Business Opportunity Regulation States

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

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 ex8322
http://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) 656-3790
http://www.legis.state.ga.us/GaOCA/

Illinois(filing required)
Illinois Securities Department
Lincoln Tower
520 S. Second St. Suite 200
Springfield, IL 62701
(217)782-2256
http://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) 232-6331
http://www.in.gov/attorneygeneral/consumer/index.htm

Iowa(filing required)
Securities Bureau
Second Floor
Lucas State Office Building
Des Moines, IA 50319
(515) 281-4441
http://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) 573-2200
http://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) 342-7900
http://www.ag.state.la.us/consumer.shtml

Maine(filing required)
Banking Bureau
Securities Division
State House - Station 121
Augusta, ME 04333
(207) 624-8551
http://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) 576-6360
http://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) 373-7117
http://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) 296-6328
http://search.state.mn.us/commerce/

Nebraska(filing required)
Dept. of Banking & Finance
P.O. Box 95006
Lincoln, NE 68509
(402) 471-2171 or
(402) 471-3445
http://www.ndbf.org/

New Hampshire(filing required)
Attorney General's Office
Consumer Protection Div.
State House Annex
Concord, NH 03301
(603) 271-3641
http://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) 733-3924
http://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) 734-2169
http://www.scsos.com/

South Dakota(filing required)
Division of Securities
910 E. Sioux Avenue
Pierre, SD 57501
(605) 773-4013
http://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) 475-1769
http://www.sos.state.tx.us/statdoc/index.shtml

Utah(filing required)
Consumer Protection Division
160 East 300 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
(801) 530-6601
http://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) 753-6928
http://www.dfi.wa.gov/sd/default.htm