Avoiding the Registered Agent Trap (Part 2): How Can I Be My Own Registered Agent?
[This is a continuation of Avoiding the Registered Agent Trap (Part 1): What is A Registered Agent?]
Once you’ve decided to designate yourself or another trusted person as your California company’s registered agent, you will need to file the appropriate document, called a Statement of Information, with the California Secretary of State. If yours is a new company, the Statement of Information must be filed within ninety days after the filing of the Articles of Incorporation or Articles of Organization. Assuming you used an online incorporation service, this task was probably already handled for you.
To designate yourself or someone else as a registered agent for your company, all you need to do is to file a new Statement of Information for your company. In your filing, you will provide the name of the new registered agent along with your (or their) California address. If you will be the registered agent for your California company, you may provide the actual physical location of your business rather than your home address. If your business operates out of a P.O. Box or a virtual office address, then you will need to provide your home address instead.
Filing a Statement of Information to designate a new registered agent online is best accomplished through the California Secretary of State’s website. If you do not have an account yet, you will need to sign up for one. This is a fairly simple process. Also, if you used someone else (such as an online LegalZoom-type service) to create your business entity for you, you will need to search for your entity’s name using the site’s “Business Search” function through bizfile Online. After you find your company, you will need to click on it and then select the “Request Access” button on the right side of the screen. This will generate an automatic e-mail to whoever created your business entity for you. If your access request is ignored or if you are unable to get access to your business to electronically file a new Statement of Information, your first step should be to call whoever created your business entity to explain the situation and emphasize the importance of their cooperation. If this does not work, you should next contact the California Secretary of State.
Of course, once you’ve designated yourself or a trusted individual as a registered agent for your business, don’t forget to notify your old registered agent that their services are no longer needed! Failing to do so can lead to unnecessary charges from that service provider or confusion about who is actually acting in the registered agent capacity for your business.
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