How do I look up a business license?

Business licenses are public records, and nearly every issuing agency provides a way to check them. The catch is knowing which agency issued the license you care about, because there is no national database. Local licenses are checked with the city or county, state licenses with the state agency or board that issued them, and entity status with the secretary of state.

Where to look, by license type

For a company's basic existence and standing, search the secretary of state's business entity database in the formation or qualification state. For regulated activities, use the regulator's own lookup: state financial regulators publish license rosters for lenders, collectors, and money transmitters, professional boards publish licensee searches, and NMLS Consumer Access covers mortgage and many financial licenses nationally. For local licenses, city and county finance departments often provide business license searches, though smaller jurisdictions may require a records request.

Reading what you find

Check four things: the exact legal name matches, the license status is active, the license type actually covers the activity in question, and the address matches where the business claims to operate. Verifying vendors and partners this way before signing is cheap diligence, particularly in regulated industries where an expired or wrong-category license shifts risk onto you. Our state-by-state summaries identify each state's regulator, which is where the authoritative lookup lives.