A registered agent is a person or business entity that accepts service of process, government correspondence, and legal documents on behalf of your company at your registered office address.
Every business entity in New Mexico is required to maintain a registered agent, so yes, you need one. Registered agents are such a big part of the formation process that the New Mexico Secretary of State rejects business filings without registered agents listed on them. But they’re also incredibly helpful when it comes to reminding you about compliance filing deadlines, too.
Keep reading to find out about registered agents, their functions, and why you need one for your business.
*Sometimes a registered agent is also referred to as a resident agent or a statutory agent. Just remember that all three terms are used to describe the same business service.*
Why Do You Need a Registered Agent?
Your registered agent is required to be physically present at your business address during regular business hours to receive mail and service of process for your business. Furthermore, your registered agent is required to have a physical street address in the state. PO boxes don’t apply. Sorry!
If you have more questions about what a registered agent is and how it functions, I’ve written all about it in What Is a Registered Agent? Check it out! Just remember that registered agent services can provide a lot more than just mail forwarding and an address for your company!
Compliance
Unless you can easily remember important dates and anniversaries, compliance filing deadlines are difficult to remember. They usually only come once a year and that date gets harder and harder to remember. Luckily, your registered agent in New Mexico will keep track of these dates for you.
Your registered agent in New Mexico works as a liaison between your business and various agencies and businesses. As such, it’s your registered agent’s job to inform you about upcoming filing deadlines. Some of the best registered agent services will send compliance alerts so that you won’t miss a deadline with the Secretary of State.
Management of Important Documents
All your mail, government correspondence, and legal documents will be sent to your business address, so it’s important that you choose a reliable one.
With that goal in mind, many of the best registered agent companies have switched over to using online document-management systems. Your New Mexico registered agent service will scan and upload your mail and documents the day they’re received, and you can view them digitally using your online account. Much faster than snail mail!
Another perk to these systems is that they provide you with a virtual space to store and manage your mail and documents. Receive something you don’t want to keep? Just delete it. And you can easily store important documents online so you don’t have to keep buying filing cabinets and paying for storage space.
Service of Process
I can’t explain what a New Mexico registered agent is without mentioning service of process. But much of the information about registered agents makes it seem as though you’ll be receiving service of process quite frequently. A service of process is a legal notification that means your business is being sued or you’re receiving a summons to appear in court.
Suffice to say, receiving a service of process is not a joyous occasion and it’s definitely not something you should hope to have happen with any degree of frequency. But in the event that your company does receive a service of process, it’s your registered agent’s job to accept it on your behalf.
Registered Agent Requirements
For the most part, registered agent requirements are the same in most states. Here’s a list of some of the requirements your registered agent in New Mexico is required to meet:
State Law in New Mexico
Though most requirements are pretty standardized in the United States, some states have additional laws and requirements for registered agents. To make sure your New Mexico registered agent is playing by the rules, you should brush up on state laws.
Physical Address in New Mexico
Your registered agent’s address must be a physical street address in the state. Your registered agent address can’t be a PO box, though you are allowed to use a virtual address in New Mexico.
Who Can Be a Registered Agent in New Mexico
Every registered agent in New Mexico is required to be over 18 years old. As long as they meet all the other state and federal requirements, you can designate anyone as your registered agent in New Mexico. You can choose a close friend, family member, employee, or a lawyer as your New Mexico registered agent.
What Happens If My Business Operates Without a Registered Agent?
Missing a service of process is a big deal. You can’t defend your company in court if you don’t know about it, and you can’t appear in court to answer a summons or subpoena either. This could result in devastating default judgments against your company — or even contempt of court.
It’s illegal for business entities in New Mexico to function without a New Mexico registered agent. If the Secretary of State catches you operating without a registered agent, you could lose your company’s good standing. You won’t be eligible for business loans, you can’t expand into other states, and you’re not legally allowed to conduct business in New Mexico.
You could even lose your business name reservation, and other companies can reserve your chosen business name for themselves. It’s possible that even if you’re quick to resolve your legal issues, the company that reserved your business name may not release it back to you. You could permanently lose your business name.
Losing good-standing status is particularly damaging to LLCs. A New Mexico LLC without good standing could be subject to “administrative dissolution” at the hands of the New Mexico Secretary of State. This is when a state agency removes a company’s legal right to conduct business in the state due to its refusal to meet legal requirements for businesses in the state.
Long story short, if you don’t maintain a registered agent in New Mexico or you miss a service of process, you could lose your business.
Can I Be My Own Registered Agent in New Mexico?
In the United States, there’s nothing legally holding you back from being your own registered agent. But before you decide on being your own registered agent in New Mexico, you should weigh the risks and benefits against using a registered agent service.
Cons of Being Your Own Registered Agent
Liability
If you’ve chosen the limited liability company business structure, then you’re expecting limited liability protection. This guarantees that as long as you take certain precautions, your personal assets, finances and liabilities remain separate from those of your business. But acting as your own registered agent in New Mexico puts your limited liability protection at risk.
If you don’t meet your legal obligations, like maintaining a New Mexico registered agent or filing annual reports, then the New Mexico Secretary of State could dissolve your company through administrative dissolution. If your LLC is dissolved, your limited liability protection goes with it.
Without this safety net, you’re essentially on your own. As the business owner, you become both personally and financially responsible for the business. If your company is sued without limited liability protection, the personal assets and money you’ve worked to obtain could be listed in the suit.
In fact, if you own any sort of business entity — a corporation, sole proprietorship, or limited liability partnership — you could face serious legal and financial consequences if you miss a service of process.
Lack of Privacy
As your own New Mexico registered agent, your personal information will be listed on the public record. This includes your name and phone number, and if your business doesn’t have a physical address, your home address too.
The disappointing thing about having information listed on the public record is that it becomes available to the public. You know, that loud, messy mass you avoid at every opportunity. Everyone can get their mitts on your info — even hackers and cybercriminals, who could commit crimes in your name and ruin your credit score.
Time
If you’re anything like other small business owners, finding time can be incredibly hard. There just aren’t enough hours in a day! But you still have to be physically present at your business and available during normal business hours to accept legal documents on behalf of your company.
It’s a safe bet that your business also operates within normal business hours. It would be difficult, if not altogether impossible, to execute all your job duties as both a business owner and a registered agent in New Mexico because of these time constraints.
Pros of Being Your Own Registered Agent
The only positive thing about being your own registered agent is that it’s free. But when you take into account all the work involved with the job and the risks it poses, you might think twice about taking on the duty yourself. For a lot of people, it’s worth it to pay fees to a registered agent service.
Besides, most registered agent services have affordable fees.
Should I Use a Registered Agent Service?
If your business operates in multiple states, you’ll need to maintain a registered agent in each state it operates in. You can do this the hard way by designating a different registered agent in each state, or you can do it the easy way by hiring a national registered agent service that can meet all of your legal requirements in all 50 states.
That’s just one reason to go with a high-quality registered agent service. Here are a few more:
- Guaranteed acceptance of service of process
- Compliance alerts
- One-stop-shop for foreign corporations or LLCs
- Daytime rest for nighttime businesses
- No personal info on public record
- Premium registered agent services, such as payment of state fees and identity theft protection
- Business formation services, with registered agent service free for your first year
At the end of the day, you know what’s best for your business better than anyone else. I’m not going to tell you that you should use a registered agent service without knowing your situation and your business. But I always recommend new businesses use a registered agent service.
How to Find the Best Registered Agent Service in New Mexico
Choosing the best-registered agent service can be quite complicated because there are a lot of factors to consider. Here are some things to think about while you’re choosing your company’s registered agent.
Service Features
Some of the best New Mexico registered agents provide cutting-edge document-management systems that allow you to use an online account to view legal documents more quickly than with mail-forwarding services. They also give you a digital storage space for your important documents. Other New Mexico registered agent services only provide basic mail forwarding.
Some registered agent services offer compliance alerts that make compliance filing idiotproof. With this notification system, you won’t forget to file annual reports with the New Mexico Secretary of State, and therefore won’t be as likely to lose your company’s good standing.
Other registered agent service providers will only provide you with a compliance counter that’s filled out to include important filing deadlines, but which is too easily forgotten. Out of sight, out of mind!
To get the best registered agent service for your company, you need to compare the services of each provider and choose one that meets all of your needs.
Value
The hallmark of a good registered agent service is providing a wide variety of high-quality services at a great rate. If you find a New Mexico registered agent service that only offers a few mediocre services and has high prices, then that’s not a good choice.
While we’re on the subject of value, you should avoid “budget agents.” These cunning registered agent service providers use the allure of low prices (between $39–$59) to draw in new clients before hitting them with additional fees for essential services like compliance alerts and online document-management systems. Stay away from budget agents.
Easy Sign-Up
Most business owners don’t like it when someone wastes their time. And when a registered agent service wastes your time while you’re in the middle of starting your business, it can be infuriating.
Some New Mexico registered agents require you to fill out excessive amounts of paperwork, and once you get done with that you have to wait weeks or months to complete the sign-up process.
Look for a New Mexico registered agent service with a quick and simple sign-up process.
User-Friendly Interface
You’re going to use your registered agent’s system frequently, so it’s important that it not be too irksome. Some New Mexico registered agent services have systems that are full of technical problems and glitches, and their navigation system is confusing. You’ll be stuck dealing with a system that’s frozen or keeps crashing more than you’ll actually use it.
To avoid these issues, you should choose a New Mexico registered agent service that has an intuitive interface.
Customer Service
Your registered agent performs a lot of important duties for your business, and should they fall behind on any of them or neglect them, it could spell major financial or legal problems for you. That’s why it’s important that your New Mexico registered agent service has excellent customer service.
I used these factors, plus my four-stage investigative process, to select the best registered agent service: Northwest Registered Agent. If you want more information about the types of services that registered agents provide or want to learn more about how to choose the best registered agent service for your business, read the Best Registered Agent Services.
Conclusion
Every new business owner has to take on a lot of new responsibilities and job duties. But your registered agent can make your job a lot easier.
If you want to learn more about the services that New Mexico registered agents provide or want to know how to choose the best registered agent service for your company, read my guide on the Best Registered Agent Services.
If you haven’t started your business yet and want more about LLC formation, read How to Start an LLC. And if you could benefit from some expert guidance through the complicated red tape of the formation process, check out the Best LLC Formation Services.
New Mexico Registered Agent FAQs
What’s the Difference Between a Commercial and a Noncommercial Registered Agent?
A commercial registered agent is any registered agent that has formally registered with the New Mexico Secretary of State as a commercial registered agent. Certain states require all registered agent services to register as commercial registered agents.
A noncommercial registered agent is one that hasn’t registered as a commercial registered agent with the New Mexico Secretary of State. So if you’ve chosen a family member, like your retired dad, as your registered agent, then his official job title is “noncommercial registered agent,” which is sure to make his day!
How Do I Change the Registered Agent for My LLC?
If you want to change to a new registered agent, you have to file a Statement of Change of Registered Agent form. The form will require you to add registered agent information, like your registered agent’s name and registered agent’s address.
New Mexico also requires you to fill out a Document Delivery Instruction form along with two written copies of notice of resignation from your registered agent. There’s a filing fee to submit your registered agent form, too. It’s $20 for LLCs and $25 for corporations.
How Much Does a Registered Agent Cost?
There are lots of different variables that go into figuring out the cost of a registered agent service. Some of these include things like which services your business needs, and which registered agent service provider you choose.
Typically, registered agent service can cost anywhere from $39–$299 per state, per year. To find out more about registered agent pricing practices, read my guide to the Best Registered Agent Services.
