In addition, corporations and some other businesses are required to file certain documents with the Secretary of State, such as the company s articles of incorporation, corporate charter, etc. Among other things, the Web sites give you addresses and telephone numbers to call. If a Web site isn t working, addresses and telephone numbers of the various Secretaries of State are published in the State Yellow Book and other government directories Alternatively, you can get the phone number by calling the information operator in the respective state s capital. As described above, businesses are required to register with each state's Secretary of State.
Many states post a free database of registration records on their Internet sites.
You can call the relevant secretary of state and they ll tell you over the phone whether or not a company is registered to do business in the state. Certain document retrieval services specialize in dealing with the various Secretaries of State. They regularly send people to the various Secretary of State offices, and they can search the records for you. It generally takes 2-3 days to get these materials, and they usually can t be faxed. You can also use these services to retrieve copies of filings.