A Sunbiz search is free and takes about two minutes: open the Florida Division of Corporations site (sunbiz.org), choose Search Records, type the business name and click the match. The detail page shows whether the company is active, when it was formed, who its registered agent and officers are, and lets us download PDFs of everything it has filed. Here is how we run the search and what the record actually tells us about a business in Miami-Dade, Broward or Palm Beach.
Quick steps: run a Sunbiz search
- Open sunbiz.org and click Search Records.
- Choose the corporations, LLCs, LPs and trademarks search.
- Pick Search by Entity Name.
- Type the name without LLC, Inc. or Corp.
- Scan the alphabetical list for the right match.
- Click the name to open the detail page.
- Check Status, Date Filed and Registered Agent.
- Open Document Images for the filed PDFs.
What you need
- The business name, or the first few words of it
- An owner or registered agent name, if the name search fails
- A document number or FEI/EIN, if you have one
- A PDF reader for document images
Step 1: Start on the right page
Sunbiz is the records portal of the Florida Department of State’s Division of Corporations, which sits in Tallahassee. There is no walk-in office in South Florida, so everything we do runs through the website.
The Department of State site also hosts elections, cultural affairs, historical resources and civil-law notary pages. Skip all of that and go straight to the Division of Corporations section, then Search Records. The search menu is split into corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships and trademarks; fictitious names; general and limited liability partnerships; judgment liens; federal lien registrations; and cable franchises. Nine times out of ten we want the first group, which is what people mean by a Sunbiz business search or a Florida Secretary of State business entity search.
Step 2: Pick the search type that matches what we know
The entity search offers several ways in. Entity Name is the default and the one we use most. If the name search comes up empty, the others usually crack it:
- Officer or Registered Agent Name. Enter the last name first. This finds every Florida company a person is listed on, which is handy for checking a contractor in Hialeah or a landlord in Lake Worth.
- Registered Agent Name. Useful when a business uses a commercial agent service.
- FEI/EIN Number. Precise, if the company’s tax ID appears on an invoice or W-9.
- Document Number. The Division’s own ID for the record, printed on every filing.
- Street Address or Zip Code. Lists every entity registered at an address. Try a strip-mall suite in Doral and you will see how many companies share one mailbox.
- Trademark Name or Owner. Covers Florida state trademarks only, not federal USPTO marks.
Step 3: Type the name the way Sunbiz reads it
The Sunbiz name search is a begins-with search, not a keyword search. Results come back as an alphabetical list starting at whatever we typed, so a search for “Sunshine” returns Sunshine Auto, Sunshine Bakery and so on, but not “Miami Sunshine Cleaning”. If the exact spelling is unknown, type only the first word or two and scroll.
Leave off suffixes like LLC, Inc. and Corporation. Ignore case. Punctuation and spacing can throw the match, so “A1” and “A-1” are worth trying separately.
For a Florida Secretary of State business name search before forming a company, remember that the search is a check, not a reservation. Florida requires a new corporation or LLC name to be distinguishable from every active entity on file, and nothing is held until articles are filed. Expect dozens of near matches for common Miami and Fort Lauderdale words like “Coastal”, “Palm” or “Brickell”. Inactive entities appear in the same list, so read the status column before giving up on a name.
Step 4: Read the detail page
Clicking a result opens the full record. The top block, Filing Information, is where most answers live.
- Document Number. Florida LLCs start with L, Florida for-profit corporations with P. Foreign entities registered to do business here carry different prefixes.
- Date Filed. When the entity was formed or registered in Florida. A “25-year family business” formed last March is worth a second look.
- Status. Active or Inactive. Inactive with a Last Event of “Admin Dissolution for Annual Report” means the company skipped its annual report and the state dissolved it, which happens in a batch each September.
- Last Event and Event Date. Name changes, mergers, reinstatements, conversions and dissolutions all show here.
Below that we get the principal and mailing addresses, the registered agent’s name and address, and the officer or manager list. Titles are abbreviated: MGR for manager, AMBR for authorized member, P for president, D for director. An LLC run by a single manager who is also the registered agent at a residential address in Pembroke Pines tells us it is a one-person operation. That is not a red flag by itself, but it is useful context.
The annual report section lists each year a report was filed, with the report date. Gaps there line up with the dissolution events above.
Local tip
Sunbiz does not list phone numbers. A flyer showing a “305 area code” or “954 area code” number proves nothing about registration. The registered agent address and the officer names are what we match against the person asking for our deposit.
Step 5: Pull the documents
Every record has a Document Images section with free PDFs of the articles of organization or incorporation, annual reports, amendments and dissolutions. Click View Image on any line to open it. For an older company, the earliest filings may show up without an image, since historical paper records were not all scanned. Those can be ordered from the Division as certified copies.
If we need something official for a bank, a lender or a lawsuit, a certificate of status and certified copies are ordered through Sunbiz for a fee. The amounts are modest, but they change, so confirm on the Division’s current fee schedule before paying. The same site handles e-filing, so a business owner who found a problem in the record can file an annual report, change a registered agent or e-file an LLC dissolution from the same account.
Good to know
New filings on Sunbiz are public within days, and private mailers copy the data to send official-looking “compliance” or “certificate” notices with fees far above the state’s. Annual reports are filed by the business itself, through its owners, officers or authorized representatives, directly on the Sunbiz portal. Reports are due between January 1 and May 1, and the state’s late penalty after May 1 is steep, so check the deadline and fee on sunbiz.org rather than trusting a letter.
Other Sunbiz searches worth knowing
Fictitious names. A DBA like “Joe’s Lawn Care” owned by a person or an LLC is registered separately, so a Sunbiz LLC search will not find it. Use the Fictitious Name search by name, owner or document number. Florida requires the owner to advertise the name once in a newspaper in the county of the principal office before registering; in Miami-Dade and Broward that is typically a legal-notice paper. Registrations run five years and are renewed online or with the mail-in renewal voucher.
Partnerships. General partnerships and limited liability partnerships live in their own search, not the corporation one.
Judgment liens and federal lien registrations. Search by debtor name to see whether a state judgment lien or federal tax lien has been recorded against a person or company. This is a different system from county official records, so a clean result here does not mean a clean title.
Cable franchises. A short list of state-issued cable and video franchises, rarely needed by the public.
Common problems with a Sunbiz lookup
| Problem | Likely cause | What to try |
|---|---|---|
| No results for a real business | Name spelled differently, or it is a DBA | Search the first word only, then try the Fictitious Name search |
| Hundreds of similar names | Begins-with search on a common word | Add the second word, or search by officer name |
| Status shows Inactive | Missed annual report or voluntary dissolution | Read Last Event; owners can reinstate online |
| Officer search finds nothing | Entered first name first | Enter last name, then first name |
| Old filing has no image | Pre-scanning paper record | Order a certified copy from the Division |
| Entity says Florida but office is out of state | Foreign entity qualified to do business here | Check the home state’s registry for ownership |
When to get help
For a fee question, a missing image or a record that looks wrong, contact the Division of Corporations through the Contact Us section on sunbiz.org, which lists the Tallahassee phone number and mailing address. For a name dispute, a contractor who dissolved mid-project or a lien you did not expect, talk to a Florida business attorney, and check the contractor’s license separately with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
FAQ
Is a Sunbiz search free?
Yes. Searching and viewing document images cost nothing. Fees apply only to certified copies, certificates of status and filings.
How do I check if a business name is available in Florida?
Run a Sunbiz name search and look for active entities with the same or a nearly identical name. The state compares your name against the entities in this database when you file, and Florida also offers a name reservation step for corporations for a $35 fee, as listed on the Division of Corporations fee page.
Why does a company show as inactive?
Most often it skipped its annual report and was administratively dissolved in September. The Last Event line on the record will say so. Owners can reinstate by filing the missed reports and paying the fees shown on Sunbiz.
Can I find out who owns an LLC on Sunbiz?
The record lists managers and authorized members, which usually covers the owners of a small South Florida LLC. Passive members may not appear, so for full ownership we would need the operating agreement or a court order.
Can I search Sunbiz by address?
Yes. The Street Address and Zip Code searches list every entity registered at a location, which is a quick way to check how many businesses share a suite or mailbox.
