Does a llc doing business as have to disclose it is a llc?

Your question could be interpreted several ways. Generally, your failure to disclose that you are conducting business through an LLC opens you up to personal liability. For example, if you sign a contract as "John Smith" and not as "John Smith, Manager of ABC, LLC", then you are personally liable for the obligations under the contract and the LLC is not. If you want to conduct business in a trade name other than the name of your LLC or you do not wish to use put "LLC" on your materials, then you could review the VA trade name rules and file a trade name that is the same as your LLC name, without the "LLC" designation. If your purpose is to hide your ownership of an LLC, then you can accomplish that by how you register the LLC, but see my first point above regarding liability while conducting business

Generally speaking, yes it does. However, it is possible for the business to register a fictitious name, and legally trade under a different name. In most jurisdictions, it would need to register the trade (fictitious) name in the region in which it does business, and at the state level. So for instance, if you walked into "Joe's Diner" in LA and slipped and fell, you might research the name "Joe's Diner" on the LA Secretary of State database, and find it is a registered fictitious name for Joe Enterprises, LLC. This would be a validly registered tradename, and it would be legal for the company to have operated as "Joe's Diner" since it had properly registered the trade name. It would not have been legal to trade under a different name other than its formally registered entity name, absent the trade name filing. Jeffrey W. Weaver Corporate, Real Estate and Intellectual Property Law EMAIL: [email protected] (703) 777-7319 www.dglegal.com Under no circumstances shall the response posted above create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and/or poster of the original question, unless and until a separate engagement agreement is signed by Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver and its client. The information provided above is not legal advice nor is it conveyed in the course of an attorney-client relationship, but is intended merely as a general overview with regard to the subject matter covered. You should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel and are encouraged to do so.