What 3 States Have LLC Newspaper Publication Requirements?

There are only 3 states that require LLCs to publish a notice in the newspaper:

• Arizona
• Nebraska
• New York

Arizona LLC Newspaper Publication Requirements

As per Section 29-3201 of the Arizona Revised Statutes, all Arizona LLCs must publish a notice of their formation in a newspaper for 3 consecutive runs. A run is usually the ad being published 1 day per week for 3 weeks.

After your LLC is approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission (AZCC), they will send you a Notice for Publication. You’ll need to fill out the notice of publication and then send it to a newspaper in the county where your Arizona LLC Statutory Agent is located.

After your newspaper ad has run, the newspaper will mail you back an Affidavit of Publication. It is not a state requirement to submit the Affidavit of Publication to the Arizona Corporation Commission, but we recommend doing so. The Arizona Corporation Commission will file your Affidavit of Publication with your LLC record for free.

LLCs with a Statutory Agent address in Maricopa County or Pima County

In 2017, the Arizona House Bill 2447 was passed. This bill eliminated the requirement for an LLC (whose Statutory Agent is located in Pima or Maricopa county) to publish an ad in the newspaper.

Why? Because the Arizona Corporation Commission publishes the notice on their website, therefore fulfilling the legal requirement for LLCs in those two counties.

For more information, please see Arizona LLC publication requirements.

Nebraska LLC Newspaper Publication Requirements

As per Nebraska Revised Statute 21-193, all LLCs formed in Nebraska are required to publish a “Notice of Organization” in a newspaper with general circulation.

The newspaper needs to be near your LLC’s Designated Office address.

Since the statute doesn’t specifically define “near”, we recommend publishing the ad in a newspaper that is located in the same county as your LLC’s Designated Office address.

The newspaper ad must run for 3 weeks. After the ad runs, the newspaper will mail you an Affidavit of Publication. Keep the original with your business records, and then mail a copy to the Nebraska Secretary of State.

For more information, please see Nebraska LLC publication requirements.

New York LLC Newspaper Publication Requirements

New York LLCs have the most notorious publication requirement, primarily because it’s so darn expensive (especially for people in NYC and the 5 boroughs, with fees as high as $1,200!)

The statute governing this requirement is Section 206 of the New York LLC Act.

All LLCs formed in New York must publish notice of their formation in 2 newspapers. Both newspapers must be approved by the County Clerk located in the same county as the LLC’s office.

One newspaper must have a daily circulation and one newspaper must have a weekly circulation. Additionally, the newspaper ads must run for 6 consecutive weeks.

After the newspaper ads have run for your New York LLC, the newspapers will mail you back Affidavits of Publication. You’ll need to mail both Affidavits of Publication along with a $50 filing fee and a Certificate of Publication.

All of this must be done within 120 days of your LLC being formed.

Note: We have a publication strategy where you can publish your newspaper ads in Albany County and save up to $1,000. For more information, please see New York LLC publication requirements.

Why do LLC newspaper publication requirements exist?

By publishing an ad in the newspaper, you are putting the public “on notice”, letting them know that a new LLC exists.

This requirement is outdated, expensive, and unnecessarily held in place by newspaper lobbyists (especially in New York) as a way to make money.

Nonetheless, these are still legal requirements written into the LLC Statutes of Arizona, Nebraska, and New York.

Additionally, there are penalties and risks if your LLC does not meet the newspaper publication requirements in those states.

Important note: If you’re thinking of forming an LLC in another state to avoid this requirement, think again. Forming an LLC out of state, but doing business in your home state, will require you to register your out-of-state LLC as a Foreign LLC in your home state. This means you now have to pay LLC filing fees in 2 states, hire a registered agent in the foreign state, and possibly pay annual reports in both states. For more information, please see Best state to form an LLC.

The newspaper publication requirements in Arizona, Nebraska, and New York are required for both Domestic LLCs and Foreign LLCs.

After your ads run in the newspaper(s), the newspaper(s) will send you back an Affidavit of Publication.

An Affidavit of Publication is a legal document making a sworn statement that the LLC’s newspaper ad(s) actually ran.

This Affidavit of Publication is usually signed and notarized by an authorized representative of the newspaper.

Publication requirements for DBAs and Corporations

Disclaimer: We do not cover DBAs and Corporations like we do LLCs (at this time), but according to our resources, the following list includes the states which require newspaper publication for DBAs and Corporations.

States that require newspaper publication for Corporations:

• Arizona
• Nebraska
• Pennsylvania
• Georgia

States that require newspaper publication for DBAs:

• California
• Georgia
• Florida
• Illinois
• Pennsylvania (only if the PA Fictitious Name is owned by a person; search “advertising is required“)
• Minnesota
• Nebraska

Note: DBAs have multiple names. Depending on the state, they can also be referred to as an Assumed Name, Doing Business As (DBA), Fictitious Name, or Trade Name.

Related article: Do I need a DBA for my LLC?

Matt Horwitz

Founder & Educator, LLC University®

Matt Horwitz has been the leading expert on LLC education for the past decade. He founded LLC University in 2010 after realizing people needed simple and actionable instructions to start an LLC that other companies weren't offering. He's cited by Entrepreneur Magazine, Yahoo Finance, and the US Chamber of Commerce, and was featured by CNBC and InventRight.
 
Matt holds a Bachelor's Degree in business from Drexel University with a concentration in business law. He performs extensive research and analysis to convert state laws into simple instructions anyone can follow to form their LLC - all for free! Read more about Matt Horwitz and LLC University.