1. Acquire a certificate of good standing for my LLC from the Delaware Secretary of State.
2. Register with the California Secretary of State as a foreign LLC (out of state LLC), which required the aforementioned letter of good standing.
3. Acquire a business license from the city my LLC operates in.
4. Pay a franchise fee to the California Franchise Tax board.
5. Figure out what other fees I'm on the hook for. I wasn't able to figure this out on my own and am currently working with an accountant and lawyer I found after incorporated to help me do this correctly.
There's probably going to be a few other odds and ends. I operate out of my home and only employ myself, which saves on a lot of other paperwork and logistics I'd need to sort out otherwise.
not registering your out of state entity basically has no consequences, its a lower consequence than failing to return a book to the library and has the same level of resources set aside to enforce it
reach the same conclusion yourself as this is obviously not condoning anything, but anyone can run circles around you with the same runway and resource prioritization by ignoring these states
you might end up paying the same registration fees eventually just later, and depending on the state you get retroactive limited liability in the courts.
Remember tell things:
1) municipalities are in competition with each other to attract business
2) asking them if a certain level of compliance is necessary is like asking a barber if you need a haircut. It’s like asking the oil changer if they noticed anything else. Learn the consequences yourself and you’ll be able to make objective decisions.