No matter if your business is an Arizona LLC, corporation, or sole proprietorship, an Arizona registered agent is one of the most important business services you’ll hire for your company.
Not only do Arizona registered agents play a major role in the formation process, they can provide worry-free compliance for your business.
But what is a registered agent, how does it work, and does your company actually need one?
What Is a Registered Agent in Arizona?
A registered agent in Arizona is an individual or business entity that is available at a registered business address during normal business hours to receive service of process from a process server and other court documents, legal documents, and mail from government agencies, such as the Arizona Secretary of State, the Arizona Department of Revenue, and the Arizona Corporation Commission, on behalf of your Arizona corporation or business.
However, it does your business no good for your Arizona registered agent to receive your documents and mail if you never see it. So, the second half of a registered agent’s job is to provide services like mail forwarding. This way, you receive important information and correspondence sent to your limited liability company or corporation and you can stay up to date on compliance filing deadlines with compliance alerts or annual report reminders.
Sometimes an Arizona registered agent is referred to as a resident agent or statutory agent, so if you notice those terms in your research or on your formation documents, just know it’s all the same thing.
Any company that’s registered as a business entity is required to have a registered agent, and that’s a rule that’s observed nationwide. Additionally, any business entity that conducts business in multiple states is required to maintain a registered agent in each state it conducts business in. These businesses are required to either designate a registered agent in other states or hire a professional registered agent service.
What Is the Purpose of a Registered Agent in Arizona?
At this point, you’re likely wondering what the purpose of an Arizona statutory agent is if they just stand around at a specified street address during business hours and accept service of process and mail for your company. Couldn’t you just establish a PO box for your company and periodically check it for important correspondence to cut out the middleman? In the simplest terms: no. Because every statutory agent in Arizona must list a street address as part of the statutory agent’s information, that disqualifies PO box addresses. Receiving mail for your Arizona business isn’t the only thing Arizona registered agents do, either. Here are some of the services that make an Arizona statutory agent invaluable to your company:
Compliance
An Arizona statutory agent is charged with the task of keeping your company up to date with its compliance filings with the Arizona Corporation Commission. This includes sending you notifications for important filing deadlines, like annual reports or taxes.
You can think of a registered agent in Arizona as being a go-between between your Arizona business and government agencies like the Arizona Secretary of State and the Arizona Corporation Commission. A registered agent makes sure you’re notified about filing deadlines imposed by these government offices so that you can quickly attend to them. Designating an Arizona statutory agent means you’re guaranteed to know when a problem arises so that you can resolve them in a timely manner.
Management of Important Documents
The stipulation of the street address can be a problem for any business owner who conducts business from home or for businesses that don’t have a physical street address—and those difficulties are compounded by the fact that PO boxes aren’t allowed. The statutory agent address you list for your company is where all your company’s mail, service of process, and official correspondence is sent. The best registered agent services in Arizona upload the documents to an online document management portal and provide you with an online account to access them. Not only will you receive your documents a lot quicker than you would with basic mail forwarding service, this online document management is also a lot easier than sifting through both business and personal mail at home.
Who Can Be a Registered Agent in Arizona?
There are a few requirements that are universal for every registered agent, no matter the state. Here are some of the requirements that your Arizona registered agent or Arizona registered agent service must meet:
- 18+ Years. Arizona law requires that your registered agent be at least 18 years of age.
- Physical address. Arizona requires your registered agent’s address to be an Arizona physical address, and that your registered agent be present at this address during regular business hours to accept official documents, mail, and service of process on behalf of your company. The two most important takeaways from this definition are that a) your statutory agent must use a physical street address, which means the address can’t be a PO box, and b) your business address has to be in the state of Arizona.
- Who you can designate. You can designate anyone to be your registered agent, including a friend or family member, an employee, or your lawyer. The only real stipulation here is that whomever you choose must be present at the street address listed on your formation documents during business hours to receive service of process and documents on behalf of your company. Because of that stipulation, many businesses opt to hire an Arizona registered agent service.
- State laws. Many states have unique laws specifically for registered agents. It’s a good idea to brush up on laws regarding choosing a statutory agent in Arizona to make sure you’re complying with them.
What Happens If My Business Operates Without a Registered Agent?
Any company registered as a business entity is required by law to maintain an Arizona statutory agent. This means each Arizona LLC, sole proprietorship, and corporation must have one. And this rule isn’t exclusive to Arizona—it’s nationwide. So regardless of your business’s structure, if it’s a registered business entity, it’s required to have an Arizona statutory agent or registered agent.
By law, a statutory agent in Arizona is required to be present and available at your business address during normal business hours to receive mail and legal documents on behalf of your Arizona LLC. If you fail to list the address of your Arizona statutory agent or don’t designate a statutory agent in Arizona, you’re likely to miss important legal notices.
In the event that a process server can’t deliver a service of process, they may try to deliver the service of process to the Arizona Corporations Commission instead. As a result, the Arizona Corporation Commission could proceed with legal actions against your company, without you even knowing, and issue a default judgment against you.
Failing to maintain a statutory agent in Arizona or meet your compliance obligations could cause your Arizona LLC or business to lose its good-standing status, which would restrict the company from legally conducting business in Arizona. Companies without the good-standing status also aren’t allowed to expand into other states, and they may not meet eligibility requirements for business loans.
One of the most disastrous outcomes for any Arizona LLC that loses its good-standing status is the automatic dissolution of its legal LLC status. A dissolved LLC loses the legal rights to the company’s name in that state. Other companies could swoop in like vultures and take the name to use for their own. So even if you quickly reestablish your LLC, you may still lose the rights to your company name—FOREVER.
Conducting business with a dissolved LLC is risky. If a business isn’t legally recognized as an LLC, the business owners are liable for the company—and its debts. This means that each LLC member and business owner puts their personal assets on the line in the event of litigation against the company.
These risks and legal issues aren’t exclusive to LLCs, either. Corporations, sole proprietorships, and all other business entities are subject to these consequences if they don’t designate or maintain an Arizona statutory agent.
Can I Be My Own Registered Agent in Arizona?
You’re allowed to be your own statutory agent in all 50 states. So by all means, you’re perfectly allowed to be your own statutory agent in Arizona. But before you make this decision, you should learn about the pros and cons of supplying your company’s registered agent services yourself.
Cons of Being Your Own Registered Agent
Liability
The biggest disadvantage of being your own statutory agent, rather than hiring an Arizona statutory agent service, is the potential disastrous consequences of missing important legal notices. Missing a service of process could ultimately mean a default judgment against your company. You’ll just have to deal with whatever ruling the judge makes.
Lack of Privacy
Another disadvantage of being your own statutory agent instead of hiring an Arizona registered agent service is that if you don’t have a business address, you’ll be forced to list your private address on the public record. This is less than ideal because it exposes your information to cybercriminals and exposes you to things like identity theft as well as invasion of privacy.
Time
Being a statutory agent and a business owner are both time-consuming jobs. As a statutory agent, you must be available during regular business hours so that you don’t miss an important legal notice. What many people fail to realize is that most businesses also operate during the same hours, so you won’t be able to work or manage your company during the same hours that you’re performing your statutory agent duties. The unfortunate reality is that you can’t be in two places at once.
Pros of Being Your Own Registered Agent
The only real advantage of being your own statutory agent is that you won’t have to pay fees to a registered agent service. But once business owners learn of all the potential risks involved with being your own registered agent, they tend to agree that hiring an Arizona statutory agent service is a small price to pay to make sure that the job is done right.
Should I Use a Registered Agent Service?
There are lots of reasons to use an Arizona statutory agent service, and they come with a lot of benefits:
- Compliance notifications guarantee that your company maintains its legal good standing status along with its ability to perform business operations in Arizona.
- A statutory agent can minimize the potential for lawsuits and the loss of your good standing status because someone will always be available to receive official mail on behalf of your company.
- You’ll have the freedom to manage and work at your company during business hours without the added stress of simultaneously performing duties as a statutory agent.
- Hiring a statutory agent service is a good idea for companies that conduct business in multiple states because it can standardize and consolidate your service.
- In particular, companies that operate outside of normal business hours can benefit from using a registered agent service.
- By choosing a statutory agent service, you can meet the state’s legal requirement for a physical address.
- By hiring a registered agent service, you ensure that your personal information is protected because you can list its information on your formation documents rather than your own.
- Statutory agent services will handle all your inevitable junk mail instead of it coming to your home address—ain’t nobody got time for that.
- Some statutory agent services supply premium services that often include specialty insurances or payment of any state fees or change-of-registered-agent fees.
- Other companies offer business formation services, and some even come with a year of registered agent service free when you buy a formation package.
Ultimately, whether you should use a registered agent service is a decision that only you can make for your business. However, I advise all new businesses to use a registered agent service.
What Is the Best Registered Agent Service?
There are several key factors to consider when you’re looking for the best registered agent service for your company. Here are some of the most important aspects that determine the best registered agent service:
Service Features
Choosing a statutory agent that doesn’t offer the services you need doesn’t make any sense. Some agents provide worry-free compliance alerts, while others merely supply a compliance calendar. Some agents scan and upload every last piece of mail for your company, while others will only upload the legal documents.
Value
One good way to measure the quality of a statutory agent service is the number of services it provides and the price it charges. Because of that, you should avoid “budget agents.” They advertise fees as low as $39–$59 to sign up, then tack on fees for vital services like compliance alerts or online document management systems. You should avoid any company that uses these deceptive pricing practices.
Easy Sign-Up
Some statutory agent companies waste weeks or months of time during the sign-up process and require you to fill out mountains of paperwork. You should seek out a registered agent company with a sign-up process that is easy, instead.
User-Friendly Interface
You’ll be using your company’s registered agent system a lot, so it’s important that it’s easy to use. Some companies provide antiquated systems with confusing layouts and convoluted navigation systems that are glitchy and full of technical problems. These are companies you should avoid.
Customer Service
No matter how stellar your registered agent service is, you’ll eventually require a call to customer support. And considering the fact that your registered agent service is something that can mean the difference between your company being open for business or permanently out of commission, good customer support is a MUST.
I used all these factors and determined that Northwest Registered Agent provides the best statutory agent services you’ll find nationwide. To learn more about registered agent services and how to choose the best one for your company, read my guide to the best registered agent services.
Conclusion
There’s a lot of new information to learn and process when you start a new business, such as laws and regulations, legal and business terms, and different management techniques. And while you’re juggling all those responsibilities, you must also remember your important compliance filing deadlines. Statutory agent services exist to make the lives of business owners a bit easier, so you won’t regret hiring a statutory agent.
If your business is new and you haven’t chosen a structure yet and would like to learn more about LLC formation, read my guide about how to start an LLC. If you’re new to the formation process and would like a bit of guidance, then check out my review of the best LLC formation services.
Arizona Registered Agent FAQs
What’s the Difference Between a Commercial and a Noncommercial Registered Agent?
In your research, or on formation documents, you may find terms like “commercial statutory agent” or “commercial registered agent.” There’s one simple difference between a commercial statutory agent and a noncommercial agent in Arizona. A commercial resident agent in Arizona is one that’s filed a commercial registered agent statement and registered itself with government agencies in Arizona. Some states require that all resident agent companies register as commercial agents. This distinction was defined in the Model Registered Agents Act, which was created by the American Bar Association as an attempt to provide uniform registered agent laws nationwide.
A noncommercial agent in Arizona would be any person or company (in the event that the state doesn’t require companies to register as commercial agents) that hasn’t registered as a commercial agent. So your cousin who never leaves his house and doesn’t mind you using his address for your business would be a noncommercial registered agent.
How Do I Change the Registered Agent for My LLC?
If you’re here out of dissatisfaction with your current statutory agent in Arizona and you’re wondering if you even need a registered agent, sadly the answer is yes, you do. So long as your company is registered as a business entity, you’ll need a registered agent in Arizona.
Luckily, it’s pretty easy to change registered agents. All you have to do is file a Change of Registered Agent form with the Arizona Corporation Commission. Some states require you to get your agent’s signature and submit a registered agent consent form along with your Change of Registered Agent form. You’ll also certainly be charged a filing fee or other state fees.
How Much Does a Registered Agent Cost?
The cost of a registered agent in Arizona depends on the types of services you require, and the provider you choose. They generally cost between $39–$299 per state, per year. If you’d like to know more about registered agent pricing, read all about the best registered agent services.
