Over a period of about 25 years, 24 states and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) adopted laws that impose a variety of requirements on companies and individuals who sell packages that qualify as "business opportunities." Some statutes call the concept "seller-assisted marketing plans." The FTC adopted a set of business opportunity regulations as part of its 1979 Franchise Rule basically requiring full presale disclosure, but it included a definition of a business opportunity venture that was so loose it reached only a fraction of the companies covered by state laws.
To learn more about FTC compliance, visit the FTC Web site. For information on specific state rules, contact the state offices below.
California| Connecticut| Florida| Georgia| Illinois| Indiana| Iowa| Kentucky| Louisiana| Maine| Maryland| Michigan| Minnesota| Nebraska| New Hampshire| North Carolina| Ohio| Oklahoma| South Carolina| South Dakota| Texas| Utah| Virginia| Washington
Content Continues Below
California(filing required) Attorney General's Office Public Inquiry Unit P.O. Box 944255 Sacramento, CA 94244-2550 (800) 952-5225 (in-state only) (916) 322-3360 (out-of-state)http://www.ag.ca.gov/consumers/general/samp.htmpiu@doj.ca.gov
Connecticut(filing required) Department of Banking Securities Division 44 Capitol Avenue Hartford, CT 06106 (203) 566-4560 ex8322http://www.state.ct.us/dob/pages/bsoplist.htm
Florida(filing required) Dept. Agri. & Consumer Services Room 110 - Mayo Building Tallahassee, FL 32301 (850) 488-2221 (800) 342-2176 (in-state only)http://doacs.state.fl.us/onestop/cs/business.html
Georgia(no filing required) Office of Consumer Affairs No. 2 - Martin Luther King Dr. Plaza Level, East Tower Atlanta, GA 30334 (404) 656-3790http://www.legis.state.ga.us/GaOCA/
Illinois(filing required) Illinois Securities Department Lincoln Tower 520 S. Second St. Suite 200 Springfield, IL 62701 (217)782-2256http://www.library.sos.state.il.us/departments/securities/securities.html
Indiana(filing required) Consumer Protection Division Attorney General's Office 219 State House Indianapolis, IN 46204 (317) 232-6331http://www.in.gov/attorneygeneral/consumer/index.htm
Iowa(filing required) Securities Bureau Second Floor Lucas State Office Building Des Moines, IA 50319 (515) 281-4441http://www.iid.state.ia.us/division/securities/default.asp
Kentucky(filing required) Attorney General's Office Consumer Protection Division 209 St. Clair Frankfort, KY 40601 (502) 573-2200http://www.law.state.ky.us/cp/Default.htm
Louisiana(bond filing required) Office of the Attorney General Consumer Protection Division 2610-A Woodale Blvd. Baton Rouge, LA 70804 (504) 342-7900http://www.ag.state.la.us/consumer.shtml
Maine(filing required) Banking Bureau Securities Division State House - Station 121 Augusta, ME 04333 (207) 624-8551http://www.state.me.us/pfr/sec/sec_index.htm
Maryland(filing required) Attorney General's Office Securities Division 200 St. Paul Pl. - 20th Floor Baltimore, MD 21202 (301) 576-6360http://www.oag.state.md.us/Securities/index.htm
Michigan(notice required) Consumer Protection Division Dept. of the Attorney General 670 Law Building Lansing, MI 48913 (517) 373-7117http://www.ag.state.mi.us/cp/index.htm
Minnesota(filing required) Department of Commerce Registration Division 133 East 7th Street St. Paul, MN 55101 (651) 296-6328http://search.state.mn.us/commerce/
Nebraska(filing required) Dept. of Banking & Finance P.O. Box 95006 Lincoln, NE 68509 (402) 471-2171 or (402) 471-3445http://www.ndbf.org/
New Hampshire(filing required) Attorney General's Office Consumer Protection Div. State House Annex Concord, NH 03301 (603) 271-3641http://www.state.nh.us/nhdoj/Consumer/cpb.html
North Carolina(filing reqired) Department of Justice Consumer Protection Division P.O. Box 629 Raleigh, NC 27602 (919) 733-3924http://www.jus.state.nc.us/cpframe.htm
Ohio(no filing required) Attorney General's Office Consumer Fraud & Crime Section 25th Floor, State Office Tower 30 East Broad Street Columbus, OH 43266-0410 (614) 466-8831 800-282-0515 (in-state only)http://www.ag.state.oh.us/consumer/consumer.htm
Oklahoma(filing required) Oklahoma Department of Securities Suite 860, First National Center 120 N. Robinson Oklahoma City, OK 73102 (405) 280-7700 (voice) (405) 280-7742 (fax)http://www.securities.state.ok.us
South Carolina(filing required) Secretary of State's Office P.O. Box 11350 Columbia, SC 29211 (803) 734-2169http://www.scsos.com/
South Dakota(filing required) Division of Securities 910 E. Sioux Avenue Pierre, SD 57501 (605) 773-4013http://www.state.sd.us/dcr/securities/
Texas(filing required) Secretary of State's Office Statutory Documents Section P.O. Box 13563 Austin, TX 78711 (512) 475-1769http://www.sos.state.tx.us/statdoc/index.shtml
Utah(filing required) Consumer Protection Division 160 East 300 South Salt Lake City, UT 84111 (801) 530-6601http://www.commerce.utah.gov/dcp/index.html
Virginia(no filing required) Consumer Affairs Office 101 North 8th Street Richmond, VA 23219 (804) 786-0594 (800) 451-1525 (in-state only)http://www.vdacs.state.va.us/index.html
Washington(filing required) Department of Financial Institutions Securities Division P.O. Box 9033 Olympia, WA 98507-9033 (206) 753-6928http://www.dfi.wa.gov/sd/default.htm