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Most states require you to designate a registered agent before forming a limited liability company (LLC). This is the LLC’s official contact person and the one who receives legal notices, such as service of process when a business is sued. New York is different in that, by default, the New York Secretary of State is listed as your official registered agent. But the state still gives you the option of naming your own registered agent instead. The question is, should you?
There are some advantages to using a registered agent service instead of defaulting to the Secretary of State. We’ll explain this and what the role and responsibilities of a registered agent are in this article.
A registered agent is an individual or business that is designated by the LLC to receive important legal documents on behalf of the company. This position is needed to ensure that the correct people within an LLC are notified in person when there are time-sensitive events, such as service of process for lawsuits. The agent also receives important notices from the state, such as garnishment notices against employees and tax notifications.
Knowing that the state will take care of delivering legal notices to you, why would you want to use a registered agent instead? Well, there are a few reasons:
A New York LLC may but is not required to appoint a registered agent instead of appointing the Secretary of State. By state law (NY LLCL § 301), if appointing your own registered agent for your LLC, the agent must be one of the following:
If you’re not going to use the New York Secretary of State as your agent and want to instead appoint yourself, there are some reasons to consider using a registered agent service instead:
If you don’t want to use the New York Secretary of State as your registered agent, you can appoint your own agent when you complete the Articles of Organization to form your LLC.
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