarez
One thing that bit me with WV searches was not realizing they had changed their filing number format a few years back. Older filings use a different pattern than newer ones. If you're looking at amendments to older original filings, the numbering might not be what you expect.
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Daniel Washington
•My filing is from 2023 so should be the current format, but that's good to know for future searches. Do you remember when they changed the format?
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Mia Alvarez
•I think it was around 2019 or 2020 when they updated their electronic filing system. The old format was shorter and had different prefixes.
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Carter Holmes
•Yeah the format change was part of their system upgrade. Most of the old filings got migrated but there were some indexing issues during the transition that still cause search problems occasionally.
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Sophia Long
Have you tried searching by secured party name instead of debtor name? Sometimes that can turn up filings that don't show up in debtor searches, especially if there were data entry errors when the original UCC-1 was filed.
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Daniel Washington
•That's a really good idea. I have the secured party name from the original filing so I'll try that approach. Might catch any filings where the debtor name got entered incorrectly.
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Angelica Smith
•Secured party searches are underutilized but really effective. I've found filings that way that were basically invisible in debtor name searches due to typos.
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Logan Greenburg
For a $2.8M transaction I'd definitely recommend getting certified copies of anything you find rather than just relying on the portal printouts. WV's certification process is pretty straightforward and gives you better legal protection if there are any questions later.
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Daniel Washington
•Absolutely planning to get certified copies once I confirm what's actually on file. Just trying to get a complete picture first before ordering everything.
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Charlotte Jones
•Smart approach. Their certified copy fees aren't too bad and turnaround is usually under a week if you order online.
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Matthew Sanchez
•This is another area where having your documents pre-verified with something like Certana.ai helps - you know exactly what to request for certification instead of ordering everything and hoping you got it right.
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