Whether you’re running a non-profit, corporation or LLC in the state of Florida, you’re required by law to appoint a registered agent, who will accept ‘service of process’ from the state on your behalf. Why, you might ask?
If you’re ever required to be notified by the state regarding a lawsuit or upcoming annual report due date for example, they’ll do so by contacting your registered agent, who will then pass the notice on to you. While you may be able to serve as your non-profits registered agent, it isn’t something that professionals recommend, and for the following reasons:
- Your personal details will be on public record
- Your private details may also be on public record, such as your home address and primary email
- You’ll be incredibly busy running your non-profit, and won’t want to be restricted to a registered address
Hiring a registered agent service is the most effective way to avoid the above issues, free up more of your time, and still get access to the information you need.
But what exactly are registered agents?
A registered agent is basically someone who accepts legal documents on behalf of a business, and all legal notices will go to the address of the Florida registered agent for the company in question, and become the official address for the service of process. This address is part of the public record and is on file with the Florida Division of Corporations.
It may be that the company owners are out-of-state investors for example, or foreign persons or entities, but it’s important to note that their registered agent must be located physically in the state.
What is the purpose of a registered agent?
Those serving process must know who is going to accept legal documents on the corporation, LLC or non-profits behalf, and that registered agent then has the responsibility of accepting any legal documents and process service papers for them.
Let’s say that a lawsuit has been filed against your company, it will be your registered agent who will receive the notice of this, and they are then obliged to inform you of it, immediately.
Should the government need to communicate with your corporation, LLC or non-profit about anything in an official capacity – such as the annual report, if you failed to file it on time and with the appropriate fee, for example – they will use the registered agents address to do so.
Registered agents will also receive tax forms with tax return information and tax-related letters from all tax authorities, and should your company be selected for an audit, the notice of that will be sent to the agent, too.
How can you meet the requirement for having a registered agent in Florida?
You can use any of the 3 ways below to do so:
- Assign someone to take on the role of your registered agent
- Appoint a Florida registered entity to be your registered agent
- Use a third party (such as an entity management company) that specializes in providing resident agent services to LLCs, corporations and non-profits in Florida
If you need to appoint a registered agent for your Florida business, you can reach out to a local entity management firm who will handle all of the necessary requirements for you.