Every Texas business entity is required to have a Texas Registered Agent. This agent receives service of process and official state correspondence on behalf of the company.

Using an excellent, premium registered agent service is a great way to protect your privacy and keep you out of state litigation. The following reviews are based on price, customer service, and overall value.

Business Formation

Business Formation is one of the most popular registered agents and business formation services. They have helped over 3.5 million customers and have extensive experience. They are a tech company that believes in “Providing clarity and making it easy to get legal and tax help for every person and business”.

The service is simple to use and provides a good customer experience. Their process flows smoothly and they only ask you for one answer or decision at a time. This is a welcome change from other services that bombard you with 13 questions at once.

Visit: Texas registered agent reviews.

They also offer live chat and phone support, which is a big plus. Their phone support is available Monday – Friday and on the weekends from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT.

Their registered agent service is pricey at $299 per year, but they do include a free year with your initial purchase. Many of their competitors offer this service for much less.

Northwest Registered Agent

Northwest Registered Agent has been around for decades and is one of the largest national LLC formation services. They are a bit more expensive than their competitors but have some perks and customer service that make it worth the price.

The company has a large team of “Corporate Guides” that help customers through the process. They are a mix of former accountants, lawyers, and entrepreneurs who understand what it’s like to start a business. They can walk you through the entire process and make sure your paperwork is perfect.

The company has a simple and straightforward online form that walks you through each step of the process. There are no upsells or confusing packages and what you see is what you get. Their fees include the filing of your LLC and a year of registered agent service, which is a great deal compared to their competition. However, they do charge extra for other services such as EIN registration and annual reports.

Harbor Compliance

Harbor Compliance is a registered agent service that makes it easy for business owners to fulfill their state’s requirements. They have a simple price structure that includes the cost of one year’s service, plus any state fees. They also offer email notifications and a mobile-responsive account dashboard to make it easy for businesses to check their documents and agent address from anywhere.

Unlike Business Formation, which does not include registered agent services in its LLC formation packages, Harbor Compliance offers two, including the Formation and Compliance package. Both come with some excellent features, including annual report filing and newspaper publication service, which is more than we see from competitors.

They also include a sample operating agreement and federal tax ID number (EIN) that help you hire employees, open bank accounts, and file taxes. For this reason, they are a great choice for small businesses. However, they are more expensive than most of the other services in this review.

ZenBusiness

ZenBusiness is a premium service registered agent that offers the basics, along with additional services. They include a street address in Texas, mail forwarding, scanned documents with online access, and service of process acceptance during business hours. They also provide compliance alerts to help you stay on top of your annual report filing deadlines and other requirements. They also offer identity theft protection for their customers.

They have a Starter package that includes LLC formation and one year of registered agent services for $49. This also includes an operating agreement template. They have a Pro plan that adds faster filing (which should be less than one week) and guided operating agreements, but I don’t see the value in those additions for an extra $199 per year.

When reviewing these Texas registered agents, I put a big emphasis on how easy their computer systems were to use. If a company had complicated, slow, confusing systems they got lower rankings than those that offered easy-to-use interfaces.

Every business is required by law to have a registered agent. It can be an individual or a company. It must be physically located in the state where the business is registered to operate.

Many business owners appoint themselves or an employee as the registered agent. However, using a professional service ensures that important paperwork won’t get lost in the mail.

Legal Requirements

You can designate any person or business as your registered agent, provided they meet the state requirements for the role. In New York, for example, the registered agent must have a physical street address (sometimes called a “registered office”) and be available during normal business hours to receive service of process, legal notices and government correspondence. P.O. boxes and mail drop services are not acceptable. The registered agent must also be at least 18 years old, a resident of the state of registration and must not be an active corporation or LLC.

If you have a business that operates in multiple states, or are planning to expand into additional states, choosing a professional registered agent company that provides nationwide service can be helpful. This service can simplify compliance, as important documents can be forwarded to a single point of contact. It can also protect your privacy by keeping your personal address off of public records, as well as eliminate the hassle of tracking down and submitting renewals for multiple agents.

What to Expect

Having a reliable registered agent is crucial to maintaining your business’s compliance with state regulations. A registered agent should be available during normal business hours and have a physical address (not a PO box). In general, the role of a registered agent is to receive legal documents on behalf of your business and forward them to you.

Individuals can serve as their own registered agents, but if they are traveling or working remotely, it can be difficult for them to consistently receive service of process notices. Additionally, if they use their own name and address, it becomes public record and could lead to unwanted speculation or gossip if someone visits their home or office.

A commercial registered agent service can guarantee their agents are always available during normal business hours and have a physically accessible location. Most services also scan and digitally store received documents. As a result, they save businesses time and money by not having to sort through official mail themselves.

Choosing a Registered Agent

A registered agent is an individual or company that receives service of process, legal documents and official notices on behalf of a business. While an owner may fulfill this role themselves, it’s typically a better choice to work with a professional registered agent service.

These services offer affordable annual fees—between $50 and $300—and ensure that all important documentation is relayed to you in a timely manner. They also provide a range of other useful services, such as a compliance calendar to help you stay on top of deadlines. Plus, they can often serve as your registered agent in every state where you’re doing business, saving you a lot of hassle and worry.

Requirements for Registered Agents

Choosing the right registered agent is important. It is the person or company who will receive legal papers and government notices on behalf of your business. This includes lawsuits (what lawyers call service of process), renewal notifications from the Secretary of State, and tax documents.

You can choose an individual (including yourself) or a commercial registered agent service to act as your New York registered agent. Depending on the state, some registered agents may have specific requirements. For example, some states require that the agent be licensed to practice law. Others may only allow officers, directors, managers, or employees of the entity to serve as the registered agent.

Generally, the agent must be available during normal business hours and have a physical address in the state (P.O. boxes are not acceptable). A commercial registered agent service will likely be able to meet these requirements, as well as provide additional services such as fast document forwarding and digitized records storage.