In the summer of 2007 I finally got my corporate mindset together and began looking for a Nevada resident agent with African lineage [someone from the Black Business community] in mind! I searched the Las Vegas, Reno and Carson City Nevada Black Chambers of Commerce and came up empty handed! Further search for resident agents utilizing the search words "black", "african-american", "african", etc. for the entire state of Nevada also drew a blank.

 Being a resourceful person I began inquring of friends, co-workers and even aquaintances for referrals, recommendations and/or family members willing to serve [for pay] as my resident agent: a few people with relatives in the state of Nevada advised they'd inquire, however no one ever got back to me with any leads.

Since I participate online in a few Black Business communities I posted my request for assistance in locating a resident agent. One of the members of this community, Jim Neusom, referred me to a David Jett.

I contacted David Jett via phone and email wherein he assured me he was a resident agent and could/would provide the service for my business at a resonable fee [I'd done my pricing research online!]. A few weeks lagged between communications and just when I decided to go with a competitor David Jett contacted me via an alternate email address [I've got a few!] stating he hadn't heard from me. . . . Long story short we entered into an agreement for his services.

For more than 13 years I worked in the legal field in the state of California. Starting out as a legal word processor for UC Berkeley's Continuing Education of the Bar and moving on to private firms in a variety of specialties. All of the forms/paperwork required along with the fees AND return postage paid envelopes were dispatched to David Jett towards the end of September. This included his annual resident agent fee as well.  For some unknown reason he did not utilize the return envelope [postage paid] for his signature on our contractual agreement, however he did return the signed contract. This did prove to be a sign of worse to come. . .

 David Jett filed 17 pages for one of the corporations [the online form is 3 pages long -- don't know why he felt the need to change my paperwork], filed the wrong forms for the not-for-profit corporation, stopped responding to my calls and emails and lastly failed to file the list of managers for the LLC. 

Not only did his negligence cause me to miss several critical filing dates for grants [I was working with an established grant writer out of ATL] it has also cost me an additional $135.00 in late filing fees and a useless LLC corporation that doesn't comply with the not-for-profit mandate required to apply for the federal 501(c)(3) status. . . . .

You might wonder why I'm naming names? Because it is this type of behavior that gives Black Businesses a bad name! Every time I mentioned to anyone that I hadn't heard from 'my Nevada resident agent' the first thing out of their mouth was, "is he Black?" When I finally contacted the Sec. Of State's office and learned that he had indeed filed the documents, had been mailed the stamped copies [not in October but in December. . . .] I was livid! AND he still hasn't, to this day April 9, 2008, returned my phone , certified mail or email inquiries as to where the documents are; why he changed the documents provided [or felt the need to file his version of the forms]; or whether a refund of my fees was forthcoming [as I finally requested].

A few weeks ago I found the email from Jim Neusom that recommended David Jett to me. I emailed Jim sharing the botched filings, absolving him of responsiblity [naturally] yet imploring him to contact David Jett and have DJ resolve the matter civilly. To date I haven't received any response from Jim Neusom. . . .

Now, I've been doing some type of independent contracting for the past 26 years. Of late I've even done virtual office work which has involved entering into contract online, phone & via fax. And while challenges, mis-communications and differences of opinion regarding the work product have arisen there isn't anyone anywhere that can malign the integrity that I bring into any contractual agreement -- even my volunteer work!

If we are to ever rise above the stigma of 'are they black?" in business or just plain respecting each other and behaving civilly in all arenas then the actions or failures to act displayed by the likes of David Jett must cease. Without accountability and/or true 'community' involvement by a majority of those of us acting as entrepreneurs the 'bad apples' will continue to spoil the whole bunch.

Does anyone know a good business attorney in Nevada? African descendant prefererd: if so, Holla!  YE