Do you have any information on a company called Elder Panion, Inc.? 
It is located at 1109 Castle Harbour Way, Suite 2 A, Glen Burnie, MD
21060 and claims to have offices in California and Colorado.  I am
especially interested in how long it has been in business, its
reputation and financial stability.

Hello chico1234,

The State of Maryland does have general information and a corporate
charter for Elder Panion, Incorporated.  According to this
information, the corporation was registered less than two months ago. 
Therefore, it has had little time to develop a reputation or display
financial stability.

"Elder Panion, Incorporated - General Information"
Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation - Taxpayer Services Division
http://sdatcert3.resiusa.org/ucc-charter/DisplayEntity_b.asp?EntityID=D07648389&EntityName=ELDER+PANION%2C+INCORPORATED&TabNum=1

"Elder Panion, Incorporated - Corporate Charter"
Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation - Taxpayer Services Division
http://sdatcert3.resiusa.org/ucc-charter/ViewDoc.asp?Film=B00579&Folio=1245&Pages=0003&Date=11/05/2003&Ack=1000361989032705&Domain=Charter&ID=D07648389&Name=ELDER+PANION%2C+INCORPORATED&source=1

Searches on the relevant state web pages for business entities in
California and Colorado do not produce results for Elder Panion, Inc. 
(Conceivably, the corporation or its director does business in those
states under another name.)

"California Business Search"
California Secretary of State
http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/list.html

"Business Entities Search"
Colorado Secretary of State
http://www.sos.state.co.us/cgi-forte/fortecgi?sos_www=www.sos.state.co.us&serviceName=corporationProdAccess&templateName=corporation/publicinquiries/public_inquiry_corp_criteria_outer_form.forte&source=campaign

Business Filings International, the registered agent for Elder Panion,
Inc., appears to be the same as the corporation at the following web
site.

Business Filings Incorporated
http://www.bizfilings.com/index.asp

I don't know whether contacting the registered agent or the relevant
state agencies will produce any information, but you could always try.
 I assume that the best source of information in the near future will
be any updates to the Maryland agency pages on Elder Panion, Inc.

- justaskscott


Search terms used on Google in various combinations:

"elder panion"
maryland
california
colorado
corporations
"secretary of state"

Search terms used on relevant state web pages:

elder panion
elder
panion

---

Request for Answer Clarification by chico1234-ga on 03 Jan 2004 06:54 PST

I am trying to find out about the people behind the corportation and
whether I should do business with them.  Can you trace back through
the officers, registered agent, etc. whether they were a business
before they incorporated and/ or any background on them?

---

Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 03 Jan 2004 08:17 PST

The registered agent is the company (or is affiliated with the
company) in the last link in my answer (Business Filings
Incorporated).  It seems to be a reputable company, since it is high
on the relevant Google Directory.

"Business > Business Services > Consulting > Business Formation > United States"
Google Directory
http://directory.google.com/Top/Business/Business_Services/Consulting/Business_Formation/United_States/?il=1

Elder Panion's corporate charter states that the sole director is Amy
Weiss.  As you can see by searching for this name on Google or
elsewhere, Amy Weiss is too common a name to be sure who is the
correct person.

The best strategy I can think of in this situation is to contact the
corporation and ask for the names of previous or affiliated business,
and then look into their background and reputation.  You might also
ask for references, and then contact the references and perhaps
research their reputation as well.