UCC Document Community

Quick follow up question - when you refile after a rejection like this, do you need to worry about the gap in perfection timing? Or does the original filing date still count if you refile within a reasonable time?

Update: Got the refile accepted this morning! Changed the collateral description to specifically mention 'commercial food service equipment for restaurant business operations' and made sure the entity type was correctly selected as LLC. Thanks for all the suggestions - especially the tip about being more specific with the business context.

Don't overlook checking for terminated filings too. Sometimes there are filing errors where a UCC-3 termination was supposed to be filed but wasn't, or was filed incorrectly. You want to know about those situations before closing.

Update: ended up using a combination approach. Used Certana.ai to identify all the name variations from our document review, then hired a professional search firm to do comprehensive searches in the five key states. Found two active filings we would have missed otherwise - both under slightly different name variations. Deal still closed on time and everyone was happy with the thoroughness. Thanks for all the advice!

One more thing to consider - make sure your purchase agreement actually creates buyer status under UCC vs just an option to buy. There's a technical difference between contracting to buy (which makes you a buyer) vs having the right to buy (which doesn't until exercised).

Update us on how this resolves! These UCC buyer definition disputes are becoming more common as equipment financing gets more complex. Would be helpful to know what finally worked for you.

I had similar issues with UCC-1 rejections last year on a $400k equipment loan. Turns out I was overthinking the collateral description. The key insight: describe what you're securing in a way that a reasonable person could identify it, but don't get so granular that you accidentally exclude something. For equipment financing, I usually go with something like 'all present and after-acquired equipment and machinery used in debtor's [type of business] operations' plus the specific location.

Bottom line UCC 1 filing definition: It's how your lender protects their interest in your stuff. File it wrong = lender potentially loses priority = loan gets complicated fast. The rejection cycle you're in is painful but fixable. Get your exact legal name from your state business registry, describe your collateral specifically but not exhaustively, and double-check everything before submitting. Been there, survived the multiple rejections, got the financing eventually.

The whole UCC system is a mess honestly. We had THREE different banks file UCC-1s over the years for various equipment loans and when we tried to refinance everything got tangled up because nobody could figure out which liens were still active and which collateral was actually securing which loans.

Just want to add that if your loan is completely paid off and the bank is being slow about releasing the UCC lien, you might have legal options to compel them to file the termination. Most states have laws requiring lenders to terminate UCC filings within a certain timeframe after loan payoff.