Florida Annual Report Scam Letters: How to Spot a Fake Notice

A real state notice versus a solicitation

Here is the most important thing to know: the Florida Division of Corporations does not mail you a bill for your annual report, and it does not use a private company to collect it. The state communicates through its own website, Sunbiz, and its own email reminders. If you receive a printed letter with a payment slip, a due date in bold, and a total that looks like a government fee, treat it as a solicitation from a private company, not a notice from the state.

You can always verify your entity's real status directly at dos.fl.gov/sunbiz. When in doubt, ignore the letter and check the state site before paying anyone.

What an honest solicitation must disclose

Florida does not ban private filing services, but it does require them to be clear about who they are. The rules are in the Government Impostor and Deceptive Advertisements Act, Florida Statutes section 817.417. Any solicitation for a service that is available from a government agency must carry a conspicuous disclosure. The required language reads, in substance:

The statute also controls how the notice appears. It must be in the same size, color, and style as the type used elsewhere on the page or envelope, it must show on the outside front of a mailing envelope and at the top of each printed page, and in electronic form it must appear at the start of the email or at the top of the web page. In other words, the disclosure cannot be buried in fine print. If a letter is selling you an annual report and this notice is missing or hidden, that is a serious warning sign.

Why these rules exist

The Government Impostor and Deceptive Advertisements Act was strengthened because business owners across the country, including in Florida, were being fooled by mailers designed to look like government forms. Operators used agency-sounding names, Tallahassee return addresses, and invoice-style layouts to make people pay inflated fees for a filing they could do themselves for less. State attorneys general and federal regulators have pursued companies that sent these deceptive annual report and compliance mailers, which is exactly the conduct section 817.417 targets. The takeaway for you is simple: the law is on your side, and a company that follows it will be upfront about who it is and that the service is available directly from the state, rather than hiding it.

Red flags and green flags

We are LLC Filing Fix. Here is how we are different.

We are a private filing service run by JeLe Ventures LLC, and we hold ourselves to every one of the green flags above.

• We say we are not the government, at the top of every page and in our footer.
• We carry the section 817.417 notice in plain view, not hidden.
• We disclose, as section 817.417 requires, that the annual report is available directly from the Florida Division of Corporations at a free or lesser price. That notice sits at the top of every page.
• We itemize pricing so you can see the state fee and our service fee separately. See the exact numbers on our late fee page and reinstatement page.
• We do not mail invoice-style letters or use fake deadlines. Our only deadline is the real one the state sets.