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Most muckrakers hot on the trail know to follow the money. But, before they do that, they start with the basics: Are these people who they claim to be?
Business & Professional Licensing
How much do you really know about your massage therapist? Has your dentist been disciplined for sucking down nitrous oxide? Does your “general” contractor have the license to back up his hourly rate? Inquiring muckraker minds want to know. The state’s Department of Commerce site is a good place to start.
Check out Occupational & Professional Licensing with info on 60 categories of licenses. Here you can search by name for individuals and companies licensed in dozens of regulated professions, or review disciplinary actions and citations.
The Utah Division of Real Estate regulates appraisers, residential mortgage lenders, real estate brokers and agents; and salespeople for subdivisions, timeshares, and camp resorts. It publishes newsletters with licensing actions and disciplinary sanctions at RealEstate.utah.gov/newsletters.
Division of Corporations & Commercial Code
This is where Utah businesses keep and file their basic records and where private business makes it all public.
Corporations.utah.gov : Where the colonoscopy of any Utah company should begin.
Utah’s Department of Commerce’s Business Entity Search will return a registered agent, the date the business name was registered, and the date the registration was renewed or expired.
Commerce’s Registered Principals Search will yield registered principals (officers and owners) for a particular business for $1 through a link on the business-entity registration detail. To search for all businesses for which a particular person is a registered principal, a $3 search is required.
The Uniform Commercial Code governs commercial transactions and provides a centralized place for creditors to stake their claim to collateral posted by a debtor. Though the monetary amounts of the loans involved are not disclosed, the frequency and timing of the filings can be indicative of a flailing concern, and a forecast of the eventual new owner if and when the business tanks.
The state’s Division of Securities regulates securities and maintains an enforcement and civil-actions database. The press release archive is a scrollable rogue’s gallery of white-collar weasels.
The Utah Insurance Department regulates insurance companies; the good stuff is in the fraud division.
Edgar houses federal Securities & Exchange Commission filings for publicly traded companies.
Public Utilities
• The state’s Division of Public Utilities lists contact information for all of Utah’s electric, natural gas, telecommunications, water and sewer utilities as well as railroad companies. The site also has a tab for the Public Service Commission of Utah where you can see who the utility kingpins are and check out the commission’s pending business, complaints and proposed rate hikes.
Nonprofits
Not all nonprofits are save-the-fair-trade-babies groups, run by work-for-nothing idealists who come to work in cutoff shorts with hemp briefcases. In fact, some of Utah’s biggest nonprofits are nonprofit in name only. Your key to learning more about nonprofits is a magical IRS tax document called the 990.
• Where to look up the 990
The 990 tax form is required of every 501(c)(3) nonprofit that takes in more than $25,000 a year. A good database for looking up these forms can be found at Guidestar or Foundation Center and look under “Fund Finders.”
• Total Revenue? See Part I Line 12
This line tells you about the scope of the organization’s operations: how much dough they bring in from revenue, expenses and net assets.
• Who are the board members? How much are they getting paid? See Part V-A
Comparing revenue and board member compensation can make for some interesting math. Like when City Weekly reporter Stephen Dark questioned in an August 2008 story the Salt Lake City Leonardo finances. From the center’s 2007 990, Dark noted that its top three board members were being paid a combined $231,989, while the center’s revenues for the same year were only $225,596. Unfortunately, Part V-A of the 990 will only list the top five highest paid board members or employees.
• Organization overhead? See Part I Lines 13-17
This section breaks down the nonprofit’s overhead costs between program services, fund-raising and management expenses. Here is where you can check to see if the org is actually funding its programs or just spending money on white-glove charity auctions.
• The Utah NonProfit Association
The UNPA is also a good resource for checking the standing of nonprofits in the state. It also has a member listing you can use to find local nonprofit’s Websites.
• Charitable Solications Permit
Where to check to make sure a nonprofit has its charitable solicitations permit which allows them to legally accept donations.
