Who Can Be A Registered Agent In Va

Before filing your Articles of Organization with the Virginia Country Corporation Commission (discussed in the next lesson), y'all need to designate a Registered Amanuensis for your Virginia LLC.

A Virginia Registered Amanuensis is a person or visitor who agrees to have legal mail service (known as "service of process") on behalf of your Virginia LLC in case your business gets sued.

The Virginia Land Corporation Commission may also utilise your Registered Amanuensis's address as your LLC's betoken of contact for official notices sent to your business organisation.

As per Section 13.one-1015, your LLC's Registered Agent must have a concrete street accost located in Virginia. A Virginia Registered Agent address can't be a PO Box address.

Your Virginia Registered Amanuensis should besides be bachelor (by and large speaking) during normal business hours (9am – 5pm) in case Service of Process arrives. Service of Process for an LLC includes the delivery of legal documents such as complaints, summons, and subpoenas.

Additionally, if your LLC'due south Registered Agent will be an individual person, that person must be a resident of Virginia.

Your Virginia LLC'south Registered Agent is a key component to how the court and legal systems work. By requiring all Virginia LLCs to have (and continuously maintain) a Registered Amanuensis on file with the state, the commitment of legal mail and courtroom documents can be properly tracked.

This is like to how 'certified mail return receipt' works, but in the legal world, this is how process servers – (people delivering court and legal documents) – create a record that something was delivered.

Special offer: If you hire Northwest to form your LLC ($39 + state fee), they'll include their Registered Agent service complimentary for the 1st year.

Tin can I be my own Registered Agent in Virginia?

Yes, you can be your Virginia LLC's Registered Agent, as long as you are a Virginia resident, a Member or Manager of the LLC, and have a street address located in the state.

You really have 3 options when forming an LLC in Virginia:

Option i: You tin can exist your LLC's Registered Amanuensis in Virginia if you are an LLC Member or Manager. (are there risks?)

Option 2: Some other LLC Member, LLC Managing director, or employee of your LLC tin can be your LLC'due south Registered Agent.

Selection 3: You can hire a Virginia Registered Amanuensis Service, too known as a Commercial Registered Agent.

Registered Agent Data is Public Record in Virginia

While you exercise take the selection to be your Virginia LLC's Registered Agent, you may non want to have your accost listed in the public records.

The information you enter in your Articles of Organization becomes public tape with the Virginia Country Corporation Commission.

Non merely is this information searchable past the public, but other websites download the state'southward records and republish them on their ain website. So things begin to multiply as other public record websites take that same information and list it on their website again (and the process repeats itself).

Pretty soon your address is listed on diverse websites and people can hands find it by doing a google search.

There is a solution though if yous'd like to go on your accost off public records. We'll discuss this below.

What'due south the best Virginia Registered Amanuensis to choose?

Option #1 You:

If you are a resident of Virginia, are an LLC Member or Manager, take a street address located in the state, are available during business hours, and don't mind your address being on public record, and then yous tin can be your LLC's Registered Amanuensis.

Option #2 Some other LLC Member, LLC Manager, or LLC employee:

An LLC Member, LLC Manager, or LLC employee can be your LLC's Registered Amanuensis. They also need to be a resident of Virginia, have a street accost located in the state, be bachelor during business hours, and don't heed having their address being on public record.

Note: In Virginia, a friend or family unit member can't be the Registered Amanuensis for your LLC. You may have seen this equally an selection in other states, withal, this isn't allowed in Virginia.

(related commodity: LLC Member vs LLC Director)

Selection #3 Registered Amanuensis Service:

If you don't have a street address in Virginia (or you lot'd rather not employ it for this purpose), you tin can hire a Commercial Registered Amanuensis in Virginia.

Commercial Registered Agent in Virginia

Note: The terms "Registered Agent Service" and "Commercial Registered Agent" mean the aforementioned thing. Nosotros will employ them interchangeably.

A Virginia Registered Agent Service specializes in receiving Service of Process (legal mail) on behalf of your LLC.

Most Registered Agent Services in Virginia price between $100 and $300 per year.

The Virginia Registered Agent we recommend is Northwest Registered Amanuensis ($125 per yr).

Why we recommend Northwest Registered Amanuensis

Northwest Registered Agent is our personal recommendation (and the service we apply ourselves) considering they've been in concern for over 20 years, take great customer service, and they let yous utilize their accost in your unabridged LLC filing in lodge to continue your accost off public record.

How to continue your address off public records:

Many filers in Virginia start businesses from their home. For this reason, it's important to know that all addresses that are listed in your LLC's Articles of Organization (Registered Agent Accost and Master Office Address) go listed on public records.

If you were thinking of using your home accost, but would rather keep it off public records, y'all can hire a Registered Agent that will permit yous to use their address throughout your Manufactures of Organization. Northwest Registered Agent offers this unique service at no additional price. Their Registered Agent services are $125 per twelvemonth and they'll let you apply their address throughout your Manufactures of Organization.

Any mail that is sent to your LLC will be scanned by them and uploaded to your online account.

Special discounted pricing for LLC University® readers

Northwest commonly charges $100 + state fees to form an LLC. Nevertheless, we've negotiated a discounted charge per unit (60% off) for LLC University® readers.

Risks of being your own Registered Agent in Virginia

As mentioned above, you can be your ain Registered Agent in Virginia.

Besides the address privacy we mentioned, are at that place whatever other risks to existence your own Registered Agent?

In short, there are risks. They are non extremely probable to occur, but if they do, y'all could lose your liability protection and the Virginia State Corporation Committee has the power to administratively shut down your Virginia LLC if y'all're not in compliance with the state laws.

This can happen if you don't "continuously maintain" (always take) a Registered Agent on file, or if the Land Corporation Commission is unsuccessful in reaching your LLC's Registered Agent.

Additionally, if a process server (the person who delivers courtroom documents and notices of lawsuits) is unsuccessful in reaching your Virginia Registered Agent (or is unsuccessful in serving your LLC through the State Corporation Commission), a courtroom instance can proceed in your absenteeism and you lot might non fifty-fifty know about it. Or worse, the court could enter a default judgment against your LLC if y'all aren't there to defend yourself.

A few reasons a process server might not be able to reach your Virginia LLC'due south Registered Agent:

you (some other LLC Member, LLC Manager, or LLC employee) are not in that location during business hours
you/they are on vacation or out of town
y'all/they moved and y'all forgot to file a Change of Registered Agent with the Virginia State Corporation Committee

Side by side Step: Virginia LLC Filing Course (Manufactures of Arrangement)

Once you determine who will serve equally your Virginia LLC's Registered Agent, y'all can then proceed to the adjacent lesson: Virginia LLC Filing Forms.

If you plan on hiring a Virginia Registered Amanuensis Service (a Commercial Registered Agent), please do so before going to the next step. You'll need their address for your Articles of Organization.

Founder & Educator, LLC University®

Matt Horwitz has been the leading expert on LLC education for the past decade. He founded LLC University in 2010 later realizing people needed simple and actionable instructions to offset an LLC that other companies weren't offer. He's cited past Entrepreneur Magazine, Yahoo Finance, and the U.s. Chamber of Commerce, and was featured past CNBC and InventRight.

Matt holds a Bachelor'south Caste in business from Drexel University with a concentration in business concern law. He performs all-encompassing research and analysis to convert state laws into unproblematic instructions anyone can follow to course their LLC - all for gratuitous! Read more nearly Matt Horwitz and LLC University.