Virginia law requires all registered business entities to have a registered agent and have a registered agent office listed with the State Corporation Commission (SCC). The purpose is to have someone available to receive formal notices, such as service of a lawsuit complaint or receipt of the annual registration forms sent by the SCC. Failure to maintain a registered agent will result in termination of the business entity.
Either a member of the LLC or an attorney can be the registered agent. It is common for a business owner to designate him or herself as registered agent, and to provide a home or business address as the registered agent office address. However, there are several drawbacks to doing that. First, if you decide to use a home address, you’ve made that address a public record. Second, if you do not understand the nature of the documents that you receive as registered agent, you may not respond properly or in a timely manner. Third, if the lawsuit is filed against the entity and you are not present at the registered agent office when the sheriff or process server attempts to serve the lawsuit, either because you have moved or you are on vacation or simply not at home or at the business, the plaintiff is entitled to serve the lawsuit by other indirect means. When this happens, there is always a risk that you will never actually see the lawsuit and that a default judgment will be entered against your company without your knowledge. This is most common when the registered agent moves and fails to give the new address to the State Corporation Commission. For these reasons, many clients elect to have us serve as the registered agent.
Take the worry and burden out of acting as your own registered agent. Our law firm offers registered agency services at a very reasonable cost. We can also help you form and structure your business entity.
