# BRD-009 — The legal name field takes the legal name, not the trading name

> A DBA, trade name, subsidiary name, or product name must not be submitted in the legal company name field.

- **Rule ID:** BRD-009
- **Layer:** Brand (`BRAND`)
- **Checks:** `brand.company_name vs brand.dba`
- **Severity:** BLOCKING — Breaking this rule gets the submission rejected outright.
- **When it bites:** Gates approval — get this wrong and registration is refused
- **How it is detected:** AI judgement over the submitted form; External record we cannot query — reported as a warning to verify
- **Fix type:** Fix the field — a better value in the form clears it
- **Required by:** Twilio, AWS, Plivo, TCR
- **Applies:** Applies to every 10DLC registration.
- **Canonical URL:** https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/brand/brd-009/

## Why this rule exists

Almost every business has two names and only one of them is on the tax record. The trading name is the one on the sign, the invoices, the website and in everyone's head, so it is the one that gets typed — and it fails the IRS match, which returns as "we could not verify this business" rather than as "wrong name". Product names are the same trap one level down: the messaging programme is for a product, so the product name feels like the subject of the registration.

## How to fix it

Move the trading name into the DBA field and put the name from the IRS letter in the legal name field. Both fields are submitted, so nothing is lost — the trading name is what reviewers compare against the website, and the legal name is what the tax match runs on. Done when the two fields hold different values and each is in the right box.

## Example of a compliant value

```text
company_name: Acme Coffee Co, LLC · dba: Acme Coffee — not "Acme Coffee" in both
```

## Common mistakes

- A subsidiary registering under the parent's name fails the same way in reverse: the EIN belongs to the subsidiary, so the parent name matches nothing.

## Provider rejection codes

| Provider | Code | Resubmission allowed |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Twilio | `30918` | yes |
| Twilio | `30914` | yes |

## Check this yourself

**Is the value in the legal name field the name printed on the IRS letter, rather than the trading name, a subsidiary name, or the product the messages are about?**

1. Put the two names side by side: the one on the CP-575, and the one on the sign, the invoices and the website.
2. The IRS name goes in the legal name field; the trading name goes in the DBA field. Both are submitted, so nothing is lost.

*What wrong looks like:* "Acme Coffee" in the legal name field and nothing in the DBA field. The tax match returns "we could not verify this business" rather than "wrong name", so the EIN gets checked repeatedly instead.

## Notes

Confirming which name is on the tax record needs the IRS file, so the judged half only catches the recognisable shapes — a suffix-less legal name, or a product name in the entity field. The user has to confirm against their CP-575 that the value they submitted is the issued name.