Almost all Corporations and Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) are required to have a Registered Agent in the state where the company is formed or doing business in.
A Registered Agent is formally known as Registered Agent for Service of Process and may also be known as Resident Agent, Statutory Agent, or Agent of Record. It acts as an agent for the company to receive important legal, tax, and corporate compliance documents. The following is a list of some documents that gets sent to the Agent:
- Tax-related documents from IRS, Franchise Tax Board, and other government tax entities.
- Normal corporate filing documents such as reminders for filing Statement of Information and other information sent by the Secretary of State.
- Notice of Litigation mail (mail that initiates lawsuits) and legal documents when others want to formally contact you or send you notice.
Keeping accurate corporate records with the State is important. You may not get the full benefit that a corporation or LLC offers if information is not kept up-to-date. Failure to comply may result in fines and possible loss of good standing with the state.
Who can be your Registered Agent?
There are certain restrictions and conditions to becoming a Registered Agent for your business. In general, an individual or business can become your Agent if they fit the following requirements:
- An Agent must physically reside in the state. This can be a residential home or office.
- The Agent’s address must be a physical street address. PO Boxes are not allowed.
- The Agent must be available during normal business hours to receive important state and legal documents.
- A business cannot be its own Agent. However, an officer, owner, director, or manager of a business can be the Agent for the business. A physical address different from the business address is required.
- The individual’s name and address is required if the Agent is a person.
- If Agent is a business, it must be a corporation and be certified with the State. In this case, usually the corporation name or some Record ID is required to identify the business as your Agent when you file.
How Private is Your Business Record?
An Registered Agent’s address is public record and can be viewed by anyone. Some states also include the company’s legal address, while others only show the Agent’s address. This means that anyone can search and find the address to contact you, including marketers.
Caution – Don’t Get Confused!
There are many businesses out there that use your public contact information to send you mail encouraging you to pay a handsome amount of money to file annual Statement of Information on your behalf. Frequently, they use a professional corporate seal on the envelope and use terms such as “Corporate Compliance Department” to make their mail appear like it’s some legal document.
Many people get confused and assume that the mail is a legal document from the government, which it’s not. By law, these businesses must disclose that they are not a government entity. So make sure to read the letter in detail.
Filing a Statement of Information is a simple matter and costs very little (in California, it’s $25). These businesses will typically ask for $70 or more to do the same job.
How to File a Registered Agent for Your Business
There are a few ways to use or change the Registered Agent for your business:
- When you start a new Corporation or LLC, you can identify your initial Registered Agent in your Articles of Incorporation or Articles of Organization, respectively.
- You can change your Registered Agent on file by filing your Statement of Information.
Choosing the Right Registered Agent for Your Business
There are so many registered agent services out there with prices ranging from low $40s a year up to the mid $300s. Each includes different services in their fees. Consider the following guidelines when choosing a Registered Agent:
- If you need to register your company in multiple states, then you should look at National Registered Agent services.
- If you only do business within one or two states, then you should look at cheaper services that offer agent service within those states.
- Determine how much mail you think you will receive. Expect to receive a few extra marketing mail in the beginning if starting a new business. Existing small businesses normally don’t receive much mail unless doing something out of the ordinary.
- Check if the annual fee you’re paying includes any free mail forwarding. Some offer unlimited first class mail forwarding (and probably charge you $150+ for it) while others include only a few mail forwarding for free. Some may charge you on a per use basis. Make sure to find out how much it costs to forward the mail.
- Some Agent Services will allow you to use their address as your business address while others may not. Get more information if this is a requirement.
- Some Agent Services will not receive personal or normal business mail, and may even charge you extra for this. If you’re using the service to receive legal and government-related mail only, then you don’t need to worry about this.
For corporations and LLCs, Registered Agent service is essential to maintaining good standing and keeping your business running without running into compliance issues. To find an Agent that is right for you, make sure to understand what service you need and then choose the appropriate service that fits you.
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