Business entities like LLCs and corporations are nearly always required to have a local registered agent with a physical address in every state where they transact business. A national registered agent can meet these requirements in every state and streamline that process.

The purpose of having a registered agent is to provide the public with a reliable way to reach you with important legal mail, like a summons or lawsuit. If you don't have a registered agent in the state where you want to do business, the local Secretary of State will typically reject your filing.

You can certainly be your own registered agent in the state where you live. But if you need a registered agent in more than one state, being your own registered agent is impossible. You'd have to be in two places at once, and as we know from watching sitcoms, that never ends well.

Most businesses that transact business in multiple states hire a national registered agent service. Why? It's cheaper and more convenient than appointing individual registered agents separately. Plus, a registered agent's name and address becomes part of the public record, and most business owners like to keep their own address private.

Yes! We allow our clients to use our addresses anywhere on public filings. This keeps your private address off the public record, sparing you a tsunami of junk mail and preserving your privacy.

Well, no. We don't want ALL of your business mail. We're here to accept legal notices and service of process on your behalf. Having your bank statements, invoices, and whatever else sent here doesn't serve you well.

That said, we understand that businesses and clients sometimes reach out to you through your registered agent (us). That's why we give you 5 FREE scans of regular business mail a year in each state where you have service. You can request any additional documents to be forwarded at a per document rate of $15.

Hire us first. Your formation documents will likely require you to list a local registered agent, so you won't be able to form an LLC or corporation (or qualify your existing foreign LLC or corporation in a new state) without one. After you hire us, you'll be able to find all the forms (and instructions) you need in your account with us.

• A process server, the sheriff, or any third party will walk into our office and hand us legal papers (service of process).
• The process server then gives an affidavit to the court that they "served" us.

When a registered agent is served, that business is considered notified in the eyes of the law. Even if your registered agent never sends you your documents, you're notified. That is a serious responsibility, and we don't take it lightly.

It depends on your state, but most states keep an online business database on their Secretary of State's website. Once you locate your local state's database, search for the name of the company you're trying to find and click on their business record. There, you should find the company's public business record, filings, and registered agent information.

If you want to legally notify someone through their registered agent, send a certified letter directly to the registered agent name and registered office address.