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 03, 2026

Wayne County DBA search — how to look up a fictitious business name (MI)

A DBA search in Wayne County, Michigan is not optional if you are underwriting a credit application for a business operating under an assumed name in the Detroit area. A DBA filing tells you who the real owner is, when the name was registered, and whether the registration is current. But it is also the place where most underwriters miss a critical fact: a DBA is not a registered business entity. It is a registration of a name used by an entity that exists elsewhere. Miss that distinction and your credit decision collapses.

What a Wayne County DBA filing actually shows

When a business registers a fictitious business name (assumed name, or DBA) in Wayne County, the filing creates a public record that names the person or entity behind the assumed name. The record will include the real business name (often an LLC or sole proprietorship), the owner or manager, the business address, the date of filing, and the expiration date. Many underwriters stop at the DBA name itself and never connect it to the legal entity. That is a mistake. The DBA is a wrapper; the entity underneath is what you need to verify for credit. If the applicant says they operate as “Detroit Delivery Solutions” but the DBA points to an LLC called “Solutions Logistics LLC,” you now know the real entity name to search in the Michigan Secretary of State records. Without that connection, you are underwriting a phantom.

How to search Wayne County assumed names yourself

The Wayne County Clerk’s office maintains a searchable index of fictitious business names registered in the county. The search is open to the public. You can look up a DBA by the assumed name or by the name of the owner or entity behind it. Results will show the filing date, expiration date, owner name, and business address. The index is updated regularly, though there can be a lag of a few days between filing and posting online. If you are verifying a business that says it just registered a DBA, call the clerk’s office to confirm the filing has been recorded; do not assume the online index is complete on the day you are underwriting.

The search covers only Wayne County filings. If an applicant operates in multiple counties in Michigan, you must search each county’s clerk office separately. A DBA registered in Macomb County will not show up in Wayne County records, even if the business also operates a location in Detroit. This is one of the clearest friction points in Michigan business verification: there is no statewide assumed-name index. You have to work county by county.

DBAs expire and must be renewed

Unlike a Michigan LLC or corporation, which remains registered indefinitely once formed (until dissolved), a DBA registration has an expiration date. In Wayne County, most fictitious business name registrations are valid for five years from the filing date. If the registration has expired and the owner has not renewed it, the DBA is no longer valid. Operating under an expired assumed name does not automatically dissolve the underlying entity, but it does mean the business is not in compliance with Michigan law for using that name publicly. For credit purposes, an expired DBA is a red flag. It suggests the business has not renewed its filings, which raises questions about administrative attention and compliance overall.

Check the expiration date carefully. If it is within six months and the applicant has not yet filed a renewal, ask when they plan to renew. If they seem indifferent or unaware of the expiration, that tells you something about how they manage their business obligations.

A DBA is not a registered entity; here is why it matters

This is the point that separates competent underwriting from rubber-stamping. A DBA registration does not make a business an entity. It registers a name. The legal entity (the sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership, or corporation) exists separately, either in the Michigan Secretary of State’s files or in another state. If you run a credit check and find a DBA but fail to verify the underlying entity, you have verified nothing about the business’s legal status, ownership structure, or debt capacity. You have only confirmed that someone filed a form to use a name.

Here is the risk in concrete terms: an applicant applies for equipment financing under the name “Metro Auto Logistics.” You find a Wayne County DBA for that name. You do not search the Michigan Secretary of State, so you do not discover that the LLC behind the DBA was formed four months ago, has a different owner than the person named on the DBA (a common red flag when spouses or partners separate), or is already in default on another lender’s equipment note. The DBA search alone gave you no pathway to that information. You approved the deal on the strength of a fictitious-business-name filing and later found yourself in a second-lien position on assets already pledged.

Connecting the DBA to the entity: the required next step

Once you have the Wayne County DBA filing in hand, use it to identify the legal entity. The filing will name the real business. Search that name in the Michigan Secretary of State’s online business database. Verify the entity’s filing date, current status (active, dissolved, administratively dissolved, etc.), registered agent, and officers or members. This is the moment when you move from a name lookup to actual entity verification. Only then can you pull UCC filings under the entity’s name, confirm USDOT and FMCSA records if the business operates vehicles, and run offeror and beneficial-ownership checks. The DBA is the key that unlocks the door to the actual business record; it is not the door itself.

Bottom line

A Wayne County DBA search is a required first step for any credit decision on a business operating under an assumed name in the Detroit area, but it is only a first step. Use the DBA filing to find the legal entity, then verify the entity in the Secretary of State records. Too many underwriters confuse a DBA lookup with entity verification and later discover they underwritten a shell. The DBA tells you the name is registered; the entity records tell you whether the business is real, solvent, and worth credit. Do both.