Alert! BOGUS Certificate of Status Request Form

If you recently set up a new business on the Department of State, Division of Corporations website (sunbiz.org), you may be sent a 2013 Certificate of Status Request Form. Please be aware that this is NOT required to complete any registration process with the state.

These notices are NOT from the Dept. of State, Division of Corporations. The request asks you to make checks payable to Florida Center of Corporations for a fee of $54.47. Do NOT confuse these notices with the messages sent by the Division of Corporations. If you receive this letter--toss it out. This is NOT an official government document, it is a SCAM.

They cleverly are stating that “You have one step left to receive your Florida certified certificate of status.” It appears to the untrained eye that this means there is one step left to be active with the state of Florida. If you are in need of a Certificate of Status for any reason, they can be obtained directly from the Dept. of State, Division of Corporations for only $5 for an LLC and $8.75 for a Corporation.

This should also in no way be confused with your annual report. You DO need to file an annual report with the Department of State, Division of Corporations (AKA Sunbiz), but these are two separate issues. Annual Reports can be filed online directly at www.Sunbiz.org or you can call us for help with the filing. THESE MUST BE SUBMITTED BY MAY 1^ST TO AVOID A $400 LATE FEE.

As always, the team at Licenses, Etc. is here to help you in any way that we can. If you have any questions or need assistance, give us a call. We can help make sure that you don’t get scammed.

Licenses, Etc. Welcomes Todd and Sean

We are excited to be able to introduce some new team members to Licenses, Etc.! The gals you have come to know and love, have been joined by two gentlemen! Say hello to Todd and Sean and welcome them into our licensing family. To give them a proper introduction, some basic information about these guys has been written up below:

Todd Babbitt hails from the Washington, DC area, moving to Naples in 2001. Todd has an extensive business background including several years as a residential property investor and landlord, and a Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch. Todd holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the New York Institute of Technology, and is a Certified Financial Planner. Todd has three beautiful women in his life, his wife and two young daughters.

Sean Dinneen has been a part of the Naples service industry for 10 years and has always enjoyed working with people. He considers his attention to detail and unwavering honesty to be some of his greatest attributes. He recently acquired his Florida Real Estate Sales license and has a strong desire for success. While away from the office, he enjoys playing racquetball, Crossfitting and cooking for friends and family.

Now that you know, you won’t be shocked to hear a male voice when you call! We know that these two will serve you just as dedicatedly as the gals have. Give us a call if you need anything.

Veterans Licensing Fees Can Be Waived

The DBPR has taken a step forward to help veterans that are coming home from active duty. As of July 1st, the state has the ability to waive licensing fees for military veterans who apply for a state license within 24 months of an honorable discharge. The fees that can be waived include the initial license fee, initial application fee and initial unlicensed activity fee. 


What is the fine print? 

• Veterans must apply for licensure within 24 months of being honorably discharged from a branch of the United States Armed Forces, including National Guard units. 

• The veteran must provide a DD-214 or NGB-22 form as proof of honorable discharge and the Military Veteran Fee Waiver Request must be submitted with the application.

• This waiver does not include examination fees or other incidental fees, but the VA will reimburse eligible applicants for the cost of licensing and certification examinations. This reimbursement cannot exceed $2,000 per test. The exams they are reimbursing must be deemed necessary to pursue a trade or profession.

Call us if you have any questions regarding this new waiver. We can help you to find out how you or your loved one can get their feet back under them upon returning home. Starting a new business or becoming a part of an existing team starts with a call to the gals at Licenses, Etc.

Merry Christmas!

Enjoy this little Christmas jingle from us:

Business Aside, Let's Talk Gifts for the Females in Your Life

As you know, our blog is all about providing information that will help your business succeed. We keep tabs on the latest rules and regulations at the state, remind you when deadlines are approaching, find the newest marketing strategies and share our personal insights about it all.  But life is more than just business. 

Christmas is fast approaching once again and yes we know that you hate to shop. Looking high and low for that perfect gift for the women in your life just is not what you want to do with your spare time. You would rather be fishing, out on the boat, or maybe just hanging in front of the TV. Well, we thought this could be our opportunity to help you in your personal life and give our award winning author a shameless plug in the process!

In honor of Small Business Saturday, we want to help you find the perfect present and support a small business in the process! With over 50,000 copies sold this year, Kristie's best-selling, award-winning books Promise, Purpose and now Genesis are the perfect presents for any of the women in your life and it is as easy as visiting: http://www.readourwrites.com/shop/

Not sure this is the right gift?  Be sure to check out what readers on Amazon are saying!

“I recommend this to anyone looking for a unique, heart-warming romance.”

“Could not put it down. A total page turner, love, fantasy and hot scenes. I recommend it!”

“I loved this book. A very sweet love story that every woman dreams of. “

“She also brings humor to the table and I found myself smiling several times while reading...I also laughed out loud to the point of crying at one part of the book, and ultimately also felt like crying.”

This could be your ticket to an easy Christmas Miracle – A present she will love and love you for. 

Facebook for Advanced Business User

There are more than 750 million active users on Facebook.  50% are active users that log on to Facebook in any given day.  The average user has 130 friends and people spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook.  Last night we discussed how to leverage this information to benefit businesses.

A few of the topics discussed were:

·         Facebook Advertising

·         Check - In Deals

·         Custom Applications including Fan Only Applets

·         Posting as Your Business

·         And much more...

To see the slide presentation in its entirety, go to http://www.slideshare.net/lisaadamslicenses/score-facebook-for-the-advanced-business-user-workshop.  There are active links within this presentation, so be sure to click on the pictures!   

A big thank you to Whole Foods Market Naples for donating the snacks for this event.  What an amazing spread they made available last night.  Yummy!

If you have any questions after watching this (or would like to hire us to do the work for you), please don’t hesitate to call Lisa at 239-963-5369!

Revised Applications and New License Rules Effective July 1st

Some big things just happened at the state level regarding licensing and there are a couple of changes we need to report to you.  Home Inspection licensing was made more attainable during this year’s legislative session.  As of July 1st, Division 1 license holders can apply for a Home Inspector License via Grandfathering.  There are no additional CEU or experience requirements during Grandfathering, so take advantage of this one-time-only opportunity.  Grandfathering will be allowed until July 1, 2012.   There are also provisions for certain other inspectors to be Grandfathered under this new rule.  If you would like additional information, please let us know.  The fee to the DBPR is $330 and fingerprinting is still required.  As always, the gals at Licenses, Etc. can help you with the application.  Give us a call today to find out more.

A big revelation was that the Glass & Glazing license has lost its status as a specialty license and is now a Division 2 license.  This means that Division 1 licensees will need to hold a separate Glass & Glazing license in order to do work such as install windows, or will need to subcontract this work to a licensed Glass & Glazing Contractor.  We have been told that they will continue to use the same exam for this new license that they have been using for the specialty license.  All existing specialty glass and glazing contractors will be reclassified as Division II licensees.  The next available date to test for a Glass & Glazing license will be in August 16th and 17th.  The deadline to sign up is July 20th. 

And finally a note of caution to remind all that enforcement of unlicensed activity for Mold Assessors and Mold Remediators has now begun.  Please make sure that you are working within the laws.  Any contractor going into a location to assess for mold or to address a mold problem will need to be licensed to do so.  These are individual licenses and a license holder must be on site supervising or performing all work that is performed. 

We know that these are big changes in the licensing world.   If you have any questions as to how you may be affected, turn to the gals at Licenses, Etc. to answer all your licensing questions.  We are here to help you.

Less Than a Week Left to Grandfather

We are down to the final week.  Anyone who wants to apply for the Home Inspection or Mold Remediation or Assessor License has very little time left.

The DBPR requires that they receive your application by the end of the day on Monday, February 28^th. 

If you are looking to submit your application in the Grandfathering timeframe, the gals at Licenses, Etc will take care of you.  Please contact us immediately to get this process started.  This will be a rush situation because we are into the countdown, so for $400 for the first application and $200 for each additional we can assure a thorough job that will ensure you won’t miss out on the chance of a lifetime. 

Florida UC Assessment

It appears the Florida Department of Revenue is hitting mailboxes this week with tax assessment notices [bills].

These taxes ARE NOT due to an incorrect filing or underpaid deposit.

In a nutshell, the Florida unemployment ‘piggybank’ has been empty for years.  Because that fund is basically insolvent, Florida continues to borrow from Uncle Sam to meet its unemployment obligations.

All of us as Florida employers must bear the burden of paying the interest on that debt, and that is what these notices pertain to.  It appears the state is examining a look-back period of 7/1/09 through 6/30/10 for the purposes of computing each firm’s obligation.

The formula for calculating the payment is specified by law.  The calculation is based on your taxable wages reported from 7/1/09 through 6/30/10 which is listed as line 1 on your bill.  There will be a flat charge of $25 for any delinquent quarter which is line 2 on your bill.

Call us with any questions.

-    Thanks to Greg Borden at Olde Florida Payroll for this information.

Get Motivated

You might have received our out of office reply on Tuesday that let you know we were “away from our desks”.  We were actually lucky enough to receive tickets to the Get Motivated seminar, which claims to be “an action-packed, fun-filled, explosive, exciting, inspiring, skill-building business event that is world famous for its mega-watt superstar speakers and spectacular stage production.”   We have to say that between the fireworks, confetti drops, and speakers like former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, former Secretary of State General Colin Powell, and former First Lady Barbara Bush, it was definitely explosive and action packed! 

Our personal favorites ranged from General Powell, who is obviously known to be a great speaker, to unknown James Smith, whose shock-and- awe style had us in tears with laughter.  But we also sat through a sales pitch that went a little far before the lunch break.  After a few minutes, they lost our attention and we started making infomercial jokes, laughing to ourselves.

Motivational was not an adjective that would have described them all.  Laura Bush discussed 9-11, Rudy Giuliani spoke about the reading initiative program, but the unknowns really got your blood pumping and gave motivation in the bucketfuls. 

We have heard both sides from others who attended.  Some say it was unbelievable and they are so glad they went, while others didn’t quite get why the event even exists.  All we can say is the gals at Licenses, Etc. have always been motivated and always will be motivated to find ways to help our clients achieve their goals!  As always, call us and we will help you get motivated to start a business, obtain your license, and market your business. 

New Online System at the DBPR

The DBPR has implemented a new online system.  EVERYONE who has a license will need to Re-Register on the DBPR site to have access to their personal account.  If you’d like assistance, we can take care of this for you for $50 for the first license and $10 for each additional license in the state of Florida.  If you’d like to complete the process yourself, here are the steps you’ll need to follow:

Start here:  https://www.myfloridalicense.com/ActivateAccountInstruct.asp

Pick your profession (construction industry), and then click the registration button. 

A new window will open.

·         Enter your name (as it appears on your license)

·         Enter your email address (this will be your username) it will also be where your temporary password will be sent.

·         Answer one of three ‘secret’ questions:

1.       Mother’s maiden name

2.       Where you were born

3.       Street where you grew up

4.       Or you can create your own question.

·         Enter the randomly generated letters at the bottom (security thing)

At that time, an email will be sent to you with a temporary password that IS case sensitive.

You can then hit the ‘return’ button and go back to the login page.

·         Enter your username (email address) and password.

·         You will be taken to a page where you can then create your own password.

Now you’re logged in.

But here’s the crazy part.  Now you have to tell them which licenses are YOURS!!

·         Click on: Link an Existing License to My Account

·         Choose your profession (construction)

·         Choose your specialty (CGC, CPC, CFC, etc.)

·         Enter only the NUMERIC portion of your license

·         Click on Next

You’ll then be prompted to enter your SSN and another of those random security things.

It will then allow you to add the license number to your account.

*  You will need to repeat this process for all licenses.  *

Once these steps are complete, you can now click on your license to do maintenance options:

·         Address change

·         Change of status from Active to Inactive

·         View CEU credits

Feeling overwhelmed?  We are more than happy to help you with this process.  Contact us and we will get this off your to-do list immediately.

Our Very Own Running Man

We are suckers for a good charity, especially one for children.  So we were delighted to find out one of our LE friends, Gerhard, ran 163 miles for one such charity.  That was 52 hours of non-stop running from Cocoa Beach to Clearwater Beach, starting Friday night and ending at midnight on Sunday.

Volunteers were set up the whole way to run or bike with him for several miles at a time and also a support vehicle to carry all the provisions that he may need, including rain gear for when it started raining on Sunday afternoon. 

When he finished at midnight on Sunday it was really windy, cold & wet conditions on Clearwater Beach.  The weather was so bad, cruise ships were not allowed back into the Port of Tampa on Sunday as they were worried they wouldn’t safely make it under the bridge they pass through to get back to port. 

He was doing this to raise money for the Sunshine Foundation whose sole purpose is to answer the dreams of chronically ill, seriously ill, physically challenged and abused children, ages three to eighteen, whose families cannot fulfill their requests due to the financial strain that child's illness may cause.

If anyone would like to donate to this great cause, you can do so by either

Making checks payable to Sunshine Foundation

Mail to

Gerhard Treviranus

1731 Vintage St

Kissimmee, FL 34746

Or going online to www.sunshinefoundation.org/donations click on Donate Now and reference ‘Gerhard’s Run’ in the Notes/comments section of the donation page.

Run Gerhard, Run!

Thank You to Our Veterans

Regardless of the economy, regardless of how broken our country sometimes seems, regardless of how much we struggle right now, we still live in the greatest country on Earth. We can still have hope. We can continue to fight the good fight. We can keep working hard to make it through and eventually succeed. In many parts of the world, this is far from true. Only we have the American spirit. Only we can keep it alive!

Thank you to our veterans and active-duty military personnel for all of this. Thank you for protecting us so we can live safely. Thank you for protecting our American dream. Thank you for instilling and reminding us of that American spirit.

If you don't believe there are any real heroes anymore, you only need to walk into a VA hospital. Your belief will be renewed. Thank a veteran today! Better yet...hug one!

The gals at Licenses, Etc. each have a personal connection - as in family - who are active duty or recent veterans. We appreciate every one of you!