Where can you find the financial records of companies?

Company records for company in Windsor, California USA

• I want to place a large order with a company in Windsor, California. In this country (the UK) companies house hold company records so I can see the companies I deal with are of good financial standing. I imagine similar records must be kept in the USA but don't know where to find them - I want to know who owns the company and its latest financial statements, profit and loss account and balance sheet if possible and I need to know when these were submitted. The company's web site is http://www.plus-size.com.

• Answer:

  amaryllisbelladonna-ga, Hello from the west side of the Atlantic. In the US, businesses generally register with state governments in order to incorporate. However, only public businesses (e.g. those traded in the stock market) are required to make public their annual financial statements. Nonetheless, there are numerous sources of information that can, in combination, provide an overview of how reliable or well-established a business is. From all appearances, plus-size.com is a respectable web-based business. There is one smallish red-flag, though, which I would urge you to check into with the company before going forward with your order. As a first stop, I checked the whois record for the site: http://whois.domaintools.com/plus-size.com Whois Record for Plus-size.com Some of the information from the record is excerpted below. But two salient points are: --The site was created in 1997, and doesn't expire to 2009. This is a good sign, as it means the site has been around for a while, and intends to be around a while longer. Scam fly-by-night sites often register for the shortest time available. --The site is registered by a business, Peggy Lutz Plus, Inc. This is the registered name of the company you are interested in doing business with. ===== Created: 1997-01-16 Expires: 2009-01-17 Registrant: Peggy Lutz Plus, Inc. 6784 Depot Street Sebastapol, CA 95472 US Administrative Contact: Lutz, Margaret Plus Size Designer Outlet 7650 Bell Road Windsor, CA 95492 US (707) 824-1634 fax: (707) 823-4412 Domain Name: PLUS-SIZE.COM =============== Next, I checked with the California Secretary of State, to see if the business is registered in the state: http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/list.html ...This search can be used to determine if an entity is currently registered with the Secretary of State The results (below) show that Peggy Lutz Plus, Inc is indeed a registered business in California. Registration dates back to 1997, and prior to that, operated under a different name -- Peggy Lutz Design -- since 1989. ===== Results of search for " peggy lutz " C1633421 1/13/1989 suspended PEGGY LUTZ DESIGN INCORPORATED MARGARET E LUTZ C1999322 1/2/1997 active PEGGY LUTZ PLUS, INC. Corporation PEGGY LUTZ PLUS, INC. Number: C1999322 Date Filed: 1/2/1997 Status: active Jurisdiction: California Address 7650 BELL RD WINDSOR, CA 95442 Agent for Service of Process MICHAEL CHURLEY 740 W SEXTON RD SEBASTOPOL, CA 95472 You can order more detailed records on the company from the State of California by following the procedures below (though, in my experience, the records provide rather limited insight): http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/corp/corp_irc.htm ...the following table identifies the type of corporate information available by ordering a Status Report or a copy of the last complete Statement of Information on file. =============== Peggy Lutz Inc, and the site plus-size.com, have a web presence which is basically positive. A Google search for mention of the company or on sites *other than* plus-size.com: ://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2005-04,GGLD:en&q=%22plus%2Dsize%2Ecom%22+%2Dsite%3Awww%2Eplus%2Dsize%2Ecom did not turn up any negative comments, and did uncover some fairly positive mentions in the press and other sites: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20000123/ai_n9602326 Web offers clothes encounters for petite plus-size gals Chicago Sun-Times, Jan 23, 2000 http://extras.denverpost.com/life/kerri/kerr0314c.htm ...Peggy Lutz Plus - essential clothes for large to supersize professional women and party girls. 707-824-1634; www.plus-size.com http://www.pasazz.net/plus-size-bridal.html Editor's Choice ...Peggy Lutz Plus create fashions exclusively for plus size women. Whilst Peggy Lutz Plus specialize in forma and evening wear, they have a beautiful selection of bridal garments which you cannot miss. The designs are lovely, the fabric is a dream and the sizes are extensive. =============== I did mention a small red-flag. The site has an unsatisfactory rating from the Better Business Bureau: http://www.goldengatebbb.org/commonreport.html?bid=60101 Peggy Lutz 7650 Bell Road Vallejo, CA 94592 Telephone: (707) 837-1897 BBB Membership: This company is not a member Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau due to an unanswered complaint. Contract Issues - Claim of alleged failure to honor contract or agreement, work performed without authorization, or invalid contract. Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues. Product Issues - Claim alleging a product does not meet the expectations of the complainant, including defective merchandise. No Response--Company failed to respond to the BBB or to the consumer to resolve the issues. Note, however, that the rating is based on only a single unresolved complaint, out of a total of only two complaints on file at BBB. This does not strike me as excessive (or even that unusual), especially for a business that's been around for a fair number of years. Still, you may want to ask the company directly about the reason for their BBB rating. Lastly, a variety of credit reports are commercially available on Peggy Lutz Plus Inc from Dun and Bradstreet: http://smallbusiness.dnb.com/company-information.asp?prodid=0&catalog=Home&GUID=7A3E6F48-D51A-4FB4-AE14-5BF0F6E35617 PEGGY LUTZ PLUS INC Reports range in price from $9.99 to over $100, depending on the level of detail desired. You can see sample reports at the D&B site. I trust this is the information you need. However if there's anything else I can do for you, just let me know by posting a Request for Clarification. All the best, pafalafa-ga