ALERT: Deceptive Business Solicitation
We want to advise our clients to generally ignore some potentially deceptive solicitations from an entity that describes itself as the “Corporate Controllers Unit”.
This entity has sent a number of emails and mailings to businesses and non-profits asking for a $225 annual fee to file a report with the Colorado Secretary of State’s office. In most cases, the annual fee is $10, if filed directly with the Secretary of State’s office.
If you receive any mailings seeking to help with filings at the Colorado Secretary of State’s office, it is our recommendation you contact your attorney at Burns, Figa & Will, P.C., or contact the Secretary of State’s office directly at 303-894-2200.
The Secretary of State’s website www.sos.state.co.us is easy to use for report filing purposes and there is no need to use an outside entity at such an outrageous cost.
We also suggest that for each entity with which you are involved, you sign up for email notification. You may check the status of an entity online at www.sos.state.co.us.
Select “Search Business Database” in the blue “Let us help you…” box under the Business Center column of the Secretary of State’s homepage. Enter either the entity name or ID number in the appropriate field on the Records Search page. Searching by the entity’s ID number will display the Summary page. Searching by the entity name will result in a list of names similar to the name searched and will require you to select the proper record. Review the information on the Summary page to confirm the proper record has been retrieved. The current status for the entity is listed near the middle of the Summary page. You may sign up for email notification on that page as well. This will give you the comfort of knowing if someone has affected the Secretary of State’s record for your entity and may help you avoid business identify theft.
You can see a copy of the deceptive solicitation at http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/business/pdf/CCU_1_20110404.pdf.
Please do not hesitate to contact your attorney at Burns, Figa & Will, P.C. if you have any questions regarding the foregoing.