A registered agent is a person who is designated to send and receive a variety of legal documents on behalf of a company. The general function of the registered agent is fairly common in most places, including jurisdictions within the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Business laws vary slightly from place to place, but the general function of the registered agent is fairly common in most places, including jurisdictions within the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. If a company is involved in a lawsuit, the service of process, summons, complaint, response, and other legal documents are usually sent to the registered agent, who is then responsible for notifying the appropriate business owners. In other cases, she is in charge of some of the company’s annual maintenance. She might be in charge of reminding business partners to file annual reports, taxes, or other yearly documents with the appropriate state or federal agencies, for instance.
Various people may be acceptable candidates for the position of registered agent, depending on the size of the company. If a company is owned and operated by a single person, that person can also serve as the registered agent. One of the owners, or one of the shareholders, employees, partners, or members, may also act as an agent if the company is small and owned by a few people. Some companies are much bigger than others. In those cases, an external third party, such as a law firm or a service company, may be the best choice for the agent position, though an internal employee may also be used.
Designating a third party to act as an agent has several advantages. The registered agent’s name and address, for example, are publicly listed on all legal documents, including those establishing the business entity. By enlisting the help of a third party, the business owners are afforded some level of public anonymity and workplace gossip is kept to a minimum. Employees may wonder why a legal summons is being sent to a business owner when the summons could be sent to an off-site address and the employees would be unaware of any legal proceedings. Furthermore, most third-party agents have detailed filing systems that keep businesses up to date on filing deadlines, avoiding late fees.
It can be costly for a business entity if a registered agent fails to fulfill her responsibilities. For example, if a lawsuit is filed against a company and the owner is not informed of the lawsuit promptly, the plaintiff may win the case by default. Furthermore, many jurisdictions impose penalties on businesses that do not have an agent. Failure to maintain an agent can result in the company’s legal status being revoked or hefty fees being assessed.