How to Publish an LLC in New York
The definitive do-it-yourself guide to completing the NYS LLC publication requirement under Section 206 of the Limited Liability Company Law
Courtesy of NewYorkLLCPublishing.com

INTRODUCTION

New York’s somewhat antiquated legal publishing requirement for all new LLCs formed in the state can be confusing and tedious for new business owners.

There are a myriad of online services that will handle this process for you. A simple Google search for “LLC publishing in NY” or “New York LLC legal publishing” will reveal companies who perform the service for a fee.

However, if you’re looking to save a few dollars (and for many new business owners, every dollar counts), we are going to walk you through the process step-by-step. If you pay attention to detail and do exactly what we advise, you’ll be able to complete the process without too much headache.

DRAFTING YOUR LEGAL NOTICE

The first thing you need to do is write up the notice to be published. It should copy the following format. We’ll go through each of the variables in the example notice below, highlighted in RED (please note that this example assumes your LLC is “domestic,” meaning that it was originally formed in New York State; foreign LLCs must follow a different format).

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Section 206
NOTICE OF FORMATION of [your complete & accurate LLC name]. Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of NY on [original date of formation]. Office location: [county in which the LLC is located]. SSNY designated as agent for service of process & shall mail same to [complete address listed with SSNY]. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
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The first variable is your LLC name. This must be exact as far as spelling, spacing, and punctuation. Commas must be included if necessary. Any mistakes will cause your certificate of publication to be rejected, and you'll have to start the process all over again (and pay the newspapers again!).

The second variable is your date of formation. If you’re not sure of the exact date, you have two options: (a) Locate the “filing receipt” that was issued to you by New York State’s Division of Corporations after you formed the LLC. It’s a single page that indicates the amount you paid the state to form you LLC, and also contains the official state seal of New York. Look for the “existence date” and enter that in your notice. (b) If you can’t find your filing receipt, head over to the NYS Corporations Database at https://apps.dos.ny.gov/publicInquiry/#search and look up your LLC. You’ll be able to find the “Effective Date Initial Filing” for your LLC.

The third thing you need to include is the county in which your LLC is located. Easy enough.

Lastly, enter the complete address as indicated on your filing receipt or in the record as shown in the online database.

Now that your notice is drafted, it’s on to the next step.

SUBMITTING YOUR LEGAL NOTICE TO THE NEWSPAPERS

Here’s where it gets a bit tricky. You’ll need to submit your notice to two newspapers (one daily and one weekly) for six weeks each in the county in which your LLC is located. Each county has its own “designated newspapers”; in other words, newspapers that are specifically chosen by each county clerk for publishing notices of formation. You can’t just pick your own papers – you must choose from the officially designated newspapers.

Finding the designated newspapers for each county can be a bit of a hassle. Your best bet is to do a Google search on “[___] County designated newspapers for LLC publishing.” If you can’t find the answer, you may need to call the county clerk directly and just ask. Be aware that each county’s papers charge different prices that pretty much correspond with the paper’s circulation size and/or population of the county. For example, New York County (Manhattan) only has one designated paper for the daily, and that’s the New York Law Journal, which will charge you $723 to complete the six-week run (and that’s without taking into consideration the cost for the weekly paper). The total cost, with daily & weekly plus the state filing fee, will cost you well over $1,000 for Manhattan and Bronx-based LLCs. The cost to publish in the Queens, Kings, and Staten Island can run between $600 and $1200.

These costs may seem crazy, but you really have no choice other than finding a legal publishing service that knows a thing or two about how to save you some money (more on that below).

Once you’ve found the proper newspapers that will run your notices, you’ll be able to email or fax them over as per their instructions. The papers will then get back to you with costs, tentative run dates, and a proof of the notice for your review and approval. In most cases, you’ll need to reply with your approval as well as payment.

After you’ve approved and paid for both newspapers, it’s time to just sit back and wait for the six week run to finish. After that, it is usually a week or two until you receive the affidavits from the newspapers. Once you’ve received them, it’s on the to the next step.

PREPARING & SUBMITTING THE CERTIFICATE OF PUBLICATION

Now that you have both affidavits in hand (one from the weekly, one from the daily), you’ll need to prepare the Certificate of Publication, which can be downloaded from the NYS Dept. of State website at https://dos.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2023/08/1708-f.pdf.

Fill in the required info as directed on the form:

-    Name of your LLC (3 places as indicated)
-    Your title or role with the LLC such as Owner, Manager, or otherwise Authorized Person
-    Your LLC’s date of formation
-    Today’s date
-    Your signature
-    “Filed By” info (the name and address where you want your receipt to be mailed)

Now, assemble the package to be filed in this order:

-    Page 1 of the Certificate of Publication
-    Both affidavits
-    Page 2 of the Certificate of Publication

As you can see, the affidavits are effectively “sandwiched” between the two pages of the Certificate of Publication. This is the way the Dept. of State requires it to be filed.

Next, download the Credit Card/Debit Card Authorization Form from the NYS Dept. of State website at https://dos.ny.gov/credit-carddebit-card-authorization-form and fill it out as directed with your payment info. The filing fee is $50.

You’ll have two extra options to consider on the payment form. First is the processing speed. As of this writing, regular (non-expedited) filings are taking 7-9 months to process by the state. Yes, you read that right. If you don’t want to wait that long, choose expedited processing for the extra $25 and have your filing processed within one business day.

The other option is to request a certified copy of the filing for an extra $10, but you really don’t need it.

Then, assemble your final filing package with the Credit Card/Debit Card Authorization Form as the first page, and the previously assembled Certificate of Publication after that. Mail the complete package as well as your payment to:

New York Department of State
Division of Corporations
One Commerce Plaza
99 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12231

After that, it’s just a waiting game. If you selected expedited processing, the timeline should go something like this:

- 5 days mailing time to Albany
- 1-2 days for processing by Division of Corporations
- 5 days mailing time back to you

Total turnaround time about 10-14 days. If it takes longer, you can call the Division of Corporations at (518) 473-2492 to request more info. If you did not select and pay for expedited processing, add about 7-9 months to the process.

If it’s all been submitted correctly, the state will send you what’s called a “Filing Receipt,” which is literally the one and only official proof of publication. Do not lose it, as the state will not replace it.

CONCLUSION

There you have it, the complete New York LLC publishing process start to finish.

Don’t worry, if it looks too complicated, too much of a hassle, or too time consuming (or even too expensive!), there are alternatives. There are LLC publishing services out there that will do the whole process for you start to finish. And, believe it or not, they may save you lots of money! How you ask? There are least two ways:

1. High volume LLC publishing services get lower rates from the newspapers, and the savings are passed on to you.

2. A select few services have developed proprietary processes that can save you up to $1,000 or more. You can find them by searching on Google for terms such as “LLC publication NY”, “NY LLC publishing”, “New York LLC publication” and so on. You’ll be surprised at how much money some of these services can save you. Do your research.

Bottom line: Many services can complete the New York LLC publication process for LESS than what you'd spend doing it on your own.

Best of luck whichever way you choose!