Registered Agents and Your California LLC

Every LLC — whether it’s registered in the state of California or elsewhere — needs to have a “Registered Agent.” A registered agent is a person or business you choose who can accept legal notices for your Limited Liability Company (LLC) on your behalf. If you choose a person to be your registered agent, they must reside in California. If you choose a business as your registered agent, they must be able to conduct business in California.

What Type of Legal Notices Might a California Registered Agent Receive?

A registered agent may receive, on behalf of your LLC:

• Correspondence from the California Secretary of State
• Service of process notices (e.g. if your LLC is sued or required to appear in court)
• Official state and federal government correspondence and notifications
• Tax forms and requests to complete permits, company filings and reports

If you don’t have a physical presence in the state where you’re registered, you do need an agent to accept important documents on behalf of your business. Please note that a secretary of state does need the address of your registered agent and it needs to be a street address, not a PO Box.

A registered agent might also be known as a “Corporate Agent,” "Resident Agent," “Agent for Service of Process” or "Statutory Agent."

Acting As Your Own Registered Agent

If you permanently reside in the state of California, you can choose to be your own registered agent, however you may decide not to be, for several reasons:

• You should always have someone on hand to receive important documents for your business. If you’re not always available, consider using a third-party service like Incfile.
• The registered agent’s name and address is part of the public record and available through the California Secretary of State's website. If you would prefer your name and address isn’t published, you might choose a registered agent service.
• If you change your business address, you don’t need to file additional documentation with the secretary of state for the new address of your registered agent.

If You Don’t Have a Registered Agent for Your California LLC

There can be significant issues if you fail to provide a registered agent, these include:

• Not having the information you need — if your business is sued and you don’t know about it, you could lose to a default judgement in your absence.
• Failing to meet filing deadlines — California LLCs need to file certain documents with the secretary of state. This could mean you face fines and penalties.
• Losing your status as an LLC — a registered agent “proves” to the state that your business exists. Without it, you could lose your business entity protections and your LLC may be dissolved.

Incfile Will Provide a Registered Agent for California on Behalf of Your LLC

Here at Incfile, we have an expert registered agent service. We provide the first year of this service completely for free if you choose to form your LLC with us. After the first year, it’s only $99 for subsequent years — a small price for your peace of mind. Here’s what our service provides:

• An always available registered agent service that can receive correspondence, documents, and legal proceedings on your behalf
• A digital dashboard where you can access, store, and retrieve any information we’ve received for your business
• Email notification whenever we receive documents for your business
• Automatic forwarding of all correspondence, documentation, and information directly to you