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Assumed Business Name Procedures

by Mel Metts

Under the Illinois Assumed Business Name Act, no person may conduct business under an assumed name or any name other than his real name, unless that person files a certificate with the county in which the business will be conducted.

The purpose of the Act is to provide an easy means of checking on the person or entity behind the assumed name, so as to protect people from dealing with, or giving credit to, a fictitious entity.

To use an assumed name (also known as a fictitious name or dba [doing business as]) without incorporating or creating a limited partnership, you must register your business as follows.

The Notice of Assumed Name must be published in a Lake County newspaper for three consecutive weeks. The first publication must be within fifteen days after filing with the Lake County Clerk's office.

Contact the Illinois Secretary of State name availability office at 217-782-9520. This office will check to ensure that the fictitious name is not already in use in Illinois.

Complete the two-part Assumed Business Name Application. You should type or print in black ink. All addresses where the person(s) intend to conduct or transact business must be listed on the application.

All owners must sign the form in the presence of a Notary Public and have both copies notarized.

Return the forms to the Lake County Clerk's office with $5.00 filing fee (plus $1.50 for each additional business location).

Take the receipted form, along with the appropriate payment to the Lake County newspaper you have selected for publication. The first publication must appear in the newspaper within fifteen days after the filing date. The newspaper will typeset the legal notice, publish for three consecutive weeks, and provide a "certificate of publication" upon completion.

File the "certificate of publication" with the Lake County Clerk within fifty days of the application filing date. The clerk will provide a receipt, and issue an Assumed Business Name Certificate. If any person changes his legal name, or residence address, or the address of the business, or if another person is added, an additional certificate must be filed with the County Clerk, under the same terms and conditions as the original filing.

The following Lake County newspapers will handle the legal notices (you need to publish in only one newspaper). Some papers will also handle the filing of the original form and the "certificate of publication," making the process easier for you.

2719 Elisha Avenue

Zion IL 60099

847-746-9000

3701 W. Lake Avenue

Glenview IL 60025

847-486-7233

P.O. Box 280

Arlington Heights IL 60006

847-427-4671

2383 N. Delany Road

Waukegan IL 60087

847-336-7270

30 S. Whitney St., P.O. Box 268

Grayslake IL 60030

847-223-8161

Here's how the legal publication might appear in the newspaper you select:

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ASSUMED BUSINESS NAME CERTIFICATE

NAME OF BUSINESS:

LAKE GENESEE APARTMENTS

Address(es) where business is to be conducted or transacted in this county:

3256 Tangley Oaks Drive, Lake Bluff IL 60044

Name(s) and post office or residence address(es) of the person(s) owning, conducting or transacting business:

Larry and Linda Landlord, 3256 Tangley Oaks Drive, Lake Bluff IL 60044

STATE OF ILLINOIS

COUNTY OF LAKE

This is to certify that the undersigned intend(s) to conduct the above named business from the location(s) indicated and that the true or real full name(s) of the person(s) owning, conducting or transacting the business are correct as shown.

/s/ Larry Landlord, 2/28/97

/s/ Linda Landlord, 2/28/97

The foregoing instrument was acknowledged before me by the person(s) intending to conduct the business this 28th day of February, 1997.

/s/ Nancy Notary

Notary Public

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