Who Should be Your Company’s Registered Agent?

When you start a business in Florida, as in many states, one of the first decisions that you will make is designating a registered agent. And while this may seem like an inconvenience or a formality or a decision without much consequence, picking the wrong person or entity can lead to a lot of problems.

Who or What is a Registered Agent?

A registered agent is a person or agent that is designated to receive official or legal documents that you might receive. The state can and may send legal information or notices to your registered agent, but more importantly, someone suing your business can legally serve your registered agent, and serving the agent is considered the same as suing you.

That’s because your registered agent has the duty to inform you of what was served, and send you a copy of what was served.

Avoiding Defaults

As you can imagine, this fact alone makes it imperative that your registered agent is responsible and able to do the job. It’s not that the job is so difficult or time consuming–it’s that the consequences of your registered agent not doing the job can be catastrophic.

Because service on your registered agent is the same as serving you, the clock starts ticking on the time that you have to respond to whatever was served on you.

Many companies find themselves defaulted in lawsuits, because their registered agent simply dropped the ball–he or she never told the company that the agent was served with a lawsuit, and thus, the company never responded to the courts, and a default was entered.

Who Can or Should be a Registered Agent?

While almost anybody can legally be a registered agent, you’ll obviously want someone who is responsible, and in a position to immediately inform you of any documents or paperwork that the agent may receive.

Because the other side to the lawsuit will know the address of the registered agent, think about the address that the registered agent has. For example, your cousin may be super reliable, but there may be a perceived lack of professionalism if the other side finds out that your registered agent is your cousin being served at his apartment.

Because the agent will, of course, know when you are served with lawsuits, you may not want that person to be someone close to you, for privacy reasons.

Professional Agents

If you don’t want business partners, family, or professional associates to know about every lawsuit filed against your company, you may want to opt for a more professional registered agent.

You can have your business attorney act as your registered agent, and there are many companies whose sole job is to act as corporate register agents. Many of those–attorney or company–will respect your privacy, and have systems to make sure that you get paperwork immediately.

Call our West Palm Beach commercial litigation attorneys at Pike & Lustig to help you set up, run and manage your company legally and safely.