A business’s Registered Agent is the official contact for receiving important legal documents (such as lawsuit complaints, summons, subpoenas, notices, judgments, etc.) 

A Registered Agent is required for a business entity to be formed or operate in any state.

A Registered Agent is the official contact for an LLC or corporation to receive court filed legal documents. If your business gets sued, the lawsuit won’t begin until the summons is officially delivered in person to your agent. Because of the “in-person” legal requirement, and since a business entity is not a “person” that can be handed papers, all states require that a Registered Agent be designated (note: simply mailing legal documents to a business address is not the same thing as the legal requirement for “service”). Therefore, all states require that a Registered Agent be designated for that purpose and that agent must be available during regular business hours.

If you do not have a Registered Agent (which must also reside in the state where your business entity is form and wherein it operates) then your business entity will be administratively dissolved by the state and you will no longer be authorized to operate (which has many adverse consequences if you operate in the state anyway). Also, if there is a lawsuit filed against you and it can’t be served then the court can authorize a notice be published in the local newspaper to accomplish the “service” in lieu of handing it directly to you. And how often does anyone look in the legal section of a newspaper to see if they have been sued? It is also important for you to update your Registered Agent with your current contact information so that they can reach you in the event that legal documents have been served because you will only have 21 days to answer a complaint or you will be defaulted meaning you lose automatically without the chance to defend against the action.

The legal requirements for a Registered Agent in Idaho are codified by Idaho Code § 30-21-401 et seq. The Registered Agent must reside and be located at a physical street address within the state and be available for in-person contact during normal business hours. Foreign Entity registration is an additional service that can be added to the standard Registered Agent services.

You must register as a “Foreign Entity” operating in the state of Idaho and have a Registered Agent in Idaho (Note: having a Registered Agent in another state does not fulfill this requirement). Foreign Entity registration is an additional service that can be added to the standard Registered Agent services.

You must register as a “Foreign Entity” operating in the state and have a Registered Agent in the other State.  (Note: having a Registered Agent in Idaho does not fulfill this requirement). This is also an additional service that can be added to the standard Registered Agent services.

All states require that you file an “annual report” (or similarly named document) each year in order to continue in existence and remain authorized to operate in that state. This is an additional service that can be added to the standard Registered Agent service. Filing the Annual Report is an additional service that can be added to the standard Registered Agent services.

This is a relatively new federal law that requires that a document/report be filed  with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The BOIR provides details about the people who own or control a business as required by the Corporate Transparency Act aimed at prevent money laundering and other criminal activities and helping to ensure that businesses are held accountable and that all entities are subject to the same reporting standards. The penalties for not filing this report can be up to $500/day if not filed on time. Filing the Beneficial Ownership Information Report (BOIR) is an additional service that can be added to the standard Registered Agent services.

Your business can be reinstated by filing the proper documentation and paying a filing fee. Reinstatement is an additional service that can be added to the standard Registered Agent services. 

Your business can be dissolved by filing the proper documentation and paying a filing fee. This could be very important if you area resident of a state that has franchise taxes (such as California in particular which requires California residence to pay a minimum $800 fee each year for each LLC or corporation that they own whether or not the business is formed, or operates, in California and whether or not the business is operating at all or has any revenue or income. Therefore, if you have a business entity that you are not using and do not wish to incur franchise tax fees in another state, it might be beneficial to dissolve any such business entities. The dissolution process is an additional service that can be added to the standard Registered Agent services. 

Your business address must be updated with the secretary of state’s office in order to continue in existence and remain authorized to operate in the state. Your business address can be updated by filing the proper documentation and paying a filing fee. The change of business address process is an additional service that can be added to the standard Registered Agent services.