1. Fields on the California business search
The Secretary of State's field and status guide says an LLC entity number has 12 digits. The record can show the registration date, jurisdiction, status, agent for service of process, entity address, mailing address, and LLC management: member-managed, manager-managed, or one manager. The agent is the person or company that accepts service of lawsuits, subpoenas, and other legal notices.
If that agent is a corporation, the same guide says the address of the registered corporate agent may be requested by ordering a status report.
Search at bizfile Online. The broader method is the LLC owner guide.
2. Status words that change the reading
SOS Suspended or Forfeited is, the field guide says, mainly a failure to file the Statement of Information. FTB Suspended or Forfeited is a failure to meet Franchise Tax Board requirements. Those are different suspensions. A California LLC marked Canceled has filed a Certificate of Cancellation, and its powers have ceased. SOS Canceled means the filing fee payment was not honored. "Canceled" by itself is not one fact.
SI-COMPLETE marks the last fully completed Statement of Information. SI-NO CHANGE means the company reported no changes since that completed statement. For a foreign LLC, California status describes the California registration only. The home-state file can say something else. If the home state is Delaware or Wyoming, those guides explain how little the formation state prints: Delaware and Wyoming.
3. What Form LLC-12 asks the company to list
The Secretary of State's Form LLC-12 instructions say every California LLC and every registered foreign LLC files a Statement of Information within 90 days of registering, and every two years after that, during a six month window. The window is the registration month and the five months before it. The initial fee and the periodic fee are each $20. Filing is online at bizfile Online. The LLC's status must be active, or suspended or forfeited, before the form can be filed. A missed due date draws a $250 penalty under the sections the instructions cite.
Item 5 of those instructions says to enter the name and the business or residential address of any manager appointed or elected under the articles or the operating agreement. If no manager has been elected or appointed, enter the name and address of each member. The form says at least one name and address must be listed. The instructions also say a member is the owner of the LLC, similar to a shareholder in a corporation. A manager is a different line. The form does not ask for an ownership percentage.
The form instructions name Corporations Code section 17702.09 as their legal authority. This page quotes the instructions.
4. How to open the record
- Copy the name from the county assessor or the recorder.
- Search bizfile Online by name or by the 12 digit entity number.
- Write down status, jurisdiction, management type, and the agent. If the agent is a corporation, do not invent a street address the search omitted. The field guide says that address may be requested by ordering a status report.
- Open the latest SI-COMPLETE statement, or the SI-NO CHANGE filing that points back to one. Read the manager or member names, their addresses, and the filing date.
- Compare those names with the deed signature. The LLC research worksheet holds both.
5. What the statement does not prove
The statement is the company's filing as of its date. Between the two year windows it can be stale. A manager need not be a member, because the form lists managers when they exist and members when they do not. The agent for service of process accepts legal notices. The instructions note that a small LLC will often name a member or manager as that agent. The record still does not label the agent as an owner. Is the registered agent the owner covers the role.
Locate Next shows a California filing when that source can be checked, and you confirm the company before anyone named in it is searched. The limit is written on the LLC owner lookup page. Locate Next is the product home.
Common questions
Does California show LLC members or managers?
Form LLC-12 asks for each manager, or for each member if no manager was appointed or elected, with a business or residential address. You open that statement from the bizfile record. It is the filer's list as of the filing date, not a percentage.
What does FTB Suspended mean?
The Secretary of State says the Franchise Tax Board suspended or forfeited the entity for not meeting tax requirements. SOS Suspended is mainly a failure to file the Statement of Information. They are different statuses.
What does Canceled mean on a California LLC?
For a domestic LLC, Canceled means a Certificate of Cancellation was filed and powers ceased. SOS Canceled means the filing fee payment was not honored. Read the full status phrase.
Is the agent for service of process the owner?
The agent accepts lawsuits, subpoenas, and other legal notices. The form instructions say a small LLC will often name a member or manager, and they also say the agent's street address is a public record. The agent field itself is not an ownership field.
Sources
- California Secretary of State, bizfile Online business search. Checked October 22, 2026.
- California Secretary of State, search field and status definitions. Checked October 22, 2026.
- California Secretary of State, Statement of Information (Form LLC-12) and instructions. Checked October 22, 2026.
This page is general information, not legal advice.