The FCC has dismissed an LPFM application in Daytona Beach, Fla., after the commission said the applicant failed to timely prove it was established as a nonprofit, a delay partly caused by an unavailable registration name in Florida.
Lilith Inc. sought to build the station during the 2023 filing window.
According to the commission’s rules, LPFM applicants must be established as nonprofits under state law at the time of filing an application. Applicants must also submit supporting documentation.
Initial evidence insufficient
Lilith originally submitted an incorporation worksheet that included a screenshot from the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations’ website, showing its nonprofit status as “pending approval.”
Last May, the Media Bureau dismissed Lilith’s application for failing to demonstrate valid nonprofit status. The bureau said Lilith’s worksheet included no evidence that its filing had been approved, and that the matter had not been settled by the time the LPFM application was submitted.
The commission also noted that the name submitted to the state — Lilith FM Inc. — did not match the entry of Lilith Inc. on its LPFM application. The Florida business entity database also showed an effective date for Lilith FM of Dec. 20, five days after the LPFM application was filed.
The name game
After the dismissal, Lilith filed a petition with the commission last June.
Lilith asked that its application be reinstated, citing an email from the bureau chief of the Florida Division of Corporations. The email explained that Lilith submitted its articles for incorporation with the state on Dec. 13, two days before it filed its application.
[Related: “FCC Dismisses Florida LPFM CP Over Nonprofit Status”]
The filing was returned on Dec. 15 because the name it desired — Lilith Inc. — was unavailable.
At that point, Lilith said it changed its desired name to Lilith FM Inc.
It submitted copies of two Florida statutes to support its claim that it was incorporated on Dec. 15, which is the same day it filed the LPFM application.
The first statute stated that “unless a delayed effective date is specified, the corporate existence begins when the articles of incorporation are filed.”
The second statute stated that “when a document is determined by the department to be deficient, the applicant may correct the document, and the official filing date of the corrected document would be the filing date that would have applied had the original document not been deficient.”
The Florida statues Lilith references can be found here.
Citing the email from the Division of Corporations bureau chief stating the original filings occurred on Dec. 13, Lilith argued that Florida would apply the original filing date, despite the name change.
Media Bureau affirms decision
After reviewing the petition, the Media Bureau affirmed its original decision.
It said that Lilith failed to demonstrate it was a nonprofit at the time it filed its application and pointed to LPFM application instructions requiring the exact legal name of the applicant entity be entered.
Even with the email exchange, the Florida Department of State database lists a filed date of Dec. 28 and an effective date of Dec. 20 for Lilith FM — five days after its LPFM application was submitted.
The Media Bureau said that Lilith did not properly explain “why we should not accept this official document at face value.”
“An LPFM’s applicant status as a valid nonprofit organization at the time it files its application is fundamental to our determination of the applicant’s qualifications to hold an LPFM authorization,” the bureau wrote.
As a result, it dismissed Lilith’s application and denied its petition.
The organization had hoped to broadcast on 103.7 FM in Daytona Beach, aiming to promote “citizenship, integrity and personal responsibility,” among other ideals.
