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, UCC liens, 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, a Starter plan at $14.99/month (about 250 searches), and a Pro plan at $25/month with unlimited searches plus API access, UCC, and DBA.

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 June 24, 2026

Midland County DBA search — how to look up a fictitious business name (TX)

A DBA (doing business as) is not a registered business entity. It is a filing that lets a sole proprietor or partnership operate under a trade name. In Midland County, Texas, a DBA search tells you who owns the trade name and when it expires, but it does not tell you the legal standing of the underlying person or partnership. Many underwriters skip the county DBA records entirely and miss critical ownership disclosure. If a borrower is operating under a fictitious business name in Midland County, you need to see that filing.

What a DBA filing actually shows

A fictitious business name filing in Midland County lists the person or partnership that registered the trade name, their mailing address, and the effective and expiration dates of the filing. That is all. It does not register the business as a legal entity. It does not create liability protection, it does not show corporate governance, and it does not carry UCC data. What it does do is create a paper trail: someone filed this DBA with the county, they claim to own this name, and the state needs them to renew it periodically to keep operating.

For underwriting purposes, the DBA filing is your proof that the borrower disclosed their real name and address when they took on a trade name. If the applicant tells you they operate as “Midland Logistics Solutions” but the county records show a DBA filed under a different person’s name, you have a mismatch. If the DBA is expired, the borrower should not be operating under that name at all, and continued use is a compliance violation in Texas.

How to find a DBA in Midland County

The Midland County Clerk maintains fictitious business name records. You can search the county’s public records through the clerk’s office. The search should let you query by the trade name (the DBA itself), the owner’s name, or the file number. A complete search returns the registered owner, their address, the filing date, and the expiration date. Texas DBAs are typically valid for ten years from the filing date.

Start with the trade name the applicant gave you. If that returns no result, search the owner’s legal name. If the borrower is a partnership, the filing should name all partners. If you find a DBA but the owner’s name does not match what the applicant provided, stop and ask the applicant to clarify. Do not assume a name change; ask for a court order or a corrected filing.

Why a DBA is not a registered entity

This is the biggest mistake in credit files. A borrower with a DBA in Midland County is not registered as a business with the State of Texas. They are not a corporation, LLC, or partnership in the Secretary of State records (though they could be a partnership or sole proprietor elsewhere). A DBA is a county filing only. If you need to verify that the business is legally formed, you must search the Texas Secretary of State separately. If you find a DBA but no entity registration, the borrower is operating as a sole proprietor or general partnership under a trade name. That matters for personal guarantee, UCC collateral, and tax reporting.

Many underwriters treat a DBA as sufficient proof of business registration. It is not. It is proof that someone filed a name with the county. For credit decisioning, you need the Secretary of State records for the underlying entity, or a tax ID and personal financial statement if the borrower is a sole proprietor trading under the DBA.

Check the expiration date

A Midland County DBA that has expired is a red flag. Texas allows a ten-year filing period, and renewals must be filed with the county clerk before the expiration date. If the DBA expired and the borrower is still operating under that name, the business is not in compliance with Texas law. Some lenders allow a grace period (Texas law does provide a brief window to renew), but a lapsed DBA signals administrative sloppiness at minimum.

If the DBA is within six months of expiration, ask the applicant when they plan to renew. Do not fund a deal on a DBA that is about to lapse unless the applicant has already filed the renewal. Get proof of the renewal filing from the clerk, not from the applicant’s word.

Matching the DBA to other records

Once you have the DBA filing, cross-check it against other records the applicant has provided. The mailing address on the DBA should match the business address on the loan application. The owner’s name on the DBA should match the personal guarantor. If the borrower also has a Secretary of State entity (an LLC or corporation), the DBA should list one of the entity’s owners or managers as the DBA owner, or the entity itself.

If the DBA was filed by someone other than the current applicant, ask for a bill of sale, assignment, or other evidence of transfer. DBAs do not transfer; they expire and a new owner must file a new DBA. If there is a gap, the borrower operated illegally under the old trade name during that period.

Bottom line

A DBA search in Midland County is a basic due-diligence step, not a substitute for entity verification. Pull the county record, confirm the owner and expiration date match your applicant’s story, then verify the underlying business entity with the Secretary of State and UCC records. A borrower with a valid, matching DBA and clean Secretary of State registration is lower risk than one operating on an expired or mismatched DBA. The cost of a county DBA lookup is negligible; the risk of missing a lapsed or fraudulent trade name in your credit file is not.