Confirm existence
Confirm existence
Check whether the business appears in official state records.
Secretary of State API for business registration checks
Secretary of State API for business registration checks
Check registration status, names, addresses, officers, and registered agent details, then use the results in onboarding and review.
Trusted by developers and operations teams building business onboarding workflows.
Trusted by developers and operations teams building business onboarding workflows.
What is a Secretary of State API?
What is a Secretary of State API?
An SOS API helps teams retrieve and verify Secretary of State registration data for a business. It can show whether a business is registered, active, inactive, dissolved, foreign-qualified, or otherwise represented in state filings. State registration data is useful only when teams can compare it to the application. Middesk returns registration status, names, addresses, officers, registered agent, and formation details with the business profile so teams can review mismatches and monitor changes after onboarding.
How the Secretary of State API works
How the Secretary of State API works
Step 1:
Submit business information. Send the business name, address, and formation or operating state when available.
Step 2:
Retrieve registration data. Middesk returns matching registration records, status, jurisdiction, officers, registered agent, and formation details when available.
Step 3:
Review mismatches. Compare state records to the submitted application.
Step 4:
Monitor changes. Track status, address, officer, name, or registration events after onboarding.
Information you can get with Secretary of State API
Information you can get with Secretary of State API
[need to update]
01
Registration status
Active, inactive, dissolved, withdrawn, or other state-specific statuses.
02
Jurisdiction
Domestic, foreign, formation, and operating-state context.
03
Names
Legal names, DBAs, and submitted-name matches.
04
Addresses
Registration and filing addresses.
05
People and officers
Officers and associated people listed in state filings.
06
Registered agent
Agent details and addresses when available.
07
Timeline and monitoring
Changes to registration data over time.
Applications of the SOS API
Applications of the SOS API
Companies in a variety of different industries need to verify business to effectively manage their B2B relationships.
Fintechs
Verify business customers quickly while meeting KYB, AML, and fraud-prevention requirements.
Insurance
Assess business identity and risk before underwriting commercial customers.
Commercial banking
Confirm a business is real, registered, and safe to serve before opening an account.
Lenders
Understand business identity and risk before extending capital.
Marketplaces
Keep fraudulent or non-compliant sellers out while reducing friction for legitimate businesses.
Payments
Screen merchants before enabling payment activity and monitor for risk after onboarding.
Accelerated business verification
Accelerated business verification
Catch application mismatches
Compare submitted names, addresses, and people to filings.
Reduce portal work
Avoid routine state-by-state manual searches.
Stay current
Monitor registration changes after approval.
What makes Middesk's Secretary of State API different?
Middesk does not treat SOS data as a portal dump. Registration data appears with the business profile and review workflow, so teams can connect state records to tax ID, address, screening, document, and monitoring signals.
Edge cases make KYB hard. We had significant fraud at the end of last year because our previous solution missed basic signals.
For example, the applicant name didn't match the officer name on the state registration, and the applicant email didn't match what was publicly listed on the business website. We were auto-approving businesses that should have gone to manual review. It cost us tens of thousands of dollars.
Head of Risk
Fintech Company
Frequently asked questions about the SOS API
Frequently asked questions about the SOS API
It can return Secretary of State registration details such as status, jurisdiction, legal names, addresses, officers, registered agent, and formation data when available.