An erroneous financing statement can still be effective to perfect a security interest, but it all depends on the rules and procedures that the filing office uses to perform searches. Law Professor James P. Nehf discusses the "saving grace" of UCC 9-506(c):  

A financing statement is not effective unless it contains the correct name of the debtor, but UCC § 9-506 provides a safe haven for an erroneous filing that is essentially a harmless error. If the filing would be retrieved by searching under the correct name of the debtor, using the filing office’s “standard search logic,” then the mistaken filing is effective. This commentary discusses the importance of getting the debtor’s name right, the meaning of “standard search logic” in 9-506(c) and the rules of logic that apply to UCC searches in most filing offices. 

Because financing statements are indexed under the debtor’s name, it is essential that the secured party use the correct debtor’s name on the financing statement. UCC § 9-506(b) provides that “a financing statement that fails sufficiently to provide the name of the debtor in accordance with Section 9-503(a) [the Code provision defining the debtor’s name] is seriously misleading.” This means that errors in the debtor’s name are presumed to be seriously misleading and therefore fatal to the financing statement’s effectiveness.

Despite the standard of accuracy, the Code recognizes some mistakes in the debtor’s name as harmless error if the mistakes do not affect a searcher’s ability to find the financing statement in the database. The pertinent provision is UCC § 9-506(c): “If a search of the records of the filing office under the debtor's correct name, using the filing office’s standard search logic, if any, would disclose a financing statement that fails sufficiently to provide the name of the debtor ... , the name provided does not make the financing statement seriously misleading.” This means that if a searcher is confident that he or she has the correct debtor’s name, the searcher need only do a single search, using that name and the standard search logic of the system. If the search does not produce any matches, then the searcher may conclude that there are no effective financing statements recorded against that debtor. If a search under the correct name retrieves filings under different spellings, the incorrect filings are effective nonetheless. (footnote omitted.)

Access the complete commentary on lexis.com