Our non-profit public charity recieved full State of CA and IRS tax
exempt status as NON PROFIT PUBLIC CHARITY in 1999. The original book
keeper, and acting secretary, (who was not a member of the board)
became disgruntled and stole all existing official documents of this
non profit corps - including the Originally Filed Charter and the
Articles of Incorporation.

I do have both the State's originally assigned # and the IRS # (i.e
Employer Identification # - though we do not have any employees.)

New Board Memebers must be named and the officially filed Corporate
Charter and the Articles of Incorporation must be located. We do have
physical access to the city of Sacramento, the State Capital - which
is where the IRS office was located which initially approved our non
profit public charity status.

The actions of the disgruntled book keeper has a number of other
related legal problems - which I would be happy to discuss in depth at
a later date - with a knowledgable individual. In the mean time -
exactly HOW do I obtain the officially filed corporate documents for
the corporation itself - to sufficiently explain to oncomming board
members the exact state of affairs - and be able to refer them to the
specific ORIGINALLY filed Articles of Incorporation.

As a side note -- before non profit status was granted, the
application was put on hold, pending providing a series of specific
questions which were asked by the I.R.S. I do not know if these
questions were merely for clarificaion, or is these are also on
record. However, this corporation needs to re-obtain it's own offical
Articles of Incorporation etc. directly from the prcise entity holds
the records of these documents. Please, don't just say: "Call the IRS
- and tell them you are idiots involved in a potentially litagous
feud. Feuds are NOT good. Admitting our own incompetence is not good
either. This matter must be dealt with quickly and discretely.
Continued legal advisement will be necesary at this point, to steer us
through a bumpy period.

---

Request for Question Clarification by darrel-ga on 23 Jan 2004 05:40 PST

I can help you get these documents. Could you provide me with the name
of your non-profit organization and/or your EIN?

darrel-ga

Hello xerxece-ga.

Sorry to hear about your plight, but perhaps the information here will
help a bit.

Articles of incorporation, whether for a profit or non-profit
organization, are generally filed with the Office of Secretary of
State in the state of incorporation -- in your case, California.

Copies of the article of incorporation can be obtained from the
Secretary of State's office in Sacremento.

Print and fill out the form that you will find here:

http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/corp/pdf/ircform.pdf

Make sure to check off the box requesting a copy of the Articles of
Incorporation.  I would also advise checking the box to request any
Amendments to the Articles that may have been filed (with or without
your knowledge!).

This is also an opportunity to obtain other records pertaining to your
organization that are on file with the State, in case they are of
interest.  As noted on the Secretary of State's website at:

http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/corp/corp_irc.htm

these forms include:

----------

Copies of corporate documents filed with the Secretary of State?s
office and various types of certificates can be obtained, over the
counter, in the Sacramento office or by written request to the
Sacramento office.

The following is a list of the most common types of documents requested:

Copies Certificates 
--Articles of Incorporation (California corporations) 
--Statement and Designations (Foreign,
out of state, corporations) 
--Amendments 
--Mergers 
--Dissolutions (California corporations) 
--Surrenders (Foreign, out of state, corporations) 

Statements of Information
--Good Standing 
--Name Change 
--Merger 
--Suspension/Forfeiture 
--Nonfiling 
 
----------

The form notes that information requests are normally processed within
two to four weeks of receipt.  If you want to obtain the papers in
person, the office contact information is:

Main Office
1500 11th Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 657-5448
 
I would strongly advise calling ahead, to make sure you know the exact
office location to go to for document retrieval.

I hope this information is what you need, and helps you resolve your
situation in the most painless way possible.  If anything here
requires elaboration -- or if you need additional information -- just
let me know by posting a Request for Clarification, and I'll be happy
to assist you further.

Best of luck,

pafalafa-ga


search strategy:  Google search for: "secretary of state" california

Excellent response, which answered my question exactly. The job was in
fact done - today - however the inexperienced person who accomplished
it - did not have your other advise to go on at the time. How does
google actually PAY - it's responder's? The other individual did not
offer a single piece of advise - but simply offered to "do the work"
-- which has, in fact already been done. Your answer is worth $35 -- I
hope you don't have to share it with someone submitting an job
application who seems to be seeking employment. I might NEED some
professional services - but an actual answer like yours would have
been appreciated.

xerxece-ga,

Thanks for the very kind rating and your comments.  I'm glad my
information was helpful, and I hope your situation works out smoothly.

Google Answers will pay me for answering your question (I get 75% of
the fee, and Google gets 25%).  Other researchers who offered comments
or RFC's (requests for clarification) to your question do not get
paid, but thanks for asking just the same.

pafalafa-ga