Your Filing Says 'Processing' but the State Never Got It

When you plan to start a business, you get several things crossing your mind. However, business formation companies claim to share the burden of tasks. They come up with amazing packages for users to buy and form their Limited Liability Company (LLC) or any other business structure easily. These packages include many steps, including filing formation documents.

You hired them, bought their LLC formation package, shared your details, and now you see the service dashboard says ‘processing’. However, you see no records in the Secretary of State portal. This is not an uncommon but worrisome issue users face. LLCBuddy team went ahead to find out what’s wrong and how to fix it when the dashboard says ‘processing ’, but the state does not have any records.

Filing Says ‘Processing ’, but the State Never Got It

What will you do if this issue arises after paying a hefty amount to the service? You pay them and wait for your work to be done successfully. But days later, you notice your papers never got to the State. This is not only a serious issue but also concerning, as you already paid for all the services but didn’t get your work done. You can check the best LLC services that are on the top for their customer services.

How Does an LLC Filing Service Work

Most LLC filing services have an online application. You go to their official portal, compare packages, check the best price available, select the package, pay and check out. Your service will confirm everything by sending you an email or an updated dashboard. Once you are registered with the portal, you will be able to create your dashboard.

All the processes, filings, the package you bought, and the tracking report will be there on the dashboard. Based on which company you hired, the dashboard might be different. However, you will see “processing” when your papers are filed with the state.

Your Dashboard Says “Processing”: What it Means?

Every state has a certain wait time until the registration is complete. From filing the documents and required forms until the registration is done, it must be ‘processing’ or under process. Hence, your filing dashboard will also show ‘processing’ until the registration with the state is complete.

How Long Should You Wait Until the Processing is Complete?

This is the most important thing to notice. As mentioned, there is a certain LLC processing time in every state. Once that time is over, you will either see your company’s name on the state portal as ‘Active’ or ‘Not Active’; you might not see the name at all. The problem starts from there if there is no record at all with the state.

But it will be worse if you find out that the state never got your documents. Your filing service failed to file the Articles even after receiving the full payment from you. You might pay for expedited or fast filing that your filing service offered. But you ended up losing your LLC before it was registered.

What to Do When You Find Out States Never Got Your Details

First of all, one has to know there is a difference between ‘not showing the company name’ on the state portal and ‘the state never got your details to process filing’. If there is no record, that does not always mean your filing service didn’t file your Articles. Before you get back to them, make sure there isn’t anything wrong with the state portal traffic. Sometimes, it can happen due to a long filing queue or due to any other trivial issues like portal obstructions. In this case, contact the Secretary of State directly and find out the real reason for not showing your company records on the portal.

On the other hand, if you come to know the state has never received your details, that is concerning. There are a few things you must do when you are in such situations,

• Contact Service Immediately: The very first thing you do is to contact the service and ask for clarification. Many people complain online about the automated replies they get every time they try to contact the service. If that happens frequently, report them to the relevant authority with all the filing service documents or payment proofs you have.
• Ask for Clarification: If you can reach them, make sure to ask for clarification and solid proof that they filed your LLC on time. Once the filing is completed by the service, they will have a proper confirmation from the state about it. Make sure to ask for it.
• Ask for Refund: If the company policy allows, ask for the refund immediately for failing to file your Articles on time. Some companies don’t have a refund policy; once you pay, it is all gone whether the job is done or not. Make sure to check that before you sign up with them.
• File Articles on Your Own: Once you are confirmed that the Articles were never filed and your LLC details were never sent to the State, you may proceed to the filing of formation documents on your own. It will be clean and transparent, as no third party will be involved.

However, if it is not confirmed that the state didn’t get your papers, then do not rush and file your Articles. It might be some other issue that your company records are not showing on the portal. Filing the LLC again might end up getting a duplicate record. Hence, be sure to confirm first before heading to file your LLC on your own.

Final Thought

Hiring a filing service is not an easy task when there are many, and almost everyone claims to be the best. It is normal to be confused. However, before you get to the business, check their reviews, check their social media handles to see if there is anything about their service or pricing. Compare pricing thoroughly before you hire a service.

If you encounter issues like this after making the payment for their package, make sure to ask for proof and a refund (if available) and contact the state to know if the papers reached them. Ask for professional help if needed, like report the service company to the concerned authority if there is no answer from them.