(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is asking lawmakers to make it easier for his office to dissolve the registration of fraudulent businesses. Every business that’s incorporated in Iowa must file paperwork with the secretary of state’s office. Pate says some fraudulent companies register using a legitimate street address — and the person who lives at that address winds up being harassed by creditors and others looking for the dishonest business owner.

“The bill we’re proposing is a starting point that would give us the authority and the ability to expedite dissolving that company…so those poor homeowners aren’t getting besieged with these kind of creditor calls and things like that,” Pate says. Pate says the process his office has to use in these situations is too cumbersome and takes way too long.

“If we know that they’re not real and they’re using a bogus address, we should just be able to dissolve them,” Pate says. Pate’s office also oversees elections. Pate says he’s pleased with recently adopted changes in the election recount process and enhanced checks of voter eligibility and will not seeking major election law changes this year.