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CORPORATE TRANSACTIONS & COMPLIANCE BLOG

Don’t Wait To Refile North Carolina Assumed Names

By: Teri Mayor, COGENCY GLOBAL on Fri, Oct 21, 2022

NC Assumed Names Registered Before December of 2017 Must Be Refiled

AdobeStock_511623558An important deadline is fast approaching for companies who registered an assumed business name in a North Carolina county prior to December 1st, 2017. For those companies, if they have not already re-filed under the new laws, their existing name registration will no longer be effective after December 1st, 2022.

December 1, 2022 is the deadline for companies who registered an assumed name under the old Article 14 of North Carolina’s General Statutes, Business Under Assumed Name Regulated, to refile under the new Article 14A (effective December 1st 2017). Because North Carolina assumed names are effective until terminated, this refiling may come as a surprise to a company that registered an assumed name before December 2017.

Companies can make this change by taking the following simple steps:

  1. The owner of the name that was previously filed must complete the Assumed Name Business Certificate Form. This simple form allows the company to enter up to five assumed names and asks for basic information regarding the company using the assumed name. The county or counties where the assumed name is to be used are listed, or the company can simply select all 100 counties in North Carolina.
  2. Submit the filing, along with the $26 fee to the County Recorder of Deeds for one of the counties where the company is engaging in business under the assumed name. Original signatures are generally required, but there may be some variation depending on the county.
  3. The recorder of deeds will index the document and then send the information to a centralized statewide database for recording within 30 days of the filing. This database contains a record of all assumed names filed since December 1, 2017. While registering an assumed name in North Carolina does not give exclusive rights to the use of the name, this database can be helpful in determining whether another company has registered the same or similar name, which could create potential legal issues for the company.

To ensure the name registration remains effective, companies would be wise to make the filing now. Taking care of this well before the deadline means it’s less likely the name registration will become ineffective due to an unforeseen problem or delay. Your Cogency Global service specialist would be happy to assist!

Topics: Assumed Name Registration and Compliance