SFGH Client Alert – Illinois Secretary of State Extends Deadlines for UCC Filings and Annual Reports for Corporations, LLC, and Other Business Entities in Response to COVID-19
April 10, 2020, by David Madden, Counsel, Sugar Felsenthal Grais & Helsinger LLP
The Illinois Secretary of State has issued an Emergency Rule extending deadlines for certain business filings to at least May 30, 2020.
The Emergency Rule applies to the following filings due on or after March 17, 2020:
- Annual reports for corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs), not for profit corporations, limited partnerships, and other business entities filing annual reports with the Illinois Secretary of State under Chapter 805 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes.
- UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) documents, federal tax liens, and other UCC-related materials filed with the Illinois Secretary of State under Chapter 810 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes.
The Illinois Secretary of State will also waive fees for late filing of materials subject to the Emergency Rule.
Online filing for many annual reports, UCC documents, and other filings with the Illinois Secretary of State remains available at its official website.
Specifically, the Emergency Rule states that the deadlines will be extended to 30 days after the expiration of Governor Pritzker’s disaster proclamation, which is currently in effect through April 30, 2020. If the disaster proclamation is extended past April 30, 2020, then the deadlines under the Emergency Rule will also be extended.
The Emergency Rule will expire August 17, 2020 or the date on which Governor Pritzker’s disaster proclamation expires, whichever occurs first. By law, the Emergency Rule must expire no later than 150 days after its effective date of March 20, 2020. The Secretary of State has proposed regulations to further extend the deadlines in the event the disaster proclamation continues past August 17, 2020. Those regulations have not yet been adopted as of this writing. The full text is here (pages 5,786-5,814 for the Emergency Rule and 5,710-5,721 for the proposed regulations).
SFGH remains open for business during the COVID-19 crisis. Please contact David Madden or any SFGH attorney with questions or concerns about your business needs.