TENNESSEE — Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett is warning business owners about a new scam targeting businesses with a deceptive mailer from a company called Business Document Center incorrectly implying that businesses need a Certificate of Good Standing.
“Unfortunately, our Division of Business and Charitable Organizations and I were recently made aware of yet another company sending out misleading mailers trying to take advantage of Tennessee business owners,” said Secretary Hargett. “These mailers imply that businesses must have a Certificate of Good Standing to operate in Tennessee. A Certificate of Good Standing is not even something that our office offers. What is called a Certificate of Good Standing in some other states is a Certificate of Existence in Tennessee, and neither are necessary to do business in our great state.”
This most recent mailer, titled 2022 Certificate of Status Request Form, tries to get Tennessee business owners to pay $87.25 for the Business Document Center to request a Certificate of Good Standing on their behalf, according to a release from the Secretary of State.
A Certificate of Good Standing is not a document available from the Secretary of State’s office.
The fee the Business Document Center is charging is four times more than the Secretary of State’s office charges for an equivalent document offered, a Certificate of Existence, the release said.
The mailer and the Business Document Center are not affiliated with or…
