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 19, 2026

Yolo County DBA search — how to look up a fictitious business name (CA)

A fictitious business name (DBA, assumed name, FBN) in Yolo County is registered at the county recorder’s office, not at the state level. If you’re underwriting a sole proprietor or partnership that operates under a trade name, you need to pull the actual DBA filing to confirm who owns it and whether it’s current. The county recorder’s office in Woodland is the only source for this record.

What a Yolo County DBA filing actually shows

A fictitious business name statement filed in Yolo County contains the trade name, the legal owner(s) behind it, the street address where the business is operated, and the filing date. California law requires this statement to be published in a local newspaper, and the filing is recorded at the county recorder level. The document shows the name of the person or entity operating under the assumed name, plus their residence address (for individuals) or principal place of business.

This is not a substitute for a Secretary of State entity search. A DBA is a trade name only. The person filing a DBA is usually a sole proprietor or a general partnership, but they could also be an LLC or corporation doing business under a name other than their legal entity name. The DBA itself is not an entity with separate liability; it’s just a name registration. For credit purposes, you must find the legal entity (or the individual’s SSN if they’re truly sole proprietor) underneath the DBA.

How to search Yolo County fictitious business names

The Yolo County Recorder’s Office maintains an online index of fictitious business name filings. You can search by the trade name, the owner’s name, or the filing number if you have it. The search returns the statement, the date filed, and the names of all owners listed on the filing.

Start by visiting the Yolo County Recorder’s website and looking for the DBA or fictitious business name index. Enter the business name you’re verifying. If it appears, pull the full filing document. Read it carefully. The owners listed on the filing are your underwriting subjects. If the filing shows only a first and last name with no entity type, that’s a sole proprietor. If it lists multiple people, it’s likely a general partnership (unless they also hold an LLC). If the owner is listed as an LLC or corporation, cross-check the entity name against the Secretary of State database in California.

Expiration and renewal are your responsibility

Yolo County DBA filings expire every five years from the date of filing. California does not automatically send renewal notices. If the filing is expired, the business no longer has legal authority to operate under that assumed name. An expired DBA is a red flag in underwriting · it suggests the business stopped operating under that name, or it’s operating illegally without current registration.

When you pull a DBA record, check the filing date and calculate the five-year term. If it’s past expiration, ask the applicant directly whether they renewed. If they didn’t, you’re looking at a compliance gap. Renewed filings should be in the recorder’s index under a new file number or a renewal notation.

DBA vs. registered entity: the underwriting distinction

The most common error is treating a Yolo County DBA filing as proof of a registered business. It’s not. A DBA is paperwork filed at the county level; it’s a trade name record. A registered entity is an LLC, corporation, or partnership registered with the California Secretary of State. They’re separate things.

For credit purposes, you need both. If an applicant is an LLC operating under a DBA, you pull the LLC record at the Secretary of State (to verify the legal entity, the members, the agent, and the standing) and the DBA filing at Yolo County (to confirm the trade name is registered and current). If the applicant is a sole proprietor, there’s no Secretary of State entity; the DBA is their only business registration, but you’ll need to identify them by SSN and personal credit.

Why you can’t skip the DBA check

Assume the applicant gives you a business card with a trade name and a Yolo County address. You run a Secretary of State search and find nothing. That doesn’t mean the business doesn’t exist. It means it’s not incorporated or LLC’d. The business may be a sole proprietor or partnership operating under a DBA. The only way to verify it and find the owner is to search the Yolo County recorder’s fictitious business name index.

Conversely, if you find a Yolo County DBA filing but no matching Secretary of State entity, verify that the owner listed on the DBA isn’t also an officer or member of an LLC or corporation registered elsewhere. Some small operators file a DBA as their trade name but register an LLC under their legal name. The county record will show the trade name; the state record will show the entity. Both must be checked.

Bottom line

A Yolo County DBA search is a county-level lookup, not a state lookup, and it’s required when you’re verifying a trade name. Check the filing date, the expiration, and the owner names listed on the statement. Cross-reference those names against a Secretary of State search to confirm whether the business is also a registered entity. Don’t assume a DBA filing means the applicant is in good standing · always verify currency and then move to the state-level search to complete the picture. For multi-state deals or mixed registrations, pulling all the pieces by hand across different county recorders is slow and error-prone. Consolidating the DBA lookup with your Secretary of State, UCC, and USDOT searches into one report cuts the friction.