How do you recommend verifying sole proprietors, given they are not registered entities?

Sole proprietors usually have no Secretary of State registration, so a standard business search returns no match for them. That is expected, and it is why we publish a separate verification flow for them. The full guide is at docs.baselayer.com/docs/sole-prop-verification; the summary:

1. Identify the route. The best signal is the applicant telling you they are a sole proprietor during intake. If you only learn it from the search, the pattern is a business search with no matched business but a TIN match, or a C or F rating with a TIN match.

2. Verify the TIN. Call POST /tin_verifications with the business name and the tax ID the applicant gave you. For a sole proprietor that is often their SSN rather than an EIN, and either works. A match confirms the name and tax ID belong together. A no-match is a red flag. A null result means the IRS service was unavailable and the check is pending; route it to review or wait for the retry.

3. Review their online presence. Run POST /web_presence_requests with the name the business operates under, the address, and any website or contact details provided. The guide lists which signals to treat as red or yellow flags, for example contact details that only appear on the applicant’s own site, a prohibited industry predicted with high confidence, no active website or social profiles for a business that claims to be established, or a high volume of poor reviews. Start this request early; it typically takes 20 to 30 seconds.

4. Verify the individual. Because a sole proprietorship is the owner, an identity check on the person is essential. Baselayer does not perform consumer identity verification; use your KYC provider for this step - Baselayer works with multiple KYC partners and we can advise on which ones to use.

Approve when every step passes, decline on any red flag, and send yellow flags to review according to your risk appetite.