VerifySOS is a 50-state business-verification tool for credit and underwriting in trucking and commercial finance. One search merges Secretary of State registration, FMCSA/USDOT authority, OFAC sanctions, ownership, and county DBA filings into a single PDF packet.

How do I look up a business across all 50 states?

Enter the company name and its 2-letter state code (or a USDOT number) on verifysos.com. It searches the Secretary of State and FMCSA SAFER side by side, screens OFAC, and generates a verification packet PDF.

How much does VerifySOS cost?

There is a free tier and a Pro plan at $14.99/month with unlimited searches.

Does VerifySOS show business ownership and officers?

Yes. Where a state publishes officers, members, or managers in its free public records, VerifySOS pulls them into the packet, separate from the registered agent, which is not the owner.

← All posts July 21, 2026

Davidson County DBA search — how to look up a fictitious business name (TN)

A DBA (doing business as), fictitious business name, or assumed name in Davidson County is a trade name — not a legal entity. It’s filed at the county level, not the state, and it expires. If a borrower tells you their business is “Smith’s Roofing LLC” but you only find a DBA filing for “Smith’s Roofing,” you’re missing the actual registered entity. That gap costs money in underwriting.

Why county-level DBAs matter for credit

When a sole proprietor, partnership, or even an LLC wants to operate under a name that isn’t their legal business name, they file a fictitious business name (FBN) or assumed name certificate at the county clerk’s office. In Davidson County (Nashville), this is a public record. You need it because it tells you:

Who legally owns the business · the person or entity behind the trade name
When the filing began and when it expires
Whether the name is in good standing or abandoned

The danger is treating the DBA as the legal entity. It is not. A DBA is a permission to use a name. The legal entity · the LLC, corporation, sole proprietorship, or partnership · is filed elsewhere (usually the Tennessee Secretary of State for LLCs and corporations). If you lend to “Smith’s Roofing” without verifying whether Smith’s Roofing is a sole proprietor, an LLC, or a corporation, your credit agreement is incomplete.

How to search Davidson County FBN records

The Davidson County Clerk’s office maintains the assumed name register. You can access records through the county’s online system, which allows you to search by business name, owner name, or file number. The search is free and returns the filing date, expiration date, and principal owner information.

When you find a match, the record shows the legal name of the person or entity filing the DBA, their address, the fictitious name they’re using, and the date filed. Some records also show the nature of the business. Check the expiration date carefully · if it has lapsed, the DBA is no longer valid, and the borrower may not be operating legally under that name.

This is a manual lookup, and if you’re verifying entities across multiple counties or states, the work compounds. Tennessee has 95 counties, each with separate assumed name records. Davidson County alone handles hundreds of filings per year.

The DBA is not the registered entity

This is where underwriters trip up. You find a DBA filing for “Metro Logistics” owned by John Doe, sole proprietor. That tells you John Doe is operating under that name. It does not tell you John Doe has an LLC, corporation, or other legal structure. If the actual entity is “Metro Logistics LLC,” that’s registered at the Tennessee Secretary of State, not the county. If it’s just “John Doe doing business as Metro Logistics,” then he’s a sole proprietor, and any liability flows directly to him.

Your credit file should reflect the legal structure. If you’re lending to a sole proprietor, your personal guarantee, lien, and UCC filing all depend on understanding that. If you’re lending to an LLC, you need the Secretary of State filing, the operating agreement, and the member information. The DBA alone tells you neither.

What to cross-check

Once you have the DBA record, verify it against Secretary of State records. Search for any entity registered under the same name or the owner’s legal name. If “Smith’s Roofing LLC” is registered with the Tennessee Secretary of State and there’s also a DBA called “Smith’s Roofing,” confirm they’re the same entity and that the registered agent and manager match what the DBA shows.

Also check the filing date. A recent DBA that claims to have been in business for years is a red flag. If the borrower says they’ve been operating for five years but the DBA was filed six months ago, you need to know why. Either they just registered the name for some reason, or their history claim doesn’t hold.

UCC and DBA timing

If you’re pulling UCC filings in Davidson County (through the Tennessee Secretary of State’s UCC search, not the county clerk), note that DBAs and UCC records are separate systems. A UCC filing on “Smith’s Roofing” might name the registered owner as “John Doe” or “Smith’s Roofing LLC.” Match the name on the UCC to the DBA owner and the entity registration to make sure you’re looking at liens against the right business and the right person.

Bottom line

A Davidson County DBA search is a county-level lookup that identifies the owner of a trade name and confirms the name is active. It is not a substitute for Secretary of State registration records, and it is not proof of legal entity status. Pull the DBA, confirm the owner, then search the state records for the actual registered business. Only then do you know what you’re lending to and who is liable. Skipping that step leaves your credit file incomplete and your collateral position at risk.