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 August 10, 2026

Story County DBA search — how to look up a fictitious business name (IA)

A DBA (doing business as) is not a legal entity. It’s a filing that lets someone operate under a trade name instead of their legal name. In Story County, Iowa, a DBA is registered at the county level, not at the state level. When you’re underwriting a deal, a DBA lookup tells you who the real owner is and whether the name is active, but it does not replace a Secretary of State LLC or corporation search. Many underwriters skip the DBA step and miss the actual person or entity behind the trade name.

What a Story County DBA filing actually shows

A fictitious business name filing in Story County captures the legal owner, the trade name they’re using, the address where they’ll operate, and the filing dates. The county clerk’s office maintains these records. When you find a filing, you get the date it was registered and when it expires (typically five years from filing, though you need to confirm the renewal status). You do not get financial statements, tax information, or credentialing. A DBA is not a business license and it is not a registration of the entity itself. It is proof that someone declared they would trade under that name in that county.

Why you need both the DBA and the state registration

Here’s the critical underwriting issue: a sole proprietor can file a DBA under their legal name. An LLC or corporation can also file a DBA to operate under a second name. If you see a business operating as “Smith’s Hauling” in Story County, you must find out whether “Smith’s Hauling” is a sole proprietor named John Smith, or whether it’s a shell LLC called “Smith Holdings LLC” doing business as “Smith’s Hauling.” The DBA tells you the name; the state Secretary of State lookup tells you the legal structure and whether the entity is in good standing. Miss either one and you’ve missed a layer of ownership verification.

The county lookup process

The Story County Recorder’s Office maintains DBA records. To search for a fictitious business name, you will contact the county or use the county’s public records search tool. You search by the trade name or by the owner’s legal name, depending on what information you have. Once you find a filing, confirm it is current (not expired). Write down the file date, expiration date, the owner’s legal name, and the registered address. If the filing shows an LLC or corporation name, that’s your flag to go to the Iowa Secretary of State website and verify that entity’s status.

Do not assume a DBA that appears in the records is current. If the filing is five years old and you cannot confirm a renewal or re-registration, treat it as expired. A lapsed DBA means the owner is either operating without a current filing (a red flag) or has formally stopped using that name.

The owner question: sole proprietor vs. registered entity

This is where DBA lookups prevent deals from breaking. A DBA filed under “John Smith, doing business as Smith’s Excavation” means John Smith, the individual, is the entity. He is personally liable for the debt. An LLC filing at the state level that then files a DBA means the LLC is the entity and John Smith is a member or manager of that LLC. The liability structure, tax treatment, and underwriting ask are completely different. The DBA alone does not tell you this; you must cross-reference the state Secretary of State database.

When a DBA search fails to find a name

If you search Story County for a DBA and find nothing, do not assume the name is not in use. The business may be operating as a registered LLC or corporation at the state level without a separate DBA filing (many do). The business may be operating without any filing at all (a compliance risk). Or the filing may be in a different county. A DBA is a county-level filing; if the business has physical operations in multiple Iowa counties, they may have filed in only one. Always confirm which county the primary address is in, and always run the Iowa Secretary of State search in parallel.

Bottom line

A DBA search in Story County answers one question: is there a current fictitious business name filing under that trade name, and who owns it? It does not answer whether the legal entity behind that DBA is sound, licensed, or in good standing. For any credit deal, pull the county DBA record, then pull the Iowa Secretary of State LLC or corporation record for the named owner, then run USDOT and OFAC checks. Skipping the DBA step means you miss the owner; skipping the state step means you miss the structure. Both searches are required to verify the actual party to the contract.