Filing a DBA or Assumed Name in Tarrant County

Say you're opening a lawn-care outfit and you want it called something other than your own name. That 'doing business as' name, the DBA, gets filed with the County Clerk in the county where you actually do the work. For an unincorporated business in Tarrant County, you can fill out the assumed-name certificate in person, or mail it in if it's notarized first.

Two things save real headaches here. First, it's on you to search the county's assumed-name records and make sure nobody's already running under the name you picked. Second, a DBA is not a business license; it just records the name. Whether you also need a license depends on city hall, so that's a separate call to make. And if you're an LLC or a corporation rather than a sole proprietor, the Secretary of State has its own assumed-name rules on top. Sort out which county, city, and state filings apply before you order signs or open a business bank account, because a printer doesn't refund a misspelled batch.