Bomee Jung

New York LLC

NYS's Department of State website is really great and easy to use, and hopefully any future iterations will be even better. If any links are broken, just go to the NYS DOS website (https://dos.ny.gov)

New York LLC

Reserving a name

  1. You should have checked name availability at the NYS name check website.
  2. At this point, if you think it will take you some time to get everything done and you want to make sure no one else registers a business with that name, you can reserve the name for 60 days.

Select a Registered Agent

You probably don't want your home address published for all and sundry in the required public notice (below), so you'll need to select a registered agent. I've used a couple difference services and prefer Harbor Compliance: their online software is slick and whenever I have a quick question, they're fast and thorough via chat and email.

Filing with NYS

Filing an LLC currently costs $225 and takes just a few minutes with NYS's online tool, if you have all your information lined up.

  1. Before you start, you need to decide what address to use as your primary (physical) location of business. If you have a location outside of the 5-boroughs that you can be based in, that would save you some money in the required advertisement. You use that as your PHYSICAL address, but not your Address for Service.
  2. Now you need to pick an address for service. Note that the address for service is public information that has to be published in the ad (below). If you don't want your home address in two local papers and available to a whole bunch of people who want to sell you services for your new business, choose a registered agent (I used VCorp - they're in the dropdown) and use the same in the next field (Registered Agent). Whichever registered agent you're using, go register for their service and pay them ASAP. There is a Dept. of Taxation & finance letter headed there.
  3. Fill out the State's website. If you don't have a NY.Gov login, it will walk you through getting one, and then once you start the wizard, it takes about 10 minutes. If you're using Harbor Compliance, you can find them in the NYS form's dropdown menu -- they're listed as Registered Agents Inc. with the address 418 Broadway STE R, Albany, NY 12207.
  4. In about 24 hours, you will get a filing receipt. You have to keep track of this thing. It has the official date your LLC was formed, which you need later.

LLC Public Notice

NYS has this rule that new LLCs have to announce themselves in two local papers. The announcement has to run in a daily for 6 weeks and a weekly for 6 weeks. You do not choose which papers these will be - they are designated by the county clerk.

  1. Whatever county you use, you'll have to look up that county clerk's website to see how they handle the publication. Just as a reference, in Dutchess, they just list which papers and you contact them directly by email. In Suffolk, they list the papers also, but you have to get a piece of paper from the Clerk, for which you have to pay $35.
  2. If you advertise in NYC, you can just email the county clerk and ask them if they can tell you which papers to advertise in. The Brooklyn Clerk's office was very accommodating. The advert cost was $360 per paper.
  3. Once you have which papers you need to run your ads in, contact the papers - they will tell you how much it costs, and you can probably pay online.
  4. You may need to send them the advert text. Here is what I used:
XYZ LLC
XYZ LLC, a domestic LLC, filed with the SSNY on DATE. Office location: NAME County.
SSNY is designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the company c/o: 
VCorp Services, LLC, 25 Robert Pitt Dr., Ste 204, Monsey, NY 10952. 
Purpose: any lawful.

After they run the ads, they will send you a confirmation thing that you then have to send into the Dept. of State within 120 days.