Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: License Papers

Your comments are not very clear as to the type of documents which you are missing. Any document issued by or filed with a state agency can be obtained from the same agency that issued the document or that you filed with in the first place.

Re: License Papers

If your business is a corporation, LLC or limited partnership, some of the basic documents (such as the Articles of Incorporation) are on file with the Secretary of State in Sacramento, and he can provide you with certified copies for a fee. Try their website at www.ss.ca.gov.

As for San Francisco material such as business licenses, try the phone book under city government and look for the business licensing bureau or department.

You will also need to re-create any other lost business records such as bylaws and corporate minutes and resolutions. If your business has been using an attorney consistently, the attorney may have copies of documents that you can use to reconstruct your records.

If your kind of business has special licensing requirements such as contractor's or alcoholic beverage, be sure to contact the issuing agencies as well.