Years in Business pillar — entity age and legal standing

Every Texas business entity is on record with the Texas Secretary of State, including formation date, legal status (active, forfeited, right-to-transact-business lost, etc.), and registered name. Vfane pulls this data directly from the Texas Secretary of State's SOSDirect online business-entity search to confirm how long a contractor has been operating under their current legal entity. Because Texas does not require a state roofing license, business age is one of the few public-record signals available — and it's structurally hard for a transient operator to fake. Post-storm storm chasers typically operate under out-of-state entities or newly formed LLCs, so a long Texas entity record often correlates with deeper local roots. The pillar earns the V badge when the entity is active and verifiable on the SoS record; contractors cannot self-report their way to this badge. One nuance worth naming: a contractor may have decades of personal roofing experience but a newer business entity after a rebrand, partnership change, or restructure. Homeowners weighing this pillar typically consider it alongside crew tenure and installation track record. [Source: Texas Secretary of State business search]