Indiana's House Enrolled Act 1593 (HEA 1593), effective July 1, 2025, strengthens fraud-prevention and business-filing rules for entities that register with the Indiana Secretary of State. Designed to combat shell companies and misleading filings, the law targets how addresses and contact information are reported and disclosed.

Key changes

• Stricter rules on business addresses. Companies must provide a valid principal office address and cannot hide behind generic mailbox or “virtual” addresses without clear disclosure. The law explicitly aims to stop entities from using mail-receiving agencies or fake physical locations to obscure ownership.
• Recognition of “virtual businesses.” The law acknowledges that some companies operate entirely online or via telecommunications and allows them to use a “contact address” instead of a traditional brick-and-mortar location — but only if properly labeled and not used to mislead the public.
• Enhanced fraud-fighting tools. The Secretary of State gains clearer authority to challenge suspicious filings, demand verification, and potentially revoke or update registrations when information is found to be fraudulent or misleading.

For Indiana startups and small businesses, HEA 1593 mainly adds transparency and accuracy requirements rather than new operational burdens: owners must ensure their filings reflect real contact information and a genuine operating address, and they must be prepared to verify that information if challenged. The law is framed as a way to protect consumers and legitimate companies from bad-actor entities that abuse anonymous-sounding registrations.