Illinois business entity search

Illinois Business Entity Search fields and match options

The search page asks you to choose a method: business name, registered agent, president, secretary, manager or file number. Two match options sit beside them, one for whole words and one named Partial Word. Results show the official name, formation date, jurisdiction, registered agent, registered office and active or inactive status.

The state says the database is meant for individual searches. Copying or downloading bulk information from it is prohibited.

Illinois business corporation search and LLC lookups

One database covers corporations, not-for-profit corporations, limited partnerships, limited liability companies and limited liability partnerships. A single search therefore checks all of those entity types at once.

Sole proprietorships and general partnerships never appear. They register only at the county level, and only if they use an assumed name. That filing is a local requirement and does not involve the Secretary of State. The fictitious business name guide covers that route.

What makes an Illinois name different

An LLC name must be distinguishable from any domestic or foreign LLC or corporate name, assumed name, or reserved or registered name on the state's records. Adding limited, liability or company does not set a name apart. Neither do articles, conjunctions, contractions, abbreviations, or a different tense or number of the same word under 805 ILCS 180/1-10.

Decisions to accept names are made without regard to sole proprietorships and trade names. A name that matches a local shop's sign can still pass the state's test, so the question of two businesses sharing a name is a separate one.

An administratively dissolved LLC keeps its name for three years after the notice of dissolution. Another LLC cannot use it until then.

The statute also allows the term L3C for a low-profit LLC, while the Secretary of State's organizing guide lists only Limited Liability Company, L.L.C. and LLC.

Words Illinois restricts in names

LLC names may not imply insurance, assurance or banking purposes. The words trust, trustee and fiduciary need prior compliance with Section 1-9 of the Corporate Fiduciary Act. Bank, banker and banking need a signed statement from the Secretary of Financial and Professional Regulation under Section 46 of the Illinois Banking Act.

Reserving an Illinois name and what follows

The Secretary of State's LLC guide says a name may be reserved for 90 days for $25 on Form LLC-1.15. Corporations use Form BCA 4.10 at the same fee and period. The articles of organization then cost $150 online, or $250 for 24-hour service, according to the state's organizing page.

Each year after that, the annual report is due before the first day of the anniversary month. An LLC that does not file within 120 days from the date of delinquency is administratively dissolved.

Checking and claiming a name in Illinois

1. Run the name through Business Entity Search by business name, once matching whole words and once with Partial Word.
2. Read a "no records found" result as the state does: the name may be available, with no promise for later.
3. File Form LLC-1.15 for $25 if you need 90 days.
4. File Articles of Organization on Form LLC-5.5, and add the cost to your plan with the LLC cost calculator.