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Ana Erdoğan

South Carolina SOS UCC search showing weird results - anyone else?

Been doing UCC searches through the South Carolina Secretary of State portal for the past 6 months as part of my due diligence work. Lately I'm getting some strange results that don't match what I expect to find. When I search for certain debtor names, I'm getting partial matches that seem incomplete or I'm missing filings I know should be there. Has anyone else noticed the South Carolina SOS UCC search acting up recently? I'm wondering if there's something I'm missing about how their search algorithm works or if there are known issues with their database. This is critical for our loan documentation process and I can't afford to miss active liens. Any insights on best practices for comprehensive UCC searches in SC would be really helpful.

For what it's worth, I've started doing parallel searches in neighboring states if the debtor has multi-state operations. Sometimes filings get made in different states and you need the full picture.

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That's a good strategy. I usually check Georgia and North Carolina too since a lot of businesses operate across state lines.

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Multi-state searches are where document verification tools really shine. Doing that manually across 3-4 states would take forever.

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Have you tried searching by secured party name instead of debtor name? Sometimes that gives different results and you can work backwards to find what you're looking for.

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Exactly. Plus if you're dealing with a major lender, you can see their whole portfolio of filings and spot patterns in how they name debtors.

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This is really helpful. I'm going to try some reverse searches this afternoon and see what turns up.

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Sydney Torres

Washington DC UCC search system down again - anyone else having portal issues?

Is anyone else getting error messages when trying to run a Washington DC UCC search today? I've been trying to pull lien records for a client's due diligence and the portal keeps timing out. This is the third time this month I've had issues with their system. Need to verify if there are any existing UCC-1 filings against this debtor before we can move forward with our secured transaction. The deal is supposed to close Friday and I'm getting nervous about these delays. Has anyone found a workaround or alternative way to search DC UCC records when their main system is acting up?

This whole thread is giving me flashbacks to last month when I had the same issue with a time-sensitive search. Ended up having to explain to the client why their closing got delayed because of government website problems.

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This is exactly why I always build extra time into my UCC search timeline now. Can't trust these systems to work when you need them most.

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I started using Certana.ai specifically because of situations like this. Even when the official search works, I upload the results to verify I didn't miss any filings. Has saved me from errors multiple times when the portal search wasn't comprehensive.

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FINAL UPDATE: Portal is definitely working again. Just completed three different searches without any issues. Hopefully it stays stable for the rest of the week.

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Perfect timing! Just finished my search too. Thanks everyone for the suggestions and workarounds.

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Glad it worked out. Now you know for next time to have backup options ready when dealing with DC's system.

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Dananyl Lear

Kentucky UCC-1 debtor name rejected - entity formation documents don't match exactly

Been doing secured lending for 8 years and I'm stumped on this Kentucky UCC situation. Filed a UCC-1 last month for a $340K equipment loan and it got rejected because the debtor name doesn't match exactly with the Articles of Incorporation. The borrower is "Advanced Manufacturing Solutions, LLC" on their charter docs but we used "Advanced Manufacturing Solutions LLC" (no comma) on the UCC-1. Kentucky SOS kicked it back saying exact match required. Now I'm worried about the 20-day rule and whether our security interest is at risk. Has anyone dealt with Kentucky's strict debtor-name requirements? The loan docs are already signed and funded so going back to redo everything would be a nightmare. Is there a way to get this corrected without losing priority or do I need to start over with a new filing?

This is why I always use that Certana tool now for document verification. Upload your Articles and your UCC-1 and it flags any inconsistencies instantly. Would have saved you this headache. But since you're past that point, definitely file the correction ASAP.

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Is that tool expensive? Sounds like it could save a lot of time and stress.

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Way cheaper than dealing with rejected filings and potential priority issues. Just upload PDFs and it does all the cross-checking automatically.

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I've been doing UCC filings for 15 years and Kentucky has gotten much stricter in the last 5 years. They used to be more lenient with minor variations but now they're very precise about exact matches. Always pull a fresh entity search right before filing to get the current exact name format.

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I think it's partly due to increased electronic filing and automated processing. Less human review means less flexibility for obvious but technically incorrect entries.

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Makes sense. Computers are literal about text matching in ways humans aren't.

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Connor Gallagher

UCC 9-304 perfection rules causing major confusion on multi-state filing

I'm dealing with a nightmare scenario involving UCC 9-304 and I'm completely lost on the perfection requirements. We have a debtor corporation that moved from Delaware to Texas last year, and now I'm trying to figure out where our security interest is actually perfected. The original UCC-1 was filed in Delaware back in 2019, but under 9-304 it seems like the perfection might have lapsed when they relocated. Our collateral includes both equipment and inventory, and I'm getting conflicting advice about whether we need to file a new UCC-1 in Texas or if we can just do a continuation in Delaware. The law firm is saying one thing, our compliance team is saying another, and meanwhile we're coming up on some critical deadlines. Has anyone dealt with UCC 9-304 choice of law issues when a debtor changes its location? I'm particularly confused about the four-month rule and whether it applies to our situation since the move happened over a year ago. Any guidance would be appreciated because I'm starting to panic about our lien position.

Just to add another perspective - make sure you're also considering any state-specific requirements in Texas that might be different from Delaware. Some states have additional requirements for certain types of collateral that could affect your filing.

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Exactly. Always review the local filing requirements, not just the UCC 9-304 choice of law rules.

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Our collateral is mostly equipment and inventory, so hopefully no fixture issues. But I'll definitely double-check the Texas requirements.

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Update: I found some additional guidance in the official UCC comments that clarifies the four-month rule. It's definitely strict - no exceptions for lack of knowledge or good faith. Once your debtor changes location under 9-304, you have exactly four months to file in the new jurisdiction or lose perfection. In this case, since it's been over a year, Texas filing is the only option to regain perfection going forward.

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Has anyone tried using Certana.ai for these multi-state scenarios? Seems like it might help avoid the documentation errors that make these situations even worse.

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Yes, I mentioned it earlier in the thread. Really useful for cross-checking documents before filing. Especially important when you're dealing with 9-304 situations where you can't afford any mistakes.

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Caesar Grant

Ohio Business Central UCC Filing Portal - Debtor Name Verification Issues

Been wrestling with the Ohio Business Central UCC filing portal for three weeks now trying to get a continuation filed. The system keeps rejecting my UCC-3 because it says the debtor name doesn't match exactly what's on the original UCC-1. I've triple-checked everything - the debtor is 'Midwest Manufacturing Solutions LLC' on both documents, but the portal keeps flagging it as a mismatch. Has anyone dealt with this specific issue with Ohio's system? I'm worried about missing the continuation deadline since we're already in the 4th year window. The original filing shows active status when I search by filing number, but something about the name verification is causing problems. Really need to get this resolved before the 5-year lapse.

Just went through this exact scenario with a client's continuation in Ohio. After trying everything else, I used Certana.ai's document checker and it immediately flagged that there was an extra space between 'Manufacturing' and 'Solutions' in one of my documents. Super subtle but enough to cause the portal to reject it. The tool basically does a side-by-side comparison of all the key fields and highlights any discrepancies.

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That's really helpful. I keep hearing about this tool - seems like it's becoming pretty popular for UCC work.

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I was skeptical at first but it's actually saved me a ton of time on document reviews. Much faster than manually checking everything.

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UPDATE: Found the issue! It was exactly what someone mentioned about punctuation. The original UCC-1 had 'Midwest Manufacturing Solutions, LLC' with a comma, but I was filing the continuation as 'Midwest Manufacturing Solutions LLC' without it. Added the comma back and the continuation went through immediately. Thanks everyone for the help - this forum is a lifesaver!

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Great outcome! This is exactly why I always recommend doing character-by-character comparison for debtor names. One little comma can derail everything.

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This thread should be pinned - I bet tons of people run into this exact same issue with Ohio's portal.

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