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Louisiana Scam Alert

We received the following Scam Alert from the Louisiana Secretary of State: 

Secretary of State Tom Schedler is notifying all business owners to be cautious when receiving mailers concerning “potential compliance violations” from a company called Business Compliance Division. Business Compliance Division is not affiliated or associated with Louisiana state government in any way. It is a private company, and Louisiana corporations are not required to call or have any dealings with this company at all. Mailers from this company should be discarded immediately.

For more information, visit www.sos.la.gov or contact a Commercial Division staff member at 225.925.4704 or commercial@sos.la.gov.

If you ever have any concerns regarding information requests from any state agency, please feel free to contact us at info@incserv.com for clarification and assistance.

The information within this post is intended for general information purposes only. Incserv and its employees cannot offer legal or financial advice. Please consult with your legal counsel for assistance in how this information may or may not affect you and your business prior to making any decisions. The above information (and any attachments) should be judged accordingly.

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Phone Service Disruption 10.04.16

Having trouble reaching us by phone today? Our phone service provider is experiencing a large network outage that in turn is affecting phone service in our Delaware, Washington, DC and Florida offices. Unfortunately this situation is beyond our control and we apologize for any inconvenience. At this time, service is intermittent. If you have trouble reaching us via phone, please feel free to reach out to us via Chat or Email. We’re here!

Please check back for additional updates.

Incserv No Comments

New Florida Law Affects Service of Process

Incorporating Services, Ltd. (Incserv) is an active member of the National Public Records Research Association (NPRRA). One of the many benefits of this membership is the continuous flow of information from its members regarding changes in policy, law and processing of public records searching and filing across the US. We received the below information from the NPRRA on Tuesday, September 27, 2016.

Florida Senate Bill 1104 was signed into law by Florida Governor Rick Scott on April 1, 2016. The bill allows a financial institution authorized by state or federal law to designate with the Department of State a place or registered agent as the sole location to receive service of process. Service of Process may be made on any officer, director or business agent of the financial institution at its principal place of business, or at any other branch, office or place of business in the state, if a financial institution has no registered agent. The bill becomes effective January 1, 2017.

Please click here to view the entire bill.

For assistance in Florida contact our office at florders@incserv.com.

The information within this post is intended for general information purposes only. Incserv and its employees cannot offer legal or financial advice. Please consult with your legal counsel for assistance in how this information may or may not affect you and your business prior to making any decisions. The above information (and any attachments) should be judged accordingly.

Incserv No Comments

Chinese Embassy Experiencing Processing Delays

The Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC is currently experiencing a major document processing delay. Due to technical difficulties, the embassy is unable to process any payments. Payments are processed upon completion of work. Therefore completed documents cannot be picked up until payment processing is available again. Incserv can continue to submit documents in the interim. The embassy is actively working to resolve the issue; however it may take several days.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this or any foreign embassy matter, please contact our Washington, DC office at 877.531.1131 or via email to dcorders@incserv.com. We will update our blog when the issue has been resolved. Please continue to check back here on our blog (www.incserv.com/blog) for further updates on this matter.

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Delaware Fun Facts

Incorporating Services, Ltd (Incserv) has been a Delaware company for over 40 years. We are very proud to be based in Delaware and when the Delaware Business Times posted an article “60 facts about Delaware and its businesses”, we thought we’d share this amusing and quirky list of Delaware fun facts.

http://www.delawarebusinesstimes.com/60-facts-about-delaware-and-its-businesses/

Happy reading and Happy Friday,

The Marketing Team at Incserv

Josh Twilley No Comments

Delaware Statutory Trust: Understanding the Basics

Delaware is long known to be a leader in corporate law, but Delaware is also a trailblazer in trust law.  In 1988, Delaware was the first state to adopt a legal framework governing trust law, with the passage of the Delaware Business Trust Act, which governs the Delaware Statutory Trust.  While other states have adopted similar legislation, the Delaware version has evolved over the years.  Today, the DST is considered the preferred vehicle for trust activities that involve financial transactions.

What is a Delaware Statutory Trust?

In an ordinary trust relationship, a fiduciary would hold legal title on a property on behalf of another, who held the equity title.  These trusts are governed by a Common Law framework.  The Delaware Business Trust Law allows for the creation of a Delaware Statutory Trust.  The Delaware Statutory Trust is considered a separate entity which can in many ways behave like a corporate entity, with a body of trustees and a group of beneficial owners.

 

Delaware shutterstock 102603476

 

What makes a Delaware Statutory Trust a preferred vehicle?

This structure offers a number of advantages.  The trust can have multiple trustees and beneficial owners, who receive the same liability protection afforded to stockholders of a Delaware corporation.  As an independent entity, the Delaware Statutory Trust can enter into contracts while still protecting beneficial owners, and even provides beneficial owners protection in the event of bankruptcy.  Finally, the Delaware Court of Chancery, widely considered one of the best corporate and trust courts in the world, has jurisdiction over the Delaware Statutory Trust.

How is a Delaware Statutory Trust formed and maintained?

Forming a Delaware Statutory Trust is an easy process, requiring a certificate of trust to be filed with the Delaware Secretary of State, along with the Trust Agreement.  There are no annual maintenance requirements (franchise tax or annual report) for a Delaware Statutory Trust.  A Delaware resident must be named as a trustee.

Incserv can assist in all aspects of filing the Delaware Statutory Trust and can provide a Delaware resident as a trustee.  Contact us for more information.

The information within this post is intended for general information purposes only. Incserv and its employees cannot offer legal or financial advice. Please consult with your legal counsel for assistance in how this information may or may not affect you and your business prior to making any decisions. The above information (and any attachments) should be judged accordingly.

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The Panama Papers Part II

Joshua M. Twilley, President of Incorporating Services, Ltd. shares with us the following with regards to the Panama Papers.

The Panama Papers (Papers) put a spotlight on the uses of corporate entities for tax purposes.  While many (if not most) of the entities in the Papers were established legally and are not necessarily involved in legal wrongdoing, the focus on the uses of corporate entities and how they can be monitored while protecting the privacy of entities is an important discussion.  I previously wrote about the Panama Papers here.

Rick Geisenberger, Chief Deputy Secretary of State of Delaware and head of the Department of Corporations, recently outlined some of the issues facing identification and prosecution of those using corporate entities operating in illegal ways.  Mr. Geisenberger’s article appears in the September/October 2016 issue of Delaware Business, a publication of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce.

This insightful article also highlights several easy-to-implement solutions to make sure corporate entities are not used for illegal purposes.

Delaware has been a leader on developing best practices for protecting America’s interests, which many other states have adopted.  I agree with Rick that the solution can’t be solved by looking to each state to adopt some form of compliance, with 50 different sets of laws and 50 different levels of corporate involvement.  The currently proposed federal solution outlined in the article would ensure compliance in all jurisdictions, creating a good balance of protection and privacy, and give federal authorities the ability to investigate and prosecute.

The information within this post is intended for general information purposes only. Incserv and its employees cannot offer legal or financial advice. Please consult with your legal counsel for assistance in how this information may or may not affect you and your business prior to making any decisions. The above information (and any attachments) should be judged accordingly.

Incserv No Comments

Where to File UCCs in Washington, DC

Deirdre Davis-Washington, Assistant Vice President of Branch Operations in Washington, DC was recently asked about UCC searches and where to search and subsequently file in the District of Columbia. Deirdre shared this brief but valuable description:

Security interest filings in Washington, DC are filed with the Recorder of Deeds (ROD).  If you have a UCC against real property, better known as a “fixture filing”, this would be filed in the land records of the ROD, while others are found in the “chattel” records (yes, DC still uses the word chattel).   You may also search for tax liens and judgments at the ROD.

The District has also be known to be the default place for filing of UCC’s against foreign entities doing business in the US.  Not sure where the company is doing business?  Just try searching the DC Recorder of Deeds!

For assistance in Washington, DC with UCC searching or filing or to learn more about any of the services available from our office, contact our DC office directly via email to dcorders@incserv.com.

The information within this post is intended for general information purposes only. Incserv and its employees cannot offer legal or financial advice. Please consult with your legal counsel for assistance in how this information may or may not affect you and your business prior to making any decisions. The above information (and any attachments) should be judged accordingly.

Incserv No Comments

Update – NC Turnaround Times Back To Normal!

Kim Sharpe, Assistant Vice President based in our North Carolina office, shares the following update regarding the Secretary of State in North Carolina.

The Secretary of State North Carolina Corporations Division is now back to normal, with turnaround times returning to 3-5 business days for corporate filings.

UCC filing times remain unchanged.

For questions or need assistance in North Carolina, contact our office at ncorders@incserv.com.

The information within this post is intended for general information purposes only. Incserv and its employees cannot offer legal or financial advice. Please consult with your legal counsel for assistance in how this information may or may not affect you and your business prior to making any decisions. The above information (and any attachments) should be judged accordingly.

Incserv No Comments

New Things Are Happening In DC!

As you know, Washington, DC is the Capital of the United States. It’s busy and exciting! Right now there are so many new things happening in Washington, DC.

Check out our DC Special Report below!

Apostille and Notary Certificates – The DC Government has changed the look of their Apostille and Notary Certificates. They are now blue and on watermark paper. In addition, the notary certificates no longer have ribbons attaching the pages but are uniform with the Apostille certificates.

Business Licensing – DC Business Licensing has simplified its processes for obtaining a NEW general business license. We can submit an electronic request and print the licenses out same day, if approved by the division. This enables us to monitor the status of your request and be aware should the division have any questions.

Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) – Every federal agency, including the OCC, quotes 20 business days for processing and most times, requests really do take this long to be returned. Our DC office now has the ability to track the progress of requests submitted to the OCC online. We will continue to pick up the original document(s) from the office. This new process is cutting the processing time down for certificates of corporate existence to 7-10 business days. All other copy retrieval requests are still running about 15-20 business days for processing but we hope the new system will continue to improve the turnaround times.

DCRA Biennial Report Deadline – All entities that were required to file its biennial report with the Department of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs (DCRA), Corporations Division this year and did not by the final due date of August 31st have now been revoked as of September 1st. However, don’t worry; if you inadvertently overlooked the deadline, you can still restore the status of your company by filing a reinstatement application and your two-year report. Incserv can assist with submitting your filings over the counter and have you back in good standing in as little as one to three days.

Hague Apostille Convention – Just a reminder, Chile, became a Hague Apostille Country as of August 30, 2016. If your documents are state-issued or have been notarized, you can now obtain an Apostille on the state level. If your document is a federally issued document, you will need to obtain your apostille from the U.S. Department of State. There is no need to go to the embassy any longer for full legalization.

For assistance in Washington, DC or to learn more about any of the above mentioned services, contact our office at dcorders@incserv.com.

The information within this post is intended for general information purposes only. Incserv and its employees cannot offer legal or financial advice. Please consult with your legal counsel for assistance in how this information may or may not affect you and your business prior to making any decisions. The above information (and any attachments) should be judged accordingly.