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Liv Park

Need help with Alabama UCC forms - debtor name issue on UCC-1

I'm dealing with a tricky situation on an Alabama UCC forms filing and could really use some guidance. We're preparing a UCC-1 for a commercial equipment loan, and the debtor's legal name on their Articles of Incorporation shows "ABC Manufacturing, LLC" but their operating agreement and all business documents use "ABC Manufacturing Company, LLC". The collateral is heavy machinery worth about $180k. I've been going back and forth on which exact name variation to use on the Alabama UCC forms since a name mismatch could invalidate our security interest. Has anyone dealt with similar debtor name discrepancies on Alabama filings? The SOS portal doesn't give clear guidance on how strict they are about exact name matching, and I'm worried about getting a rejection that could delay our closing. Any experience with Alabama UCC forms and their name requirements would be hugely appreciated.

Just went through this exact scenario with Alabama UCC forms two weeks ago. Used the Certana document checker someone mentioned and it immediately flagged that my debtor name had an extra comma that wasn't in the Articles of Incorporation. Would have definitely been rejected without catching that. Simple upload process and instant feedback on document consistency.

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That's why document verification tools are so valuable. Human eyes miss those tiny details that can kill a filing.

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Makes sense to use technology to catch what we might miss manually. These filing fees add up when you have to keep amending.

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Update us on how your Alabama UCC forms filing goes! Always interested to hear about real experiences with name matching issues since every state seems to handle it differently.

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Will definitely update once I file! Feeling much more confident after all this advice. Going to double-check the name one more time and probably try that document verification tool too.

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Smart approach. Better to be overly cautious with UCC filings than sorry later.

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Sofia Morales

UCC lien continuation filing rejected in California - debtor name issue

Been dealing with a nightmare situation for weeks now. Filed a UCC-3 continuation for a client's equipment financing deal worth about $275K, and the California SOS system rejected it THREE times. The original UCC-1 was filed back in 2020 with debtor name as 'Advanced Manufacturing Solutions LLC' but apparently there's some discrepancy with how the business name appears on their current articles of incorporation. The rejection notices keep saying 'debtor name does not match records' but I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure out exactly what they want. Original filing shows as active when I search the UCC database, but something about the exact name format is tripping up the continuation. Anyone else run into this California-specific quirk with debtor name matching? This lien lapses in about 6 weeks and I'm running out of time to get this sorted.

When all else fails, you might need to file a UCC-3 amendment to correct the debtor name first, then file your continuation. It's an extra step and extra fees but sometimes that's the only way to get around these matching issues.

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That's actually not a bad backup plan if I can't get the continuation to go through with the current name. At least it would buy me some time to sort out the exact formatting issue.

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Just make sure if you go that route that you file the amendment before the original lien lapses. You can't amend a lapsed UCC-1.

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Quick update - finally got through to someone at California SOS and they told me the issue was that the original UCC-1 had the debtor name in ALL CAPS but I was filing the continuation in mixed case. Apparently their matching algorithm is case-sensitive! Re-filed with everything in caps and it went through immediately. Thanks everyone for the suggestions, especially about checking the actual filed document image rather than relying on my copies.

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This is exactly the kind of thing that automated document checking catches. Good reminder to always verify against the actual filed documents!

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Thanks for posting the resolution! This will definitely help someone else who runs into the same issue.

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Emma Garcia

UCC covenant definition causing filing confusion - help needed

I'm working on a UCC-1 filing for a client and getting tripped up on how to properly describe covenant restrictions in the collateral description. The loan agreement has specific performance covenants that limit the debtor's ability to dispose of certain equipment, but I'm not sure if these covenant details belong in the UCC filing itself or if they're just part of the underlying security agreement. The debtor is a manufacturing company and we're securing industrial machinery worth about $2.8M. I've seen some filings that include covenant language and others that don't mention it at all. What's the proper way to handle UCC covenant definition in the collateral description? I don't want to file something that gets rejected because I included too much detail or not enough.

Just to close the loop on this - I ended up filing with a straightforward equipment description and kept all the covenant language in the security agreement. No issues with the filing and everything was accepted. Thanks for the help everyone. The key insight was realizing that UCC covenant definition isn't something that belongs in the filing itself - covenants are contractual terms that stay in your loan documents.

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Glad it worked out! This is one of those things that seems more complicated than it actually is.

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Perfect example of keeping the UCC filing focused on its purpose - giving notice of the security interest, not publishing the loan terms.

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For anyone else reading this thread later - the main takeaway is that covenant language belongs in your security agreement, not your UCC filing. The UCC-1 should have a clear collateral description that identifies what's secured, but it doesn't need to include the contractual restrictions (covenants) that apply to that collateral. Keep it simple and keep it focused on perfecting your security interest.

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This should be pinned or something. Really clear explanation of how to handle covenant issues in UCC filings.

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Agreed - this thread answered a question I didn't even know I had about covenant definitions in UCC filings.

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Melina Haruko

UCC 9-316 perfection lapse question - equipment financing mess

So I'm dealing with a situation where we had equipment financed across state lines and I think we might have a UCC 9-316 issue brewing. The debtor moved their main operations from Ohio to Tennessee about 8 months ago, and we filed the original UCC-1 in Ohio back in 2021. I just realized we might have missed the 4-month window to refile in Tennessee to maintain continuous perfection. The equipment is worth about $180K and I'm freaking out because if our lien isn't perfected anymore, we could be in serious trouble if the debtor defaults. Has anyone dealt with UCC 9-316 continuation requirements when a debtor relocates? I'm trying to figure out if we can still fix this or if our security interest has already lapsed. The debtor hasn't defaulted yet but their payments have been getting later and later.

I ran into a similar UCC 9-316 issue last year and ended up using one of those document verification services to make sure my refiling was done correctly. There are tools that can cross-check your original filing against the new state requirements to catch potential issues before they become problems. Worth looking into if you want to be extra careful with the Tennessee filing.

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Which service did you use? I want to make sure this Tennessee filing is bulletproof since I already messed up the timing.

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I used Certana.ai - you just upload your documents and it flags any inconsistencies or potential issues. Really helped catch things I would have missed.

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UCC 9-316 is one of those provisions that seems simple until you actually have to deal with it. Four months sounds like plenty of time until you realize you weren't even tracking the debtor's entity status. File in Tennessee this week and put systems in place to prevent this from happening again on future deals.

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Absolutely. This has been an expensive lesson but at least the debtor hasn't defaulted yet so I have time to clean things up.

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Sofía Rodríguez

California UCC financing lien causing issues with equipment loan refinancing

Running into problems with a california ucc financing lien that's blocking our equipment refinancing. We have a $285K loader that was financed in 2021, and the original lender filed a UCC-1 but now we're trying to refinance with a different bank and they're saying there's still an active lien showing up in the california system. The original loan was paid off 6 months ago but apparently no termination was filed. New lender won't proceed until this gets cleared up. Has anyone dealt with getting old california ucc financing lien records cleaned up? Our equipment is sitting idle while we sort this mess out and it's costing us jobs. What's the fastest way to get this resolved?

One thing to watch out for - make sure your new lender is searching correctly. We had a situation where the new bank was doing a sloppy UCC search and missing terminated liens. They kept saying there were active filings when there weren't. Sometimes the problem is on their end, not yours.

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Ask them to provide copies of their search results. If they can't show you specific UCC filing numbers and dates, they might not be doing thorough searches.

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Good point. A proper UCC search should show filing numbers, dates, and current status of each lien.

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Update us when you get this resolved! These california ucc financing lien situations are always learning experiences for the rest of us dealing with equipment financing.

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Will do! Hoping to get movement on this by next week. The suggestions about document verification and certified searches are really helpful.

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Definitely interested in hearing how it turns out. These kinds of lien clearance issues seem to be getting more common.

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