# Certificate of good standing

A state's written proof that a company still legally exists and has filed.

The state issues it only when the entity's annual reports are current and its franchise or filing fees are paid, so it is a one-page test of whether the company you are buying has kept its own paperwork. Lenders ask for it before closing and so does the [closing agent](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/closing-agent), and a company that cannot produce one is not necessarily in trouble, but it has an administrative problem someone has to fix before money moves. Ask early rather than at signing, because reinstating a lapsed entity takes weeks in some states.

In numbers: Most states issue one for $10 to $50 within a few days, and reinstating a lapsed entity can run several hundred dollars plus every missed annual fee.

Source: https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/certificate-of-good-standing
Not dated: A definition is editorial: what a term means, why it matters, and an example. None of it reads a source that can go stale, so there is no date to take and a stamped one would be the build time wearing a costume.

Site index for machines: https://searchspheresource.com/llms.txt