UCC Document Community

For future reference, might want to establish a standard process for verifying debtor names before any UCC filing. I always do: 1) State business entity search 2) Review Articles of Incorporation 3) Cross-check against loan documents 4) Call SOS if there's any uncertainty. Saves tons of problems down the road.

As someone who's been dealing with UCC filings for over a decade, I can't stress enough how important it is to get the exact legal entity name from the state's official records. Corporation service companies like CSC, CT Corporation, etc. are just registered agents - they handle mail and legal service but they're NOT the debtor entity. I always pull the exact name from the Secretary of State's business entity database and copy it character for character, including all punctuation. Don't trust business cards, letterhead, or even loan applications - go straight to the source. Also, many states now have online UCC search systems where you can test variations of the debtor name before filing to see what format they're expecting. It's saved me countless rejections over the years.

Back to your original question - we implemented a hybrid approach. We use automated tools for document verification and name checking, but still have experienced staff review everything before submission. Gives us the efficiency boost without losing the human oversight for complex situations.

Really helpful thread! I'm in a similar situation at our regional bank - we're seeing UCC filing errors creep up as our commercial lending volume grows. The hybrid approach that @CosmicVoyager mentioned sounds promising. How do you handle the workflow between your automated checking tools and staff review? Are you using any specific criteria to flag which filings need extra human attention, or does everything still get reviewed manually after the automated checks?

Bottom line - your GSA is the private contract creating the security interest, your UCC-1 is the public filing perfecting that interest. The GSA has all the detailed terms and conditions, the UCC-1 just gives public notice of the lien. Both are necessary but serve different purposes in the secured transaction process.

Just to add another practical tip - when you're reviewing your GSA before filing the UCC-1, pay special attention to any specific serial numbers or model numbers listed for the equipment. If your GSA identifies specific machinery by serial number, you might want to include those details in your UCC-1 collateral description too, especially for high-value equipment. It makes the security interest more specific and can help avoid disputes later about what exactly is covered. For manufacturing equipment like yours, having those serial numbers in both documents creates a clear paper trail.

Keep us posted on what you find out! This is exactly the kind of situation that makes me paranoid about every UCC filing I do.

I've dealt with this exact issue before with a 2021 filing that got stuck in limbo. One thing that helped me was requesting a certified copy of the original UCC-1 directly from the Secretary of State's office - sometimes what you think was filed isn't exactly what's on their system. Also, if your lender is giving you pushback about whose responsibility it is, remind them that under UCC Article 9, secured parties have an obligation to file terminations when the debt is satisfied. They can't just dump it on you if their paperwork was defective. The fact that you got a confirmation number but the filing is still active suggests either a name mismatch or the termination hit some validation error in their system.

Update: Thanks everyone for the advice. I ended up using that Certana tool someone mentioned to double-check the name differences and filed a UCC-3 amendment. The system accepted it without any issues. The name change was more significant than I initially thought - there were some punctuation differences I hadn't noticed. Glad I caught those before filing.

As a newcomer to UCC filings, this thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm dealing with my first restatement situation and was completely overwhelmed by the process. The advice about waiting for certified copies and using tools like Certana.ai to catch name discrepancies is exactly what I needed. Quick question - when filing the UCC-3 amendment, do you typically include both the old and new entity names in the debtor name field, or is there a specific format most states prefer?