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 19, 2026

Durham County DBA search — how to look up a fictitious business name (NC)

A DBA (doing business as) is not a legal entity. It is a filing that ties a trade name to a real business owner · a person or an LLC or a corporation. When you are underwriting a credit file, you need to know who is behind the DBA name, and you need to confirm that the owner is who you think it is. A DBA search in Durham County, North Carolina requires a trip to the county register of deeds office · or their online records · and it answers a simple question: who owns this trade name, and is the filing current?

What a DBA filing actually shows

When a business owner in Durham County registers a DBA, they file a form with the county register of deeds. The filing includes the trade name (the DBA), the owner’s legal name, the owner’s address, the filing date, and the expiration date. Some filings also list a mailing address or additional owners or managers if it is a partnership or an LLC operating under a DBA.

The key fact: a DBA is not an LLC, not a corporation, and not a separate legal entity. It is a sole proprietorship or a partnership or a member of an LLC that has chosen to do business under a different name. When you see “ABC Hauling” as a DBA, you are looking at a person or company that decided to present themselves to customers under that name instead of their legal name. For credit purposes, the owner’s legal name and the business structure matter far more than the DBA itself.

How to search Durham County DBA filings

The Durham County register of deeds office maintains records of all DBAs filed in the county. You can search these records either in person at the office or online through the county’s records system. The online search typically allows you to search by DBA name, owner name, or filing number. A search will return the filing date, expiration date, owner information, and any renewal history.

Start with the owner’s legal name if you have it · this is faster and more reliable than searching by the trade name alone, which can return multiple results or partial matches. If you only have the DBA name, search for that, but be prepared to get more than one result if the name is common or if multiple owners have used similar names over time.

Once you find a filing, pull the full record. Verify that the owner name matches your credit application. Check the expiration date · if the DBA expired and was never renewed, the filing is dead and the owner cannot legally use that trade name in the county. If the expiration date is in the future, the filing is current.

DBA filings are not registered entities

This is where many underwriters make a mistake. A DBA is not a registered business entity like an LLC or a corporation. It does not show up on a Secretary of State search · it is a county-level filing only. If you are running credit on “ABC Hauling LLC,” you must search the Secretary of State for the LLC formation, not just the county register for a DBA. The LLC is the legal entity. The DBA is just the name the LLC (or the owner) chose to use.

This distinction matters for liability, for UCC searches, and for understanding the true structure of the business. An LLC called “ABC Holdings LLC” might file a DBA called “ABC Hauling” to operate one line of business under a different name. When you pull the UCC search, the collateral is pledged by “ABC Holdings LLC,” not by “ABC Hauling.” If you only searched for the DBA and did not search the Secretary of State, you would miss the real entity and any existing liens on the true owner.

What to verify before you approve credit

Before you approve a loan or equipment line based on a business with a DBA, confirm:

The DBA filing is current (not expired). Check the expiration date on the register of deeds record. If it expired more than 30 days ago, the owner lost the right to use that name in the county.

The owner name on the DBA matches the applicant or the applicant’s legal business entity. If the application says “John Smith” and the DBA shows “Mary Smith,” you need to know why.

If the owner is an LLC or a corporation, verify that entity with the Secretary of State. A DBA is only a name; the real entity lives in the state registration.

The DBA filing address matches the applicant’s address, or at least the county of operation. If the DBA is registered in Durham County but the applicant is trying to operate in Guilford County without a separate DBA there, flag it.

When to dig deeper

A DBA search is shallow. It tells you whether a trade name is registered and who owns it. It does not tell you whether the owner is creditworthy, whether they have other DBAs, or whether they owe money in Durham County. If you are underwriting a larger credit line, you should also pull a UCC search at the state level, a Secretary of State corporate search if the owner is an entity, and a lien search in Durham County to see if the applicant (or the entity) has existing judgments or tax liens.

If the DBA is very new (filed within the last 30 days), consider whether the business has any track record. A DBA that was just registered last week on a cold-calling business proposal is a risk flag. A DBA that has been renewed multiple times over years is more stable · though still dependent on the creditworthiness of the owner.

Bottom line

A Durham County DBA search answers one question: does this trade name belong to this owner, and is the filing current? The search is fast and cheap, and it is a necessary first step before you approve any credit under a DBA name. But a DBA search is not enough. You must verify the real entity (the person, LLC, or corporation) behind the DBA through the Secretary of State and UCC records, and you must check whether that owner has other liabilities in the county. A DBA is window dressing on top of a legal owner · find the owner, and verify them, not just the name.