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Section 206
The New York LLC publication requirement
New York still makes new LLCs buy newspaper advertising. It is the largest single cost of forming an LLC here, and almost nobody hears about it until after they have filed.
The rule
What does the publication requirement say?
Within 120 days of formation an LLC must publish a notice once a week for six successive weeks in two newspapers named by the county clerk, then file a Certificate of Publication for $50.
It comes from Section 206 of the Limited Liability Company Law. Four parts, in order.
- Two newspapers, one daily and one weekly, both chosen by the clerk of the county where your LLC's office sits. You do not get to shop for cheaper papers.
- Six successive weeks of the same notice, once a week, in each paper.
- An affidavit of publication from each newspaper once the run is finished.
- A Certificate of Publication filed with the Department of State, with both affidavits attached and a $50 fee.
The whole thing has to start and be under way inside 120 days of formation.
The cost driver
Why does it cost so much in Manhattan?
All 62 counties, with four sources compared, on publication cost by county.
County clerks assign the newspapers, and New York County assigns expensive ones. Rates are set by the papers, not the state, so the same notice can cost several times more in Manhattan than upstate.
| County of office | Published estimates | State fee |
|---|---|---|
| New York (Manhattan) | $1,500 to $2,650 | $50 |
| Other New York City counties | $850 to $1,745 | $50 |
| Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland | $395 to $1,300 | $50 |
| Upstate and rural counties | $100 to $650 | $50 |
Published estimates for the same county disagree by several hundred dollars, so treat every figure here as orientation. Only the papers the clerk assigns can quote you.
Read this before you buy an address
Does my registered agent set the county?
No. The publication county comes from the county of office stated in your Articles of Organization. Your registered agent's address does not set it and cannot change it.
This is the most profitable misunderstanding in the New York registered agent market.
Providers with an upstate address market a thousand dollar publication saving, and the saving is real in the sense that upstate publication is cheaper. What is not real is the idea that their mailbox is what unlocks it. The county field on your Articles is what does, and you fill that in.
Our office is on Lexington Avenue in New York County. Appointing us does not move your publication county, does not raise your bill, and does not lower it. We would rather say that than sell you the other story.
What the county should say is where your LLC's office actually is. Choose it knowingly at formation, when it is a free decision, rather than discovering the invoice in month four. See how to start a New York LLC.
Timing
The 120 day clock
The window runs 120 days from the date your Articles of Organization take effect. The six week run plus affidavit turnaround eats most of it, so booking in month one is sensible.
Six weeks of publication is 42 days minimum. Newspapers take a week or two to issue affidavits after the last insertion. Add the clerk's turnaround on naming the papers at the start.
Start in month three and it will be tight. Start in month four and you will miss.
Foreign LLCs registering in New York publish too, on the same schedule, counted from the Application for Authority. See foreign LLC registration.
Consequences
What happens if you skip it?
The Department of State can suspend the LLC's authority to carry on business in New York. The LLC still exists, and the suspension lifts once you publish and file the certificate.
Suspension is not dissolution. Your LLC does not vanish, your liability shield is generally intact, and contracts you signed stay enforceable.
What suspension does is make things awkward at exactly the wrong moments. Banks and lenders check. Buyers in a sale check. Some courts raise it.
The remedy is the original requirement, late. Publish the six weeks, get the affidavits, file the certificate. Newspapers do not offer a lateness discount, so the bill is the same bill.
Corporations avoid this entirely. The publication rule is LLC-only, which is one real argument for incorporating instead. What the whole formation costs is on New York LLC cost.
Get the county right before you file
We do not sell a publication discount. We do put a real Manhattan office on your record for $49 a year.