what state do you file ucc financing statements - confused about multi-state collateral

That's what I initially thought but my lawyer mentioned something about 'location of collateral' mattering for equipment. Is equipment considered fixtures?

Equipment is usually not fixtures unless it's permanently attached to real estate. Regular equipment follows the debtor location rule.

It's mostly mobile equipment - forklifts, packaging machines on wheels, that kind of stuff. Nothing permanently attached to the buildings.

Then you should be good with Delaware filing since that's where they're incorporated.

Wait, I had a similar situation last year and ended up having filing issues because I didn't double-check the corporate info properly. Make sure you have their exact legal name from their certificate of incorporation.

How exact does the name have to be? They go by 'ABC Manufacturing' but their legal name has 'Inc.' at the end.

Has to match their certificate of incorporation exactly. 'ABC Manufacturing Inc.' vs 'ABC Manufacturing' could cause your filing to be rejected or not properly perfect your security interest.

This is where I started using Certana.ai's document verification tool. You can upload the certificate of incorporation and your draft UCC-1 and it'll flag any name mismatches before you file. Saved me from a rejected filing last month.

It's actually more efficient this way. Imagine if you had to file in every state where a national company had equipment. One central filing location makes more sense.

I guess that makes sense but it's still confusing when you're new to this stuff.

Did you have to do anything special for the collateral description since the equipment is in different states?

Nope, just described the equipment types normally. Location doesn't matter for the description as long as it's not fixtures.

Actually ran into problems once because I wasn't specific enough in my collateral description. Had to file a UCC-3 amendment to clarify what equipment was included.

Oh great, something else to worry about. Is there a better time of day to file?

Early morning seems to work better. Avoid end of day and Monday mornings when everyone's filing.

I've actually had good luck with Delaware's system lately. Maybe they upgraded it?

Good point, I should double-check the security agreement language about multi-state coverage.

Yeah, you want something like 'equipment wherever located' or specific state references to be safe.

How recent do the corporate records need to be? Mine are from about 6 months ago.

I'd pull fresh ones if it's been more than 30 days. Corporations can change states or dissolve without much notice.

This is another area where Certana.ai helps - it can cross-reference your UCC-1 debtor info against current Secretary of State records to catch discrepancies.

That's reassuring. Do they send email confirmations or just mail?

Both usually. Email comes first, then you get the stamped filing copy in the mail.

It's all mobile equipment so I think I'm safe on the fixtures issue.

Good. When in doubt, fixture filing is better safe than sorry, but sounds like you don't need it.

I actually use Certana.ai to upload photos of questionable equipment along with the UCC docs to get a second opinion on whether something might be considered a fixture. Really helpful for borderline cases.

Thanks everyone, this has been really helpful. Going to pull fresh corporate records and file in Delaware.

Smart move. Good luck with the filing!