Misleading Business Solicitations

Your attorney has just filed your Articles of Organization for your Limited Liability Company (“LLC”)with the South Carolina Secretary of State (“SCSOS”). You then receive official-looking letters in the mail stating “Additional Business Documents Needed” and “REQUIRED BY LAW” in bold red letters. Are these letters legitimate?

Because LLC filing information becomes public record, third-party companies can use your business name and registered agent address to target new businesses with urgent-sounding mail.

Often, letters come in the mail from entities such as National Business Services or South Carolina Business Filing Center. These letters may claim that you need to act quickly, suggesting that you still have items pending or directing you to pay online.

For example, these letters may include the following information: Respond by “x” date; YOU MAY STILL HAVE SOME ITEMS PENDING; Pay Online at www.SCPayNow.org.

The above-referenced entities, and others, target new LLC’s offering the option to purchase documents such as: a Certificate of Existence for $89.95, a Labor Law Poster for $124.95, and an Employer Identification Number (“EIN”) for $199.95 (prices may vary). The SCSOS, issued a scam alert stating that the office is the only entity that can issue a legitimate Certificate of Existence in the state of South Carolina. “The fee for a Certificate of Existence is set by statute and is only $10.00, not $89.95. Also, businesses can obtain the Labor Law Poster from the National Labor Relations Board and their EIN from the Internal Revenue Service, for free, through their respective websites”.

If you have recently formed an LLC in South Carolina:

First, be prepared to receive these misleading solicitation letters.

Second, visit https://sos.sc.gov/BizSchemeSOS to determine whether the letters contain any of the following deceptive business solicitation characteristics.

Third, if you still have doubts, contact the SCSOS’s Business Filing Division at (803)

734-2158.

Starting an LLC should be exciting, not confusing. Before sending money or personal information, verify any suspicious business mail with the Secretary of State first.