Our clients are busy and they sometimes forget to keep their information updated with the Secretary of State’s Office or file their annual reports; they pay for a registered agent who does nothing more than forward their mail; and they sometimes fall victim to scams like this and this. 

We’re offering a yearly plan that includes serving as our client’s registered agent and filing their annual report, among other things.  A description of the plan is attached to this email.  This plan helps to ensure your privacy (if your business is ever sued, the lawsuit will be delivered to our office’s address); you will be less likely to fall victim to a scam (we will sort through and destroy junk mail); you will be more organized and have less paper (we will scan and forward your mail immediately to your attention after sorting); and we will ensure that corporate records and Secretary of State records are kept up to date.
 
We’re also offering an upgraded yearly plan that includes unlimited access to attorneys throughout the year.  No more billing for .1 emails or .2 telephone calls.  We want to encourage people to contact us anytime they need us instead of being afraid to get a bill from us. 
 
This is a continued effort from us to offer flat fees instead of hourly billing.  Annual reports are due April 15, and they can be filed now, so this is a great time to switch over to having Jesson & Rains handle it.  Please contact us if you’re interested, and please forward to any busy business owners you think may need our help!

Many of our clients who own businesses do business under an “assumed name” (a/k/a DBA … “doing business as”).  This means that the name the business operates under is different to the name registered with the North Carolina Secretary of State’s office (e.g. Jesson & Rains, LLP doing business as simply Jesson & Rains). The law in North Carolina has been, up until recently, that you had to have a “certificate of assumed name” filed in the register of deeds office for each county in which you do business.
 
As of December 1, 2017, a change in the law has begun the creation of a centralized database that is being run by the Secretary of State’s office (as opposed to each of the 100 county register of deeds offices located in North Carolina). This, accompanied by a new streamlined application process, will make searches of the assumed name database and filing for a certificate of assumed business name easier than it was in the past. However, the Secretary of State’s office does not yet have the database completely up and running so, for now, when applying for a certificate of assumed business name a search for the desired name must be carried out in the county or counties in which you wish to do business.
 
A big change that it is important to take note of is that any certificates of assumed name that were filed before December 1, 2017 will expire on December 1, 2022. This means that anyone wishing to continue doing business under an assumed name that they were using in the past will need to file a new application for a certificate assumed business name with the North Carolina Secretary of State’s office before the December 1, 2022 deadline.
 
For assistance or for more information please don’t hesitate to reach out to Kelly or Ed who would be happy to assist.