Are you a business owner who has recently received a notice from the state stating that the charter for your LLC or Corporation has been forfeited? Well, I'm going to explain what to do if you're in this situation.

First: don't panic.

The charter for your LLC or Corporation is approved by the state for you to do business there. The state can revoke or forfeit that approval for a couple of reasons, the main being the failure to file an annual report. The other common reason that states forfeit approvals is failure to pay business personal property taxes that are due. If you fail to do either of those, you're going to get a notice from the state stating that your Charter is forfeited. 

Again, don't panic. Luckily, this is an easy thing to correct; you can do it online. First, you need to find out why the charter was forfeited, and then remedy it. If you haven't filed your annual report, file that report. If you haven't paid your personal property taxes, make sure you pay those taxes. But it doesn't end there: you take one more step; you need to file what are called “articles of revival” with the state. 

After the charter is forfeited, unless you file those articles of revival, even if you undo all those things that made the charter be forfeited, you're not going to be in good standing until you get the Revival articles filed and approved by the state. 

Sounds complicated. It really isn't. Again, don't panic. If you get such a notice, feel free to give us a call.