FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Contact:  Kristen Schulze Muszynski
207-626-8400

Secretary Dunlap Issues Alert to Corporations
and Non-Profits Regarding Misleading Solicitations

AUGUSTA ? Numerous Maine corporations have received misleading solicitation mailings again this year from a business operating under the name Maine Council for Corporations. These mailings include an ?Annual Records Solicitation Form? and an offer to compile ?corporate consent records in lieu of meeting minutes? for a fee of $125.

Please be advised that the form provided by the Maine Council for Corporations is not prescribed or recognized by the Maine Department of the Secretary of State and this mailing does not come from the department?s Division of Corporations. Additionally, the department does not require corporations to file the records that the form describes.

The ?solicitation form? looks similar to the Division of Corporations annual report form, so although the solicitation correctly states that Maine Council for Corporations is not a government agency, some corporations have confused the form for the prescribed annual report. Maine corporations have received similar solicitations in recent years from Corporate Records Service, whose address is identical to the address for Maine Council for Corporations.

Please be advised that the Division of Corporations does not mail out the annual report form. The legal deadline to file annual reports with the Secretary of State?s office was June 1, and corporate entities can still file those reports online, though a late fee will now apply.

Any corporation that has questions about the solicitation or form is encouraged to obtain advice from its lawyer or business advisor. In addition, those with questions can contact the Maine Division of Corporations at (207) 624-7752 for information about corporate annual report and other business entity filing requirements under Maine law.