What is a Michigan business entity search?
How can you look up a Michigan company?
What are the steps to search for a Michigan business entity?
We will look at how you can do a Michigan business search, LLC lookup, LARA business entity search, corporations search, registered agent search, limited partnership search or find out information about any business entity registered in Michigan.
Be sure to read this entire post as we have amazing content, links and resources for you!
We are so excited to show you the Michigan business lookup process.
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Table of Contents
What is Michigan Corporation Search
The State of Michigan’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) maintains a business registry allowing individuals and organizations to search and lookup business entities such as corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships or other types of business entities.
With the LARA business entity search, you can answer the following questions:
- How can I do a Michigan corporation search?
- How do I find out if a company is in good standing in Michigan?
- How do I do a Michigan corporations lookup?
- How do I find out who owns an LLC in Michigan?
- What is the named registered agent for a Michigan business entity?
- What type of business entity is registered in Michigan?
- What business entity was formed or incorporated in Michigan?
- What are the steps to look up a business in Michigan?
- How do I do a Michigan business name search?
The State of Michigan offers a convenient online tool allowing you to perform a corporation search as needed.
Here is the link to the Michigan business entity search tool.
There are many ways people refer to the process of searching for a business entity in Michigan, such as:
- Business entity search Michigan
- Michigan entity search
- Secretary of State corporation search
- LARA entity search
- MI business entity search
- Secretary of State business entity search
- SOS business search MI
- Michigan SOS business entity search
- Search business entity Michigan
- SOM business entity search
- Michigan Secretary of State business search
- State of Michigan corporation lookup
- State of MI business entity search
All these phrases mean the same thing and refer to the process of searching, finding or looking up information about a registered business in the State of Michigan.
In addition to looking up business entities registered in Michigan, you can use the company search tool to find out if a business name is available for use.
For instance, if you want to do business in Michigan as a sole proprietor using a DBA or using a business entity, you must make sure that you do not operate under the same business name as another.
As a result, LARA Michigan’s online services allow you to:
- Verify the Michigan entity name availability
- Ensure that no other entity or individual has registered the same business name or one similar to the one that you are intending to use
- If the Michigan business name is available, you can then proceed to Michigan’s online business formation services to register the business name or business entity
What types of business entities are registered in Michigan
A business entity that is located in the State of Michigan or does business in Michigan must be registered with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
Michigan business entities could be:
- Corporation (profit corporation)
- Doing business as or DBA (sole proprietorships and partnerships)
- Partnerships
- Non-profit corporation
- Charitable organization
- Professional services corporation
- Foreign corporation
- Limited liability company or LLC
- Limited liability partnership or LLP
- Limited liability limited partnership or LLLP
- Limited partnerships or LP
As such, by using the MI business search tool, you can look up the following in Michigan:
- Corporation search
- DBA search
- LLC search
- LLP search
- LLLP search
- LP search
- Trust search
- Partnership search
What information is registered in Michigan
You can access the following information, free of charge, on the Michigan business registry:
- Business entity name
- Business ID number
- Business entity type
- Date of incorporation, formation or organization
- Business purpose (company mission)
- Business term (limited or perpetual)
- Registered agent name and address
- Registered mailing address
- Act under which the entity was formed or is subject to
- Management specifications
You are also able to view filings for Michigan registered entities.
How to do a Michigan business entity search
There are a few ways you can do a State of Michigan entity search:
- Search by entity name
- Search by an individual name
- Search by identification number
- Search by filing number
Let’s look at how each of these search methods work.
Method 1: Search with entity name
To do a search by business name, you will need to know the exact business name or some keywords or phrases used in the business name.
Step 1: LARA business search tool online
The first step is to access the State of Michigan business entity search tool.
Step 2: Search for the business entity name
To search for a business entity or corporation, you should enter the actual company name or a word or phrase included in the company name.
In our example, we typed the word “Apple” and here are the results that we get:
Step 3: Look for the business entity
Once you perform a search, you will then access the “Business Entity Results” page.
The search results will provide you with a list of matching company names along with their associated actual ID Number, Old ID Number and business entity address.
Step 4: Select the business entity
From the Business Entity Results page, select the company that you were looking for by clicking on the company name appearing with a hyperlink.
Step 5: View business entity details
When you click on the company name, you will be brought to the business entity details page where you will have access to free information made available by the State of Michigan.
On the entity details page, you will see the following information:
- Entity name
- Entity address
- ID number
- Old ID Number
- Entity type
- Date of incorporation, formation or organization
- Purpose
- Term
- Registered agent information
- Act under which the entity was formed or is subject to
- Management specifications
Method 2: Search with individual name
Step 1: LARA business search tool online
The first step is to access the State of Michigan entity search tool.
Step 2: Search using individual name
To search for an individual, you should enter the name of a person.
In our example, we typed the name “Mary” and here are the results that we get:
Step 3: Look for the individual name
Once you perform a search, you will then access the “Business Entity Results” page.
The search results will provide you with a list of matching individual names, their position, their individual address, associated business entity name, business ID number and old business ID number.
Step 4: Select the business entity
From the Business Entity Results page, select the company where the individual in question appears to be associated with to get more details about that company.
Step 5: View business entity details
When you click on the company name, you will be brought to the business entity details page where you will have access to free information made available by the State of Michigan.
Method 3: Search with business identification number
You can also do a search with a business entity’s ID number.
If you have a business entity’s ID number, you can accelerate your search by targeting the specific company that you are looking for.
Considering that each registered corporation or business entity will have its own unique ID number, when you do a business ID search, you will directly access the business entity details page.
Step 1: LARA business search tool online
The first step is to access the MI SOS business search tool.
Step 2: Search using business ID number
To search for a company, you can enter the business entity ID number.
Step 3: View business entity details
When you search using a business ID number, you will immediately be directed to the business details page for the business entity matching the ID number used.
Method 4: Search by filing number
Step 1: LARA business search tool online
The first step is to access the Michigan company search tool.
Step 2: Search using filing number
To search for a company, you can enter a filing number representing a reference number given to you when you filed a company document with the State of Michigan.
Step 3: View business filing information
When you search using a business ID number, you will immediately be directed to the business details page for the business entity matching the ID number used.
State of Michigan services
The State of Michigan provides services to individuals and companies dealing with business entities, partnerships, LLCs, corporations or any other type of legal entity.
Michigan offers:
- Michigan annual report filing services (Corporation online filing system or COFS)
- MI Name reservations
- Business entity search
- Certificates and certified copies of documents
- Corporation division forms
- Corporation online filing system
- Corporation renewal and restoration services
We have included useful links and resources for you to access below.
Michigan business search service providers
There are different ways you can manage your company.
Some prefer to handle their own business entity search while others may want to hire the services of an online service provider or attorney.
The choice comes down to what you prefer and how comfortable you are in managing your company’s affairs.
There are law firms, lawyers and attorneys who can provide you with legal services.
They can get the job done the right way.
The downside is that they may be pricey.
When you select a lawyer or attorney, you are paying for the quality of the job, the strategic advice and proper legal compliance.
You can also select a service provider that may not necessarily be a law firm but a company specialized in business name searches, company filings, company registration and incorporations.
There are many business service providers that provide business search services and other business services at a reasonable cost.
You can have service providers that offer any of the following services:
- Business incorporation services
- LLC formation services
- Annual report filing services
- Name search services
- DBA filing services (fictitious name)
- Company dissolution services
- Starting a business guide
- Business name search
- Business consultation services
- Business name reservation
- LLC formation
- Business incorporation
- Sole proprietor registration
- Partnership registration
- Professional corporation registration
- Nonprofit company incorporation
- Tax ID Number requests
- Registered agent services
- Business licenses
- Register for Sales and Use Tax
- Trademark search services
- Secretary of State filings
At the end of the day, you need to select a service provider who has a good track record, has worked with many businesses and can offer quality services at an affordable price.
Michigan links and Resources
To help you in your Michigan business entity search process, we’ve compiled a short list of links to information and resources to help you quickly navigate to what you need.
LARA Michigan contact details
- Contact page: https://www.michigan.gov/lara/0,4601,7-154-76106-42245–,00.html
- Website: https://www.michigan.gov/som/0,4669,7-192-29943—,00.html
- Email: [emailprotected]
- Contact form: https://notetolara.apps.lara.state.mi.us/
- Phone: 517-335-9700
Useful links (MI Corporations Division)
- State of Michigan Corporations Division website
- Michigan annual report filing services
- Michigan state license search
- Michigan Corporations Online Filing System (COFS)
- Michigan business entity search
- Michigan corporation forms
- Michigan certificate of good standing
- State of Michigan Entrepreneur’s Guide
- Michigan filing fee schedule
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Hello Nation! I'm a lawyer by trade and an entrepreneur by spirit. I specialize in law, business, marketing, and technology (and love it!). I'm an expert SEO and content marketer where I deeply enjoy writing content in highly competitive fields. On this blog, I share my experiences, knowledge, and provide you with golden nuggets of useful information. Enjoy!
