Every question we get, answered straight

Yes. LLC Law §206 requires every newly formed (and newly registered foreign) LLC to publish a formation notice once a week for six successive weeks in two newspapers designated by its county clerk, then file a Certificate of Publication with the Department of State. There is no opt-out.

$300 flat — both designated Albany County newspapers, the full six-week run, both affidavits, and a ready-to-file Certificate of Publication packet. You pay the state's $50 filing fee directly when you mail the packet, so your true total is $350. One price, no upsells, no surprises.

You have 120 days from your Articles of Organization taking effect to complete publication and file the certificate. Missing it suspends the LLC's authority to do business — but the suspension is fully curable by publishing late. Publication itself takes about seven weeks, so don't start with less than ~55 days left.

Your LLC keeps existing and your contracts stay valid, but the state can suspend its authority to carry on business — the practical teeth being that a suspended LLC generally can't maintain a lawsuit in New York courts. Banks, lenders, and buyers also check publication status in diligence.

No. The county clerk designates the two papers — one daily, one weekly — for the county where your LLC's office is located. Publishing in non-designated papers is invalid even if you did everything else right. For Albany County we use the Times Union and The Altamont Enterprise, both clerk-designated.

Newspaper advertising rates set the cost, and Albany's designated papers charge a small fraction of what a Manhattan daily commands ($1,000–$1,700). Since the office county on your formation paperwork decides which papers apply, an Albany office address is the long-standing affordable route.

Using an Albany County office address is a legitimate, widely used approach — filing agents have done it for decades. The requirement is that the address is real and genuinely functions as your LLC's office, such as through a registered agent or virtual office there. Don't invent an address.

No. Publication is an administrative process — no legal advice or court appearance is involved. If your situation has genuine legal questions (weird formation history, litigation), talk to an attorney; we're not a law firm and don't give legal advice.

A notarized sworn statement from each newspaper's publisher confirming your notice ran the required six weeks. You need one from each paper, and both must be attached to your Certificate of Publication. We collect both for you — they arrive weeks apart by mail and are easy to lose track of.

The one-page cover document filed with the NY Department of State, with both affidavits attached and a $50 fee. It states your LLC's name, formation date, county, and the two designated newspapers. We prepare it completed and ready for your signature.

You do, and it's deliberately easy: we email you the assembled packet with the certificate filled out. You sign it, enclose a $50 check to the Department of State, and mail one envelope to the address in our instructions. About ten minutes. Keeping that last step yours is part of why we cost less.

About seven to eight weeks: a day or two to review and place, six weeks of publication, then affidavit collection and packet assembly. Your private status page shows exactly where things stand the whole way.

The published notice must match Department of State records character-for-character — mismatches are the most common reason certificates get rejected. We check your name against the state registry before anything publishes; that check is included.

Everything you paid us. If we fail to deliver your complete ready-to-file packet, or the state rejects your filing because of an error we made, we re-publish at our expense or refund 100% of your payment — not just our service fee. Errors in information you provided aren't covered, though we'll help you fix and republish at cost.

Yes — for a full refund any time before your notices are submitted to the newspapers. After submission, we refund everything except newspaper costs actually incurred. Full details on the refunds page.

Not yet — we currently serve domestic New York LLCs publishing in Albany County, because doing one county perfectly is how we keep the price at $300. If you need another county, our cost-by-county guide will at least tell you what fair pricing looks like.