The company had been in business for almost exactly five years—comfortably beyond the minimum underwriting guidelines. “Ever heard of a Shelf Company?” A shelf company, or shelf corporation, is a legal entity that is formed, registered, and then placed “on the shelf” to age. Parker said that information alone may not be enough, given how freely advice about circumventing company-age requirements is proliferating online. “So in the Secretary of State it will give you some information like when the business was formed, when control changed,” Parker said.