Texas Business Filing Services

Your direct mail marketing plan is amazing. New entrepreneurs can be naïve about reading fine print, but let your awesome letters teach them learn their first lessons in business read everything and know what youre reading. The letters states in bold print who does and does not endorse their services. Bravo.
–guy in marketing

LIARS!!! Almost got me, thankfully when i received the letter i was soooo busy and frustrated that i put it off to the side. I just read it carefully and googled them. Im glad I did. I’m thankful for Unilocal and its information.

Just got one of these to send the bill to 700 Lavaca st, ste 1400, Austin, TX. Thank you to everyone who posted on here because it did sound fishy from the start. They did a good job at making it look official and seeing a letter written to my new LLC was pretty exciting. What a let down though and preparation for possible scams to come along the way in the future…

SCAM, SCAM, SCAM! Don’t send them money!!! I can’t believe that this company can get away with trying to take our hard earned money like this!!! This frustrates me!!! Asking for $ 59.99…for nothing!!!

I almost fell for it but after seeing «THIS PRODUCT OR SERVICE HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED OR ENDORSED BY ANY GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY…» I decided to do some research. I’m glad I did. This letter from TBFS will be going in the trash. I do see why they are still in business though. I’m sure others would be so anxious and excited about setting up their new LLC that they would over look what I saw and pay them.

Obliviously, this scam must work. But, like others before me, I googled it. Thanks goodness mankind has good Samaritans like the ones below to call out these Charlatans.
Karma will bite them. They’ve got a life they have to live with.
SHAME ON YOU «TBFS.»

The letter they send out is a scam.
I wrote them this message at their Website
:
«As a new business owner, I find your marketing to be deceptive and unethical.
The only way you found my address was via public records, and you sent me a very official-​looking letter stating that I needed your „Certificate of Status“. My attorney informs me that I need no such certificate.
You’ve put disclaimers where you need them to cover your butt legally, but you know exactly what you are doing. Your copy and format of your letter is made to trick uninformed business owners into buying an unnecessary „Certificate of Status“.
While this is technically legal, it is deceptive and unethical business practice. You should be ashamed of yourselves.»

Total scam — don’t send them your money.

Are you EFFIN kidding me with this Shizzzz! They are lucky they didn’t answer the phone. Can’t believe this is an actual «business» here we are trying to get our LLC business up and running and then you have crooks like these trying to trick us and may I add ALMOST did but being the savvy business person I am googled these sons of beeches and what do you know this poor excuse of a business was trying scam me out of some $$$. Don’t do it!
PS. How they get a way with producing such an official-​looking state document blows my mind …

If you received a letter from these guys, do NOT send them your hard earned money, as this is A LIE AND A CLEVERLY DISGUISED SCAM!
These guys do not represent the government, nor is the «service» they offer necessary for most transactions you will conduct in business.
You can print the same document on off on the secretary of state’s website for cheap with about a 2 minute google search.
My wife saved this letter from me because they emulate the look of an official state document, however they are only a private entity out to steal peoples’ hard earned money.

So glad to have read these comments. Just received the same «bill» and immediately thought it was suspicious. Can any one suggest where to report this group?

We got one of these letters as well for our new LLC. These goobers are still in business only because what they are doing is only barely legal for now and somebody every now and again pays them for this junk.
The address may not be current. Our letter has a different address. Or, knowing their business model, they may still be using both.

Do not pay this «bill» that comes to you in the mail after you register your corporation or LLC… it’s a scam… which is clear when you consider the fact that it is NOT sent by the State of TX, Secretary of State, etc… if it were a required /​mandatory fee – it would not be billed to you by private /​3^rd party vendor.
I’m not sure how these douchebags can operate without being shut down by the state for deceptive trade practices… but they do.

I would like to second the other review:
THIS IS NOT A GOVERNMENT AGENCY AND THEREFORE NOT REQUIRED FOR YOU ! ! ! ! !
This is a company that is trying to prey on newly formed businesses. I recently received this and started looking online to see the status of my business with the State of Texas. I was ok.
This was completely unsolicited and unnecessary for me to fill out. I almost spent $ 60 for something that is worth $ 15 and that I already have copies of.
DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE. You can do all this yourself at the Secretary of State’s website.

I recently formed a new LLC with the State of Texas and then received a very official looking notice from the «Texas Business Filing Services». I think those of us who have been in business awhile know that there are certain shady organizations that try to take advantage of the naïve and gullible, so this came as no surprise. What bothers me the most and makes their business reprehensible is the overt attempt to trick the recipient (me) into paying for something I don’t want and may not need.
The letter is very official looking, with a government-​type seal at the top, and the capitalized instructions that it is «IMPORTANT! FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS EXACTLY WHEN COMPLETING THIS FORM. PLEASE PRINT.». Then there’s a lot more text about how this my chance to get my «Texas Certificate of Status, issued by the Secretary of State».
Here’s what the Texas Secretary of State’s website says about the certificate of status: «‘Certificates of Account Status’, sometimes called ‘Certificates of Good Standing’, will no longer be available from the Comptroller’s office. Instead, website users may print a taxpayer’s Franchise Tax Account Status page to accomplish the same purposes.» BTW, this statement is available on the Comptroller’s website — you just search for the company name, find the page that says you’re current, and print it out. For free.
Similarly, if you want something stating that the corporation exists, you go to the Texas Secretary of State website, search for your name and they will email you a statement that your corporation exists, for $ 15.
Either way, you can easily get either of these documents on your own, online, for free or for $ 15. You sure don’t have to pay this non-​government agency $ 59.99 to get whichever one they send you.
To be fair, the letter does note, in the finer print, that the certificate is elective, and then in equally small print near the bottom, «This is not a Government Agency». So, they’ve conformed to the minimum requirements to avoid outright fraud or misrepresentation.
This is not a huge rip-​off, but it’s intentionally misleading and a crummy way to do business. Don’t fall for it — call the Secretary of State or the Comptroller’s office and they’ll get you whatever you want.