NC attorney general tells firm to stop mailings

RALEIGH — A Michigan company is under a court order to stop sending deceptive mailings telling North Carolina businesses to pay $125 to comply with state law on filing corporate records.

The announcement of the court order was made jointly by Attorney General Roy Cooper and Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning granted an order Thursday temporarily barring The Mandatory Poster Agency of Lansing, Mich., and its owners from misleading businesses.

Cooper says the company’s letters directed businesses to complete a form and send $125 to comply with state law on taking and filing corporate minutes. The businesses were to send replies by Sept. 4 to an address in Raleigh, which turned out to be a rented mailbox that received stacks of replies daily.

The attorney general is also seeking a permanent court order against the defendants’ deceptive practices in North Carolina plus refunds and civil penalties from the company.

Cooper has also fought The Mandatory Poster Agency before, winning civil penalties and refunds from the company in 2007 for using deceptive mailings and scare tactics to trick businesses into paying for workplace notices such as those reminding employees to wash their hands.