Why the exact legal name matters

Most businesses operate under a name that isn't their actual legal name. The nail salon on the corner might legally be "Golden State Beauty Group, Inc." The contractor who never finished your patio might be doing business as "ABC Home Repair" while the entity you'd actually be suing is "Ramirez Construction LLC." The SC-100 claim form asks for the defendant's correct legal name, and if you name the wrong one, the case can end up pointed at an entity that isn't actually responsible, or a judgment that's hard to enforce because it names something that doesn't legally exist.

This guide covers how to find that name and where legal papers go once you have it. It doesn't cover who is allowed to physically deliver the papers, that's a separate rule covered in our serving the defendant guide (you can't serve your own papers, Code Civ. Proc. §§ 116.340, 414.10).

Step one: search the Secretary of State's Business Search

Go to bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/search/business and search by the business name you know. It's free, no account needed. For a corporation, LLC, or limited partnership on file with the state, the result shows:

  • The exact registered legal name
  • The entity number
  • Current status (active, suspended, dissolved, and so on)
  • The name and address of the agent for service of process

Corporations, LLCs, and limited partnerships are required by California law to designate this agent, a person or company whose job is to receive legal papers on the entity's behalf. That address is generally where a copy of your claim and summons should be delivered, not the storefront or wherever you happened to interact with the business.

One limitation worth knowing: general partnerships, associations, and some other entity types aren't included in this search. If you can't find the business there, it may not be the kind of entity this tool covers, see the DBA section below.

Step two: match the name on your claim to what the search returns

Use the registered legal name exactly as it appears, not the shortened or storefront version. If the business also operates under a different public-facing name, it's common to list both, the legal entity name followed by "dba" and the name you actually knew it by, for example "Golden State Beauty Group, Inc., dba Luxe Nails." That way the claim identifies the real defendant while still connecting it to the business you dealt with.

If it's a sole proprietorship or DBA, not a registered entity

Not every business is a corporation or LLC. A sole proprietor, one person running a business alone, or a general partnership, isn't registered with the Secretary of State the same way and generally won't show up in the Business Search. Instead, these are usually sued as the owner individually, plus the fictitious name they operate under: "Sally Reyes, individually, and dba Reyes Landscaping." Your county's fictitious business name (DBA) filings, kept by the county clerk where the business operates, are the place to confirm who actually filed that name. Small claims also has its own form for this, the Fictitious Business Name Declaration (SC-103), generally required any time you're suing someone under a business name that isn't their own.

If the business looks suspended, dissolved, or you can't find an agent

Sometimes the search turns up a status like "suspended" or "dissolved," or shows no agent for service of process at all. This happens for reasons like a missed state filing or unpaid franchise tax, and it changes how a case against that entity can proceed. This is exactly the kind of situation where your county's free Small Claims Advisor (Code Civ. Proc. § 116.940) is worth calling before you file, they can walk through what a suspended or dissolved status means for your specific claim in a way this guide isn't set up to do.

Where this fits with serving the papers

Finding the registered agent's name and address is a lookup step, it tells you who and where. Actually delivering the papers is a separate legal requirement: you still can't do it yourself, and it still has to be an uninvolved adult, the sheriff, or a registered process server. Our serving the defendant guide covers who's allowed to serve and the deadlines that apply once you know where service needs to go.