Carter Brooks is a public record researcher and legal operations analyst. He tracks the business registries of all 50 states and Washington, D.C., along with the corporate compliance rules each one enforces, and he writes the state guides, glossary and lookup guides on EntityCheck.org.
What he tracks
His work follows a company's record through each state's system, from the filing that creates it and the number the state assigns to the report that keeps it current. It also covers the registered agent who receives legal papers and the status change that follows a missed deadline. Fifty-one registries handle those steps in fifty-one ways. Virginia keeps its register at a corporation commission, Michigan at a licensing department and Wisconsin at a financial regulator. Alabama requires a name reservation before formation, and Texas splits a company's record between two offices.
Alongside state records he follows the federal sources that answer questions a state search cannot: IRS exempt organization data and SEC filings for EINs, and UCC financing statements for liens.
How he checks a fact
A fee, deadline or rule goes on the site only when it can be traced to the agency that sets it: a published fee schedule, a statute, the agency's own filing instructions or an official notice. Each state guide lists those sources. When a state changes something, the change, its effective date and its source are recorded in the data updates log. The full method is on the About page.
Guides by Carter Brooks
- Secretary of State business search and fee directory
- Nationwide business entity search
- LLC lookup
- Business owner lookup
- EIN lookup
- How to verify a business
- UCC lien search
- Business data downloads by state
- How to claim a business name
State business search guides
Northeast
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont
Midwest
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin
South
Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia
West
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming
Glossary
Annual Report, Articles of Organization, Certificate of Formation, Corporation, Dissolved Entity, Domestic Entity, Entity ID, Foreign Entity, Good Standing, LLC (Limited Liability Company), Nonprofit Corporation, Operating Agreement, Registered Agent, SOS ID, DBA (Assumed or Fictitious Name), UCC Filing, Articles of Incorporation
Corrections and contact
If a state has changed a fee, a link or a rule, email [email protected] with the state and a link to the official page. Corrections are checked against that page before anything changes, and every change is logged.
EntityCheck.org is an independent reference site. Carter Brooks does not represent any state agency, and nothing on the site is legal or tax advice.