Business corporations should question notices

Historic City News has received an alert for all business owners from the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, who may have received a solicitation that could be easily mistaken to be an officially required corporation document.

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Office is currently pursuing legal action against Arvitas; one of the two companies who are the subject of the business alert.

The other company, Compliance Services, lists a Capital Circle address in Tallahassee that is nothing more than a mail drop box and forwarding service sending their mailings with a pre-printed Van Nuys, California postmark.

The suspicious “Compliance Services”, that is sending questionable “notices” to business entities requesting that “Annual Minutes” and a fee of $125.00 be sent to them for filing, is not affiliated with the Florida corporation; Compliance Services, Inc.

“These notices are NOT from the Division of Corporations,” a spokesperson with the Department of State told Historic City News. “In fact, annual minutes are not required to be filed with any agency — they are to be kept by the business entity itself.”

Business entities are required to file an annual report to maintain “active” status with the Division of Corporations. Arvitas, LLC is another private company sending e-mails to businesses in Florida offering to file those “annual reports” for business entities in Florida at an inflated fee.

Arvitas is not an agent or representative for the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations.

According to the Division of Corporations, Arvitas does not offer any additional service than what is available to the public. Arvitas is acting on its own to solicit business for its own company.

The annual report is due by May 1st. Annual reports filed after May 1st will be assessed a $400.00 late fee, which cannot be waived.

“We do not want businesses in Florida to confuse these notices with the messages sent by the Division of Corporations reminding each business entity to file its 2011 Annual Report,” Historic City News was told today.