The California attorney general is warning business owners about a possible fictitious business name scam in the state that could affect entrepreneurs creating a California LLC.
Rod Andrade, a business owner in Victorville, California, received a written notice in the mail on official-looking stationery that said he would lose his limited liability status if he did not renew his fictitious business name, or DBA, according to the Victorville Daily Press.
The letter had seals and stamps that appeared to be from the state, and requested a $125 renewal fee to be returned. Andrade told the news source he was about to send in the check, when it occurred to him that he had never been notified about a renewal in previous years.
"I always went into a newspaper office to file a fictitious business name," Andrade told the paper. "I never got anything in the mail. This was way out of context."
California law requires that businesses seeking to file a DBA submit proper forms to the city controller, along with a fee of approximately $25. Business owners must then publish the name in a local newspaper to make the filing public.
The California attorney general filed lawsuits against similar disreputable companies last year.
Tags : annual filings, c corp, ca, incorporation news, llc, lp, s corp
Posted: Aug 18th, 2010