Assumed-Name (DBA) Registration Requirements in North Carolina

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Who must register

The Act reaches every "person" — an individual, general partnership, LLC, corporation, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, trust, and more — that "engages in business in this State under an assumed business name" (§ 66-71.4(a)). What counts as "assumed" depends on who you are (§ 66-71.3):

• An individual needs a certificate for "any name other than a real name of the individual." Trading as "Cardinal Landscaping" instead of "James Wu" requires one.
• A general partnership (not an LLP or LP) needs one for any name other than the real name of each general partner.
• An LLC or corporation needs one for "any name other than" the name on file with the Secretary of State — its articles of organization or incorporation.

An entity operating under its exact registered name files nothing. The Act also does not apply to a political committee or referendum committee that has filed a statement of organization (§ 66-71.4(c)).

Where you file — one county covers the whole state

You file the certificate with the "register of deeds of the county in which the person is or will be engaged in business" (§ 66-71.4(a)). North Carolina is not a statewide-agency state and it is not a file-in-every-county state — it is a hybrid. If you do business in more than one county, "filing is required in only one of those counties." Within 30 days, that register of deeds transmits a scanned image of your certificate to the Secretary of State and enters it into a central, searchable statewide database (§ 66-71.10). So a single local filing gives you statewide public notice. You may list up to five assumed names on one certificate, and you amend the certificate within 60 days of any change to the information on it (§ 66-71.7).

No publication, and a recording fee rather than a filing fee

There is no newspaper-publication step at all. The Act sets no filing fee of its own; instead you pay the register of deeds the uniform statewide recording fee for a general instrument — "twenty-six dollars ($26.00) for the first 15 pages plus four dollars ($4.00) for each additional page" (G.S. § 161-10(a)(1)). A one- or two-page assumed business name certificate costs $26 to record.

It never expires

Unlike the five-year certificates common in other states, a North Carolina assumed business name certificate has no term. It "is effective upon filing and remains in effect until withdrawn" (§ 66-71.12(a)). There is nothing to renew. When you stop using the name, you file a certificate of withdrawal with the same register of deeds (§ 66-71.8). (One transition wrinkle: certificates filed under the old pre-2017 law expired December 1, 2022, and had to be refiled under the current Act to stay in effect.)

If you skip it

North Carolina does not use the courthouse-door suit-bar that most states impose. Failing to register does not, by itself, stop you from suing. Instead, a person who fails to file "is liable to any person injured by the failure for the reasonable expenses, including attorneys' fees," that the injured party runs up "in ascertaining" your real name (§ 66-71.14(b)). Separately, knowingly signing a false certificate "is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor" (§ 66-71.14(a)).

What trips people up

• Filing in every county is unnecessary — and the point of the 2017 law. The current Act replaced a county-by-county scheme: today one filing, transmitted to the statewide database, covers the whole state (§§ 66-71.4(a), 66-71.10). Do not pay to record the same certificate in multiple counties.
• Registering does not lock up the name. "Compliance with this Article does not confer any exclusive rights to the use of an assumed business name" (§ 66-71.12(b)). Another business can register the same name, and a prior trademark holder can still stop you. Brand protection is a trademark question.
• There is no renewal reminder because there is no renewal. The certificate lasts until you withdraw it (§ 66-71.12(a)), so the trap is the opposite one: a name you have stopped using stays on the public record until you file a withdrawal.
• Update within 60 days. A change in your address, ownership, or counties of operation requires an amendment within 60 days (§ 66-71.7).

Common questions

Do I need a DBA to open a business bank account? North Carolina law does not say so, but banks routinely ask for the recorded certificate before opening an account in the business name. Filing early avoids that holdup.

I run my business statewide from one county — where do I file? With the register of deeds of a county where you are engaged in business; one filing suffices, and you can list every county where you operate on the form (§ 66-71.4(a)).

If I never registered, can I still sue on my contracts? Yes — North Carolina has no suit-bar for an unregistered assumed name. But if someone had to spend money to figure out who you really are, you can be made to pay their costs and attorneys' fees (§ 66-71.14(b)), so register anyway.

Does my certificate expire? No. It stays effective until you file a certificate of withdrawal (§§ 66-71.12(a), 66-71.8).

Statutes and sources

• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 66-71.3 — defines "assumed business name" by who you are. Official text (accessed 2026-07-23).
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 66-71.4 — file with a county register of deeds before commencing; one county covers a multi-county business; committee exemption. Official text (accessed 2026-07-23).
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 66-71.10 — register of deeds transmits the certificate to the Secretary of State's statewide database. Official text (accessed 2026-07-23).
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 66-71.12 — effective until withdrawn; confers no exclusive rights. Official text (accessed 2026-07-23).
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 66-71.14 — fee-shifting liability for failing to file and a Class 1 misdemeanor for a knowingly false certificate. Official text (accessed 2026-07-23).
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 161-10(a)(1) — $26 uniform register-of-deeds recording fee for a general instrument. Official text (accessed 2026-07-23).