Washington Secretary of State Filing Fee Increases

Filing fees will increase in the state of Washington, effective October 1, 2023. The change in fees will effect not only new entity formation fees, but also ongoing annual report filing fees. If you’re considering forming a new entity, please consider the approaching increase of fees and reach out to CORPSMART to get a quote today.

CORPSMART™ is a global corporate compliance and lien due diligence provider. For more information regarding this article, please reach out to support@corp-smart.com. If you would like to learn more about our services or discuss your unique needs, please reach out to the CORPSMART™ team at sales@corp-smart.com.

Fraud Alert

CORPSMART™ and government agencies have identified deceptive notices being sent to debtors, when a filing has been placed against their name. The notices are sent via mail and formatted to appear like an official government document, indicating the the debtor should reach out to the contact to obtain a copy of their UCC filing for $90. See an example of fraudulent notices below:

If you or your client are targeted in this scheme, please reach out to CORPSMART to confirm validity of any suspicious documents. Please note that CORPSMART will always provide a copy of filed UCCs and we would advise not to engage in this situation.

California Formation Filing Fees Return

In June of 2022, with Senate Bill 154, California temporarily waived statutory fees for initial formation and qualification for LLCs, Corporations and Limited Partnerships. The break on fees was created to encourage job creation and enterprise within the state. Formation filing fees have returned in California as of June 30, 2023.

If you’re interested in starting a new business or expanding to do business in the state of California, we can help! Reach out to the CORPSMART team to discuss your needs and obtain a quote.

Delaware Filing Fee Increases

Governor John Carney signed Senate Bill 110 increasing Delaware corporate statutory filing fees on limited liability company (LLC) and corporate filings from $20 to $40, starting August 1st, 2023. Please click here to read the bill.

If you’re interested in starting a new business or restructuring your entity, you may want to consider Delaware as your home state for the various legal benefits. Reach out to the CORPSMART team to obtain a current quote for your entity formation or qualification needs.

Nationwide UCC Form Changes

Beginning July 2023, new UCC filing forms were released throughout the nation. While most states have adopted the new forms, this is not the case in all states. Utilizing our UCC filing technology, you will ensure that your filings are being formatted on the current required UCC forms.

While only minor changes were made to the UCC filing forms, the changes are impactful in providing greater guidance in properly formatting your UCC filing and streamlining components as to eliminate the need to supply duplicated information. Notable changes include, key information provided within the instructions page clarifying formatting requirements for debtor names, such as “Do not use Debtor’s trade name, DBA, AKA, FKA, division name, etc. in place of or combined with Debtor’s correct name; filer may add such other names as additional Debtors if desired (but this is neither required nor recommended)”.

To ensure that you are using the most current UCC filing form, we recommend drafting your filing on CORPSMART™’s UCC filing system, which is programmed to determine the proper form, per state, as the new forms are not being used in all states.

Click here to access the newest UCC filing forms or read up on filing instructions.

About the CORPSMART filing system:

CORPSMART™’s state-of-the-art UCC filing system allows users to draft UCC filings in all states and counties nationwide. With saved collateral, Secured Party and debtor books, you can save descriptions to streamline formatting documents and ensure information used is accurate. The UCC filing system also provides debtor monitoring solutions as well as FREE tracking of lapse dates with quick-file continuation functions.