I received an envelope with documents to be completed for Annual Minutes Records Form - Shareholders, Directors and Officers. The company I work for has retail operations in every state in the United States, including Florida, so it's not unusual for us to receive corporate documents and reports that need to be filed and fees to be paid annually or biennially in order to maintain good standing. Given that the notice I receive from Florida Dept. Of State is generally printed on a postcard to decrease cost and paper use, this set of documents arriving in an envelope struck me as odd. The document contains the name of our company, it's corporation number and incorporation/qualification date; basically enough information to gain my attention and keep me from pitching this stuff in the trash. The form is official looking and cites chapters from the Florida Business Corporations Act providing that Florida corporations must hold a meeting of shareholders annually and maintain records. While the citation is correct, the requirements pertain ONLY for corporations that are FORMED under Florida corporation law, not for corporations that are incorporated elsewhere and foreign qualified to transact business in Florida, like mine. The form provides instructions to complete it and return it along with a check in the amount of $125 made payable to Corporate Records Service, in the provided envelope. While I'm certain this company, Corporate Records Services, will prepare and provide corporate minutes for the $125 fee, in the case of my company, it's a totally unnecessary service and would be a waste of money given that the provisions for annual meeting are inapplicable given our foreign corporation status. The form clearly states in upper-case bold lettering that corporate records services is not a government agency and does not have or contract with any government services to provide this service. This is placed under the citations, so it sort of blends in. While Corproate Records Services may not be trying to intentionally deceive you, at the bottom on the form, the web address to file an annual report with Florida Dept. Of State at www.sunbiz.org is given, which I think is a bit misleading as some may be confused into believing that an affiliation exists between the Florida Dept. Of State and Corporate Records Service when in fact there is no such affiliation. Since I haven't paid Corporate Records Service any money, I can't call them a scam (to me a scam is a company that takes your money and doesn't provide the promised services), but they aren't what they appear to be at first glance. Read the documents carefully and understand that this is a services company with absolutely no affiliation with the Florida Dept. Of State.
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