when does a ucc-1 expires - missed continuation deadline by 3 days

This is exactly what happened to us last year. Bank made us refile everything and we lost priority to another lender who had filed right after our expiration. Cost us about $50K in additional collateral requirements.

Wait, I thought you had some grace period? Like 30 days or something?

No grace period whatsoever. The UCC is very strict about the 5-year limitation. You can only file continuation within the 6-month window before expiration, period.

How do I check that? Is there a way to search all recent filings against our company name?

Yes, most Secretary of State websites have search functions where you can look up all UCC filings by debtor name. Search for your exact legal entity name and any variations to see what's been filed recently.

Also check for any judgment liens or tax liens that might have been filed. Those could take priority too.

Never heard of that service but sounds like it could have prevented this mess. Does it work with existing filings or just new ones?

Works with existing filings - you just upload the PDFs of your current UCC documents and it analyzes everything automatically. Catches name mismatches, calculates expiration dates, the whole nine yards.

Honestly sounds too good to be true but at this point I'll try anything to avoid this happening again.

I get the frustration but the 5-year rule exists for a reason. It provides certainty to other creditors about when security interests will lapse. If there were grace periods it would create chaos in the priority system.

Easy for you to say when you're not the one facing potential bankruptcy because of a clerical error!

Look I sympathize but this is why you hire professionals or use systems to track these things. The rules are clear even if they're harsh.

That's somewhat reassuring. Did you have to renegotiate any terms with the bank or did they just accept the new filing?

they made me pay for an updated title search and charged some fees but no major changes to loan terms since collateral value hadnt changed

Good point - I'll dig through the loan docs tonight. Hoping there's some language about inadvertent lapses or cure periods.

Most commercial loans I've seen require continuous perfection with no cure period. But worth checking since some smaller lenders are more flexible.

Exactly - and even if there's no formal cure period, if you have a good relationship with the lender they might work with you rather than declare a technical default.

Did your client face any penalties or rate increases because of the lapse?

The bank charged a small administrative fee and required an updated appraisal, but no rate changes. The key was acting immediately and showing it was an isolated mistake, not systemic negligence.

That's actually a pretty reasonable response from the bank. Shows the value of maintaining good relationships with your lenders.

Is there any difference in timing rules between different types of collateral or is it always 5 years?

It's 5 years for all collateral types under Article 9, with the exception of certain fixture filings which follow real estate recording rules in some states.

Wow, name mismatches too? I thought my only problem was the expiration date but now I'm wondering what else I missed.

Yeah it cross-checks everything - debtor names against articles of incorporation, collateral descriptions, filing numbers. Really thorough compared to doing it manually.

Might have to check that out myself. These manual reviews are killing me and clearly I'm missing stuff.

Already drafted the new UCC-1 and will file first thing tomorrow morning. Definitely learned my lesson about relying on manual calendar reminders.

Smart move. And honestly the fact that you caught it only 3 days late shows you're at least paying attention. I've seen lapses go unnoticed for months.

True, 3 days is manageable. The real disasters happen when people don't realize for weeks or months that their security interests have lapsed.