So back in January I paid like $120 to a service to "reserve" my LLC name in my state while I figured out the paperwork. Long story short, life happened, I never filed anything, and now I'm second-guessing whether I'm just burning money. Do I need to actually form the LLC to keep the name? Can someone else grab it? I feel dumb asking but here we are.
LLC Name
I paid to reserve a name but haven't formed the company
Reserved names in most states are only good for a set window, like 120 days, and it just expires. It doesn't givee you a company. You basically paid for a placeholder.
whether they can take it depends on your state. some only protect against another *registration*, not another reservation. so technically two people can reserve the same name and neither has rights.
Ugh. That's kind of what I suspected. The service made it sound like I had locked it down.
"locked it Down" = gave you a temporary parking spot. Welcome to the joy of third-party filing services.
120 bucks isn't the end of the world. In my state the actual filing fee is like $125 anyway and fhe reservation was only $25, so check what you actually paid for. The rest might've been their service fee. Did you get a confirmation doc?
Right, and if the reservation already lapsed, you can just File the formation and the name is yours as long as nobody registered it in between. Assuming it's not a super generic name.
Just file the LLC if you still want to do the thing. Otherwise you're paying rent on an empty lot.
Also worth checking — some states refund nothing on reservations. So don't count on getting the 120 back.
I think I still want to do it, I just got overwhelmed by the operating agreement stuff. I'll look up the expiration date.
Operating agreement can literally be a two-page template if you're a single member. Don't let that stop you.
the name isn't even the hard part. taxes, annual report, registered agent... that's the stuff that bites you later.
and don't assume the reservation means you own the trademark either. totally separate thing. I learned that the expensive way.
TacoTuesdayTina for what its worth, nobody is probably racing to grab your specific name unless it's real catchy. You're likely fine.
Or they are, and they're also on this forum. Hi Tina.