So I registered my business name with the state back in January, thought I had a full year before I needed to do anything else. Just got a letter today saying the reservation expires in 3 weeks. Apparently it's only good for 120 days in my state? I must have misread the website. Now I'm scrambling to figure out if I need to file the Articles of Organization right now or if I can extend the reservation. Anyone dealt with this? I'm not ready to open yet, still working on funding.
Name Reservation
I found out my name reservation expires sooner than expected
120 days is pretty standard in a lot of states, yeah. You can usually renew once or twice for a small fee. Check your Secretary of State site—there's probably a 'renew reservation' button hiding somewhere.
I did the exact same thing. Misery loves company, I guess. In my case I just let it lapse and re-filed later when I was actually ready. Nobody swooped in and stole my name, despite what the panic articles say
Why pay to reserve a name for months if you're not even close to opening? Sounds like you're paying rent on an empty apartment.
Eh, I get it. Reserving early avoids the heartbreak of finding out someone else grabbed it. But yeah, if funding is still up in the air, maybe let it ride and re-reserve when you're actually ready tbh.
Wait, 120 days? I thought it was 180. Now I need to go check mine. Thanks for the accidental panic attack.
TinyRaptor it varies by state. Don't trust a forum post, trust your own state's website. Learned that the hard way.
Honestly the renewal fee is usually like $20-30. Just renew it if the name matters to you. Not everything needs to be a strategic crisis.
Found the renewal form. It's $25 and extends another 120 days. Guess I panicked over nothing. Still annoying that the website buried that info three clicks deep.
Three clicks deep is basically the state's way of saying 'we hope you never find this.'