Hi Jamie,

Based on what you’ve described, there are a few separate issues here: state nonprofit status, federal tax-exempt status, and disclosure requirements. A California nonprofit corporation is not automatically a federally tax-exempt organization, so the organization can have been incorporated in California without ever receiving IRS recognition. Whether they’re legally required to provide financial records depends on factors such as their corporate status, the type of records requested, whether you’re a member of the organization, and the applicable California nonprofit laws. If the organization is FTB-suspended, that raises additional questions but doesn’t necessarily eliminate its past recordkeeping obligations.

Before relying solely on their explanation, I’d independently verify the organization’s history. You can search IRS tax-exempt records (if they claim they never had federal exemption), California business records, and any available Form 990 filings. If you want to quickly check whether an organization has federal tax-exempt recognition, recent IRS filings, or other publicly available nonprofit information. A tool like the Nonprofit Check Plus API by Pactman can help you automate those checks and save time compared with manually searching multiple databases.

If this issue could lead to legal action or involves rights to inspect records, it’s worth consulting an attorney familiar with California nonprofit law, as the answer depends on the organization’s legal structure and your relationship to it rather than just the name change or rebranding.