Our CIP requires a "primary" and "secondary" business document on most businesses & lists what the acceptable documentation is (depending on the type of business). Usually, it is the articles & certificate of good standing.
Several states do allow you to pull articles & certificates of good standings from their Secretary of State websites. Some, you can only get a certificate of good standing or entity information and some you do have to pay for to get documents. It's a little hit or miss. The website for the national list of SOS links is:
http://nass.org/index.php?option=com_contact_display&Itemid=346If we cannot obtain the documents, our CIP further allows us to obtain the CIP required information that we would normally
get for an individual,on the principal owners of the business in lieu of obtaining the articles & certificate of good standing.