Johnston County Register of Deeds Craig Olive was on WTSB Radio on Wednesday reminding listeners about a new law that goes into effect today (Friday).
North Carolina law requires individuals, limited and general partnerships, limited liability companies, corporations, and other persons that engage in business in this state under an assumed name to file a certificate with a register of deeds in a county in which the person or entity will be engaging in business.
Effective December 1st, certificates must comply with content and execution requirements specified in the statutes for a certificate of assumed business name. The requirements are different than they were for a certificate of assumed name recorded before Dec. 1, 2017.
Amendments to and withdrawals of certificates of assumed business names also must comply with new content and execution requirements.
Certificates of assumed business names and amendments to and withdrawals of them will be transmitted into a statewide, central database maintained by the N.C. Secretary of State, which will be available for searches by the public. A single registration can be effective for multiple counties. The Secretary will maintain a website for this purpose at www.sosnc.gov/abn/search
The Secretary will assign an identification number (SOS ID) to each assumed business name that is recorded, to which amendments and withdrawals must refer.
Compliant blank forms are available from registers of deeds upon request and may be downloaded from Business Link North Carolina at https://edpnc.com/start-or-grow-a-business/start-a-business/business-forms/
Certificates of assumed names filed under the prior law will expire in December, 2022. Anyone wanting to engage in business in N.C. under the assumed name after that date must file an assumed business name certificate in the new form, Olive said.
