Service Hub
Services in this hub
- Adding a New Owner or Partner Already have a Bergen County trade name and need to add an owner or partner? Use the same certificate and four-copy filing you used to register. Bring the notarized set to Room 120 or mail it with the fee payable to the Bergen County Clerk.
- Business Address Change If a registered trade-name business moves, file the Clerk's change-of-address form so the public record matches the new location. Pick the form up in Room 120 or follow the instructions on this page; do not assume the municipal clerk will notify the county.
- Business Complaint Information The Clerk records trade names; it does not investigate a bad business. File a complaint with the Division of Consumer Affairs at 220 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Suite 202, Paramus, NJ 07652, or call (201) 336-6400.
- Business License Information A county trade-name certificate is not a license to operate. Ask the building or zoning official in the town where you will work about local permits, and use the state licensing site for occupations that Trenton regulates.
- Closing a Business Closing a sole proprietorship or partnership that used a trade name? Download the Discontinuance of Trade Name, complete it, and file it with the Clerk so the name comes off the public list. Corporations and LLCs dissolve with the state, not on this form.
- Federal Tax Information Need an EIN or other federal tax help for a new business? The local IRS office is at 1 Kalisa Way, Paramus, NJ 07652, and the toll-free line is (800) 829-1040. The Clerk cannot assign a federal tax number.
- Fees Trade-name filings can be paid by credit card or by check payable to the Bergen County Clerk. You will receive a receipt at the counter or by mail; keep it with the stamped copies of your certificate.
- Incorporation, Limited Partnerships, Fictitious Names & Non-profit Organizations If you are forming a corporation, limited partnership, nonprofit, or statewide fictitious name, you file with the New Jersey Department of the Treasury, Division of Revenue—not in Room 120. The Clerk only takes county trade-name certificates for sole proprietors and general partnerships.
- New Business Lists Salespeople, journalists, and local groups can subscribe to lists of new businesses that just registered a trade name with the Clerk. The detailed list includes the business name and address plus owner names and addresses; ask the office for the current subscription price.
- Registering a Church Corporation Religious congregations that incorporate at the county level can download a sample church-corporation packet and see the filing rules. You must submit three original, notarized three-page sets; bring them to Room 120 or mail them with the fee.
- Registering a New Trade Name Starting a sole proprietorship or partnership under a name other than your own? Download the Certificate of Trade Name, complete the required copies, and file them with the Clerk. Search existing names first so you are not stamped in on top of someone else's certificate.
- Removing an Owner or Partner To take an owner or partner off a registered trade name, file the Clerk's Dissolution form—not a letter. Download it here, complete it, and return it to Room 120 so the public record matches who is still in the business.
- Score New owners who want mentoring (not a county form) can reach SCORE through the Office of Community Services, 5th floor, One Bergen Plaza, Hackensack, (201) 599-6090. There is also a Small Business Workshop listing in Edison on the page.
- Small Business Counseling Owners who want county counseling—not a trade-name stamp—can use the Bergen County Business Resource Network or the Division of Economic Development on the 3rd floor of One Bergen County Plaza. The Economic Development line is (201) 336-7336.
- Submitting Documents If you are not coming to the counter, mail completed trade-name documents to Trade Name Registration, Office of the Bergen County Clerk, One Bergen County Plaza, Room 120, Hackensack, NJ 07601. Include the fee and a return address so the stamped copies can come back to you.
- Tax Identification Number Every new business that needs a New Jersey tax ID registers with the Division of Revenue, not the Clerk. Call (609) 292-9292 for the portal, or (609) 292-6400 for tax-eligibility questions.
- Trademark & Patents A county trade name is not a trademark. New Jersey trademarks go to the Department of the Treasury Trademark Section; federal trademarks and patents go to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The Clerk cannot reserve a logo or invention.
- Workers Compensation Information Hiring employees? Workers compensation is handled by the New Jersey Department of Labor, P.O. Box 381, Trenton, NJ 08625-0318, phone (609) 292-2516. The Clerk's trade-name stamp does not enroll you in that coverage.