What is a Registered Agent?
A registered agent is a person or entity that is listed with the Secretary of State, Corporation Commission, or any State agency as a designated party to receive service of process, or a notification of any type on behalf of a person or company.
The point of a registered agent is to close a loophole in the law and not allow big corporations and companies to hide from law suits. Let’s say you have a problem on your cell phone bill. You send in a letter with your payment requesting them to correct the problem on your bill. Do you think your utility company would respond? No. But if you send your complaint to their registered agent, its legal proof that they have been notified of your complaint.
Let’s say you then need to sue the phone company in court. In order for the case to continue, you would need to prove to the court that you have notified them. If you sent a copy of the suit to their regular address, they would just say they never got it, and the court would not let you continue. But if you send it to the registered agent at the registered office address, they have to accept it, and you have proof that you notified them. A registered agent cannot refuse an item if that person or business is listed as the registered agent.
A registered agents’ main function is to accept these documents. If you are going to serve as your own registered agent, the requirements will be that the person you list on your documents be at the address you list during normal business hours to accept a hand delivered document.
A registered agent must maintain a real physical location in the State. Some websites or companies may try to list a mailbox service or an address that doesn’t even accept mail on their State documents. This may be ok at first, but if you have a problem and someone needs to send you something, you could get in trouble with the State.
The point of hiring a registered agent company like us, is to not have to worry about documents getting lost. A process server does not have to make sure you know what to do with a law suit. They could literally just throw a packet at you or someone at your office and leave. We upload all items into your online account immediately upon receipt. You then get an email asking you to log into your account. We then track if you login and start sending you regular mail notifications as well. You can always manage your items we receive in your online registered agent account.
When you hire us as your registered agent, we not only take care of accepting service of process on your behalf, but we also offer you the tools you need to establish an online business presence. Choose a domain for your business and get an email address and website at that domain, as well SSL service for website security. You’ll also get a phone number with a direct business line you can use with an internet connection on a device of your choice, or our iOS or Android apps. All at no upfront cost to you.