Is My Business Address Public Record? Where It Shows Up and How to Check

State business entity records in California and Oregon

Every LLC and corporation files formation papers with a state agency. In California, the business also files a Statement of Information, and the state’s business search shows when the next one is due.

California’s Information Requests page offers “Free online access to over 17 million corporate, limited liability company and limited partnership images.” The data it lists includes “Entity street and mailing addresses,” the “Name and address of the agent for service of process,” and “Officer, director, member, manager names and addresses.”

Oregon’s Secretary of State says: “All information collected through this website's online applications, forms or in-person to our office becomes a public record unless explicitly exempted by law.” The page adds that “Information that identifies you as an individual, such as your name, address and phone number, is not necessarily protected as private.”

Assumed business names (DBAs)

A DBA, short for “doing business as,” is a name a business uses that is not its legal name. Oregon calls it an assumed business name. Other states and counties may use the term fictitious business name.

In Oregon, the owner of an assumed business name is called the Registrant. Oregon law requires the filing to disclose a physical street address for the Registrant. Oregon describes the Registrant as the person or entity that “accepts a physical delivery of legal papers, including service of process.”

Oregon also says a sole proprietor does not have to register a name that includes each owner’s “real and true” name. Its example is “Jane A Doe Glass Cleaning.” Other states set their own rules, so check the office where you would file.

Trademark filings at the USPTO

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) says it “maintains public records for all applications and registrations that are accessible on the USPTO website.” The required information includes the owner’s name, domicile address, email address, and correspondence addresses.

The domicile address has its own rule. The USPTO says: “Our forms allow you to provide a mailing address different from your domicile address if this is accurate to your situation. The mailing address will be viewable in the public record while the domicile address will not.”

The rule works only when the two fields differ. The USPTO warns that the same address in both fields “will result in the address being publicly viewable.” Putting the domicile address in any other part of a form also makes it public.

The USPTO also says “All email addresses become part of the public record.” A record stays publicly viewable even after an application is abandoned or a registration expires. Our guide to the USPTO domicile address rules covers which addresses the USPTO accepts in that field.

UCC lien filings

When a lender takes business equipment or other assets as collateral, it may file a UCC financing statement with the state. UCC stands for Uniform Commercial Code, a model law that states adopt in their own statutes. Wording can differ by state.

In the model text, section 9-516(b)(5)(A) lets a filing office refuse an initial financing statement that does not “provide a mailing address for the debtor.” The debtor is the business that owes the money.

Section 9-523(c) of the model text says the filing office “shall communicate or otherwise make available in a record” certain information “to any person that requests it.” That information includes “the information provided in each financing statement.” Oregon’s Secretary of State, for example, offers an online search for UCC records.

How to check what is public about your business

A simple check is to look yourself up the way a stranger would. Start with the agency records, then look at the copies on other websites.

1. 1Search your business name in your state’s business search. In California, the search is at bizfileOnline.sos.ca.gov. Oregon says its business records “are available online for free.”
2. 2Open the filed documents, not only the summary page. California says the public record includes changes made by later filings, for the whole life of the record. An address you have since changed can still appear on an older filing.
3. 3If you filed a trademark, look it up in the USPTO’s Trademark Search system. You can also open the documents in TSDR (Trademark Status and Document Retrieval) with your serial or registration number.
4. 4If a lender has a lien on business assets, search your state’s UCC records by the business name.
5. 5Search the business name in a web search engine. California warns that third-party websites and search engines use addresses from public filings.

How to limit which address becomes public

California’s advice is to leave out what you do not want public: “Any information a person wishes to keep out of the public record should not be included in an initial filing or in any subsequent filing submitted to the Secretary of State, unless that information is required by statute to be provided.”

California also says “a P.O. Box number may be provided for a mailing address.” For a street address, the same page says “there are private companies that for a fee provide office space, street and mailing addresses, and other business services.” California adds that the statutory minimum content for each filing must still be met.

Some fields cannot point to a mailbox. Oregon requires a physical street address for the principal place of business, the registered office, and the registrant. For the registered office, Oregon says a commercial mail receiving agency “does not meet this requirement” and that “This includes virtual or cloud based offices.”

A registered agent fills only the agent field. In our count of Florida LLC filings with a registered agent from July 2026, most companies that hired a professional agent still listed an address of their own elsewhere on the filing. Our guide on using your home address for an LLC explains which address fields a home address can end up in.

Removing an old address is limited. California says that, before termination, an LLC or corporation with unnecessary personal information on a Statement of Information “can file a new complete Statement of Information, which will supersede the previous filing.” Information that the law requires “cannot be removed from those filings.”

Oregon lets individuals ask for a personal safety exemption in specific cases, such as a restraining order, police report, or court order. Even then, Oregon says “an alternative disclosable physical address will still be required.”

Check each field’s rule before you list a commercial address, because Oregon’s registered office field does not accept a virtual office. For fields that let you choose, our Silicon Valley business address and Los Angeles office address pages describe the business addresses save office offers.