free ucc search california - alternative methods when SOS portal isn't helping

Good point about name variations. The company does business under 3 different names so I should probably search each one separately. Thanks for the tip!

Also check if the equipment was originally financed through an SBA loan - those sometimes have different filing patterns that don't show up in basic searches.

That's a great point about lapsed filings. I was only checking active ones. If a UCC-1 lapsed but wasn't properly terminated, that could still affect the deal.

Wait, lapsed doesn't mean terminated though right? I thought those were different things entirely.

Correct - lapsed means the 5-year period expired without a continuation, terminated means the secured party filed a UCC-3 termination. Both affect the lien status but in different ways.

Interesting, I hadn't heard of that service. How does it work exactly? Do you just upload PDFs of the purchase docs?

Pretty much - you upload whatever documents you have (purchase agreements, existing loan docs, corporate records) and it automatically checks for name discrepancies and filing inconsistencies. Much faster than doing manual searches on multiple variations.

This sounds too good to be true lol. How much does something like that cost?

I don't remember the exact pricing but it was worth it to avoid the headache of missing something important on a six-figure deal.

Good call on county level filings. This equipment is mostly mobile but some of it might be considered fixtures. I should check the real estate records too.

Don't forget to verify the filing jurisdiction - if the debtor is incorporated in another state, the UCC-1 might be filed there instead of California.

I feel your pain. The portal crashes constantly and the search results are inconsistent. At least other states have more reliable free search options.

It's frustrating but usually not intentional - most SOS offices are just underfunded and using outdated systems. The premium services are typically run by third-party vendors.

I don't have the filing numbers yet - that's part of what I'm trying to find. The seller claims there are no liens but I want to verify before we wire the money.

Smart move. In that case, definitely search variations of the business name and check if they have any parent companies or subsidiaries that might be the actual debtors on the filings.

Also ask the seller directly for copies of any UCC-3 termination statements. If they really paid off liens, they should have the termination paperwork.

Two people have mentioned that service now. Might be worth checking out if the manual searches keep failing me.

I looked into this after seeing it mentioned here. Pretty cool that you can just upload documents and it does the cross-checking automatically. Would have saved me hours on my last deal.

I'll try that. I've been searching during business hours so maybe that's part of the problem.

Good suggestion. I've noticed the same thing with other state portals - they're much more responsive outside normal business hours.

That's probably part of my issue. The business name has periods and commas that I might not be entering consistently. I'll try different formatting variations.

Punctuation definitely matters. I once missed a filing because I searched 'ABC Corp.' instead of 'ABC Corp' without the period.

Exactly. The search algorithms are pretty literal about name matching. It's one of the biggest reasons filings get missed in due diligence searches.

That's a smart approach. I didn't think about checking their credit report for secured debt. That might show lenders I should be searching for specifically.

The bank route is especially good if they're refinancing or have existing equipment loans. Banks usually know exactly what liens exist on their borrower's assets.

Exactly. Plus banks are motivated to give accurate information since they don't want to deal with lien priority disputes later.