To check a business before you sign a contract or send money, run its legal name through a short stack of free public databases: the Secretary of State’s registration portal, the relevant licensing board, federal and state court records, tax lien and UCC filings, consumer complaint databases like the CFPB, and the federal sanctions and exclusion lists. Each search takes a few minutes. Together they tell you whether the company legally exists, is qualified for the work, is financially stable, and has a pattern of problems behind it.
Find the Legal Name Before You Search Anything
The storefront sign and the state record rarely match. A business might operate as “Summit Roofing” but exist on paper as “Summit Home Services LLC.” That legal name, with the entity designation (LLC, Inc., Corp., LP), is what state databases match against. Pull it from a contract, an invoice, or the small print in a website footer.
If the only name you have is a trade name, check the county clerk or recorder’s office where the business operates. “Doing Business As” (DBA) or fictitious name filings are typically made at the county level and will point you to the legal entity that owns the trade name.
An Employer Identification Number, if a company gives you one on an invoice or W-9, can help you confirm you’ve matched the right entity in state records. The IRS itself does not offer a public EIN lookup; it will only confirm an EIN to the business or its authorized representatives.1Internal Revenue Service. Employer Identification Number So an EIN is useful as a cross-reference, not as something you can independently verify.
Confirm the Company Is Registered With the State
Every state keeps a free, searchable database of registered business entities, usually run by the Secretary of State. This is the single most important check you can run.
A typical record shows the entity status, formation date, registered agent, principal address, and filing history (name changes, mergers, amendments). Of those fields, the status line is the one that matters most.
- “Active” or “In Good Standing” means the company has filed its annual reports and paid its state fees.
- “Administratively Dissolved,” “Revoked,” or “Suspended” means the state has stripped the company’s legal standing, usually for missed filings or unpaid franchise taxes.
A dissolved company may have lost its liability protections, which can leave the owners personally on the hook for the company’s debts. Treat that status as a serious red flag and get a straight answer before you proceed.
One trap: a company formed in one state must separately register as a “foreign entity” in every other state where it does business. If you are dealing with a Delaware LLC that operates in your state, search your state’s database for that foreign registration. A company that skipped the step may be unable to enforce contracts or sue in your state’s courts, which cuts off your ability to hold it accountable if something breaks.
Verify the Occupational License
Registration proves the company exists on paper. Licensing proves it is qualified to do the specific work it is selling. Contractors, electricians, plumbers, doctors, real estate agents, and dozens of other professions must hold occupation-specific credentials from a state licensing board, and the records are public.
States organize licensing differently. Some run everything through a central Department of Licensing; others have separate boards for each trade. The fastest route is a search for your state’s name plus the profession plus “license lookup.” The board’s verification portal will let you search by individual name, business name, or license number.
A license record shows whether the credential is current, when it was issued, and when it expires. Most boards also publish disciplinary actions: expired-license practice, failed inspections, continuing-education violations, work outside the scope of the license. A string of disciplinary actions is a far better warning sign than a single bad online review.
Insurance and Bond
Licensed professionals in many fields must carry liability insurance and sometimes a surety bond. A technically active license is not enough if the insurance has lapsed, because any damage on your property falls on you. Ask for a Certificate of Insurance and confirm three things: the legal business name on the certificate matches the contract, the policy dates cover your project, and the coverage limits make sense for the work. The certificate should come directly from the insurance agent or carrier, not from the contractor. If the company resists, walk away.
For a surety bond, contact the issuing surety to confirm the bond is active and covers the type of work being performed. Your state’s insurance department can also confirm whether the surety itself is authorized to write bonds in your jurisdiction.
Search Court Records for Lawsuits
A business can be registered, licensed, and still have a trail of lawsuits behind it. Court records surface disputes that never make it into reviews: breach of contract, personal injury, fraud, employment claims.
Federal Courts
PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) gives you access to federal district, appellate, and bankruptcy filings nationwide. Create a free account and use the PACER Case Locator to run a name search.2United States Courts. Find a Case Access runs $0.10 per page, capped at $3.00 per document, and fees are waived entirely if you accrue less than $30 in a quarter.3United States Courts. Electronic Public Access Fee Schedule A single-company background check is unlikely to cost anything.
State Courts
Most consumer-business lawsuits are filed in state court, so PACER alone misses the bulk of what’s out there. Nearly every state court system has an online case search. Expect to find contract disputes, negligence claims, consumer protection actions, and landlord-tenant cases. Search the exact legal name and any DBAs. A handful of filings over a long operating history can be normal for a large company. A pattern of similar complaints from different plaintiffs is what matters.
Look for Tax Liens and Secured Debts
A company that is not paying its taxes or creditors is a real risk to anyone about to pay it a deposit. Two public records show that kind of trouble.
Federal Tax Liens
When a business owes back taxes and doesn’t pay after an IRS bill, the IRS files a Notice of Federal Tax Lien in the public record, putting other creditors on notice. The notices are filed with the county recorder or state filing office where the business sits. You can verify a specific lien by calling the IRS Centralized Lien Operation at 800-913-6050.4Internal Revenue Service. Understanding a Federal Tax Lien A federal tax lien on a company about to receive a large deposit from you should stop the transaction until you understand the picture.
UCC Filings
Uniform Commercial Code financing statements are filed when a lender takes a security interest in a business’s equipment, inventory, or receivables. They are searchable through most Secretary of State websites, often on the same portal as the registration lookup. A UCC filing on its own is not a problem; most businesses with bank loans have one. An unusually high number of filings, or liens from non-traditional lenders, can signal heavy leverage or trouble getting conventional credit.
Commercial Credit Reports
For a deeper financial look, commercial credit bureaus like Dun & Bradstreet compile payment history, bankruptcies, judgments, and stability scores. A D&B report includes a PAYDEX score for payment promptness, a Failure Score for likelihood of closure, and a record of legal events.5Dun & Bradstreet. Business Credit Report These reports are paid, but the cost is small next to the loss from contracting with a company on the edge of insolvency.
Read Consumer Complaints and Reviews
Registration, licensing, and financial records show legal and financial standing. Complaint databases show how a company treats its customers.
The CFPB Complaint Database
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau publishes a searchable database of complaints against financial companies: banks, lenders, debt collectors, credit reporting agencies. You can see the total count, the products involved, how the company responded, and whether consumers disputed the response.6Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Consumer Complaint Database – Search If you are evaluating a mortgage lender, auto loan company, or any financial service, check here first.
The FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network is sometimes assumed to work the same way. It does not. Sentinel is restricted to law enforcement agencies.7Federal Trade Commission. Consumer Sentinel Network You can file a report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and it feeds the database for investigators, but you cannot search it to research a company.8Federal Trade Commission. ReportFraud.ftc.gov
Better Business Bureau
The BBB assigns letter grades from A+ to F based on complaint volume, how quickly and consistently the company responds, years in business, licensing compliance, and advertising accuracy. The grade mostly measures whether a company engages with the BBB’s complaint process. Consumer lawsuits, federal regulatory actions, and actual product quality carry no weight in the formula. Read the complaint narratives and the company’s responses rather than relying on the letter.
Online Reviews
Third-party review sites are useful if you read them critically. Look for “verified purchase” badges. Watch the distribution: a company with lots of five-star and one-star reviews and little in between often has a mix of real complaints and fabricated praise. A burst of glowing reviews posted within days of each other, in similar language, is a familiar manipulation pattern.
OSHA Records
If you are hiring a contractor or manufacturer, OSHA’s Establishment Search lets you look up whether the business has been cited for workplace safety violations by federal inspectors.9Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Establishment Search A company that cuts corners on worker safety may cut them on your project too.
Run the Federal Sanctions and Exclusion Checks
Two federal databases flag businesses barred from government contracts or restricted under U.S. sanctions law. Both searches take a couple of minutes and catch risks you will not find any other way.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control maintains the Specially Designated Nationals List, which covers individuals and companies blocked under various sanctions programs. OFAC’s free search tool uses fuzzy matching to catch alternate spellings and known aliases.10Office of Foreign Assets Control. Sanctions List Search Tool Doing business with a sanctioned entity can trigger severe civil penalties even if you did not know.
SAM.gov, run by the General Services Administration, is the federal registry of entities eligible for government contracts. It also contains an exclusion list of companies and individuals barred from federal procurement for fraud, poor performance, or other misconduct. Search by company name or unique entity identifier without creating an account. An exclusion is a meaningful risk signal whether or not your transaction involves government funds.
What These Searches Won’t Tell You
LLC ownership stays opaque in many states. The federal Corporate Transparency Act was supposed to create a database of beneficial owners, but a 2025 rule change exempted all domestic companies from reporting to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Only foreign companies registered to do business in the United States are currently required to file.11Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Frequently Asked Questions Identifying the human beings behind a domestic LLC usually requires a commercial background check or direct disclosure from the company.
No single database captures everything. A company can be properly registered, fully licensed, free of lawsuits, and still deliver bad work. But a company that fails multiple checks across these sources is giving you documented reasons to walk. The fifteen minutes you spend before signing will always cost less than the months you would spend trying to recover from a bad contract.