LLC required to be on a sign????

[Marlene]

I did a search on ask.com and bing and am finding nothing. is it a requirement to have an LLC on a sign? I know with Inc. some do and some don't but it seems like anyone with the LLC is wanting it and they say they have to have it. not sure if they are right or if they misunderstood the usage.

 

[paul luszcz]

Marlene,

I have never seen this as a requirement. I'm an LLC and I don't use it on my sign. My brother is an accountant. His firm is an LLC, and he does.

You are required to make it clear that you are operating as an LLC. If you don't put it anywhere, either on you business card, or your invoices or checks, then you run the risk that someone can prove that you did not make that obvious and sue you personally, eliminating the protection of an LLC.

Including it on your sign (and everything else) eliminates or minimizes that risk.

 

[James Chrimes]

around here all the lawyers say that it has to be on everything with the companys name on it. So we normally just put it in really small.

 

[iSign]

my attorney explained it this way. the LLC is to limit your liability right? And when will that come into play? ..when someone is going after you... and when someone is going after you, they usually have a lawyer... so are laws exact & finite, & crystal clear? ..or are laws subject to interpretation, & often end up interpreted by whoever has spent the most on their lawyer (ok, well my lawyer didn't say that... I'm free forming now) If you want your company to exist under the protection of a reclassification that legally changes your name, wouldn't you think using the legal name could be to your advantage? ...or by contrast, can you see an opening for a ruthless lawyer for the opposition trying to exploit any loophole he is given?

anyway, I leave it on or take it off, as desired by my clients. If they want my opinion, i tell them what I just wrote... and then i tell them I left it off my truck

 

[Flame]

Good advice here. It's usually a good idea to include it on EVERYTHING, just to be safe. I always put it pretty small next to their name/logo, just like they do with the "TM" for trademark. Well, maybe just a little larger, but you get the idea.

 

[Gino]

How it was explained to me 35 years ago and just recently... at least for Pennsylvania...... LLC, inc, corp and any of those suffixes only need to be on legal papers, documents, headers, invoices, quotes and such. On a truck , billboard, sign and so forth it is totally up to the individual.

We find... where most people pay for this title.... they want to show it off. However, the longer someone is in business, the more they seem to not care about it and will do whatever is necessary to get he job done.... and done right.

 

[briankb]

My company isn't an LLC but until we ordered and was granted a fictitious name we had to use the entire name with "Corporation". Now that we have the fictitious name we can leave out "Corporation". It may be the same in your state. I would call and ask the state agency that handles registrations.

 

[Marlene]

thanks for all the great info!:U Rock:

 

[Mosh]

You never see "McDonald's Corporation" it just says "McDonalds" at every one of their
restaurants I have ever been to. (I know it is a registered trademark of the MD Corp but, still)

We do whatever the customer wants. I leave it off all my own stuff, never had a problem in 20+ years.
I think it looks stupid.

 

[Tony Teveris]

My wife the lawyer says you do not. Similiar to Doug's lawyer.

 

[vinylbarry]

Here in Ky the laywers tell you it has to be on everthing we had to make some little LL'Cs for a company that went to LLC but it does not have to be big just has to be on there.

 

[Jillbeans]

If I have to put it on I try and make it small.
Some people want it as big as their name!
Last year PA contractor #s were introduced, and they have to be on the vehicles and (I think) any type of advertising, even radio ads.
I make those real small too.
Love....Jill

 

[Pat Whatley]

LLC is probably handled differently than INC. Inc indicates incorporation which is a definitive legal classification separating a business from it's owners (making owners of a small business employees of the corporation they own). LLC indicates a Limited Liability Company (not corporation which most people think) which is letting people know that the owner's won't accept full liability for their actions and I think potential customers should know that up front. I refuse to do business with anyone with LLC in their business name if at all possible. To me it's always looked shady, like they know they're going to screw up and get sued at some point and they want to make sure they don't have to pay for it.

Things may be different with .INC I've asked two lawyers about it in the last few years and both immediately said it didn't matter. Your corporate structure has no relevance anywhere but on legal documents.

One of them pointed out my own case. I'm incorporated legally as Allen-Whatley Enterprises, Inc. (the Allen part of that is in prison, bastard). The incorporation paperwork shows me doing business as Signs In Seconds. He said this is the same thing you see with most large corporations: Yumi Brands does business as Taco Bell and KFC. Sears Holdings, Inc. does business as Sears and K-Mart.

 

[Marlene]

I've got a guy who says he has to have it and can't understand that it doesn't have to be the same size as his business name. this will help me to talk him into a little tiny LLC just to keep him happy. thanks again for all the answers as I thought it would be OK, but with my luck, I would be wrong.

 

[Dan Antonelli]

As long as it on legal documents, like the stationery, business forms, contracts, and perhaps even business cards, that is enough. For signs, and logos, etc - not needed. Out of 300 logos or so, maybe 2 have INC or LLC in it, and those were only because I couldn't talk sense into the client.

Usually in our stationery design, we would repeat the company name and legal stature, above their address, typeset as the rest of their information.

 

[StopSignGraphics]

Pat when I started the business we originally had planned to be a corporation. After discussing things with our lawyer it made better sense to form an LLC. I'll be honest I don't remember all the legal jargon but basically an LLC has just as much legal responsibility as a corporation according to my attorney.

For us it was simply a way to separate our business assets from our personal assets in case we were ever sued.

I may be a lot of things and I'm not perfect but I'm about as honest as they come when it comes to the running of my business. I respect your right not to do business with an LLC but implying that I'm shady because I operate my business as an LLC seems wrong.

My two cents,
Chris