What info is made public when filing an LLC for Foreign Qualification in NY?

January 5, 2009 1:36 PM

What information is made public when filing an LLC for Foreign Qualification in New York?

I'm forming an LLC and would like to make it as difficult as possible to find my personal information in relation to it. I live in New York, but for privacy reasons I'd like to incorporate in Delaware (AFAIK members/stockholders are not required to be made public). Is my name going to be plastered all over public documents as soon as I file for Foreign Qualification in NY? Should I just start my LLC in New York instead and save a few hundred dollars? I'm looking to put as many hurdles as possible between myself and the public - 100% privacy would be nice but isn't completely necessary.

My "business" is just going to be a web site that will probably generate some revenue via ads.

IKYANML, but since this is a privacy question and not a business/legal question I feel strangers on the internet are a better ROI than lawyering up at this point. Secret mail can go to [e-mail]

posted by anonymous to Law & Government (2 answers total)

I think that the forms that you fill out to Qualify as a Foreign entity (or register a domestic entity for that matter) are public record (I could be wrong). I'm also pretty sure that the information that you list on both forms is basically the same, so I'm not sure if you're buying anything privacy wise by setting up in Delaware first.

What I really wanted to point you to was the following link:

http://appsext8.dos.state.ny.us/corp_public/corpsearch.entity_search_entry

accessible off of the main department of state web site for NY:

http://dos.state.ny.us

you can search for entities of differing types including llcs and corps and you will see exactly what information gets posted online for all to see. For example, try searching for "Hello" and you'll see a bunch of companies, foreign and domestic to look through. As I said above, I think more information than that is publicly available, but I also think you have to pay NY to get the extra information, so there's a bit of a barrier.

LLC's seem to only post the name and address of the entity that will accept official mail for your entity (like a registered agent). Most people seem to use themselves for this, but you could also pay a registered agent company to do it for you, thus exposing very little on the freely searchable database.
posted by NormieP at 2:17 PM on January 5, 2009

Though I am not a lawyer, one thing you might consider is that states can only require you to register as a foreign corporation if you do business in their state. I have read in a couple state's literature that the simple act of holding a bank account, property or other like things does not meet the bar for "doing business." If you host your website out of New York and have payment sent through your Delaware registered agent (i.e. mail the check there, if one is required) you could probably forgo registering in New York.

(Side note: Doesn't Nevada have even better privacy rules for corporations and LLCs?)
posted by fireoyster at 2:52 PM on January 5, 2009