Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelkmac
When my home-based business was based in CLT, I did not have to register w/ Registrar of Deeds. (As far as I know, that's for Real Property.. ?) I was required to get a business license and a home occupancy permit. Depends on your type of organization. If it's a sole proprietor, that may be sufficient. In any case, normally, business licenses are a city function. Not sure if you're located in Gastonia, but whichever city, that would be the best place to contact first. It may be that your city does not require a business license (not all do). Good luck!
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Here's the deal. If you are operating your business in your name then you don't have to register it with the register of deeds. If you are using another name then you do. And in Mecklenburg it isn't an occupancy permit as much as an actual rezoning for your house. It gets confusing because you go to the ROD to register the name, but zoning and license are two other departments. They are trying to make it smarter since some stuff is county and some city.
As far as names goes, it's basically telling the world and in fact reserving for your exclusive use a DBA. In North Carolina this is called an Assumed Name and the department of commerce links earlier in the thread are very helpful.
So, if your name is John Smith but you are opening a pet boutique called "The Cat's Meow" then you have to register that name. Of course before you can register it you have to go through a process to make sure no one else has done so before you. This has to be done at the register of deeds office for every county you have a physical location.
A corporation doesn't have to do this if they are doing business in the corporation name but the way to generally tell is the name on the shingle you hang out compared to the legal name of the owner.
Usually this is caught by the bank. If you want to open a bank account in a business name they will want to see the articles of incorporation if it's a corp name, the assumed name certificate if it's a DBA or they won't care if it's in your personal name.
Assumed Name certificates come in three flavors, have to be signed by the owners and notarized before filing.
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