Answers
Registered Agent Questions- What is a Texas Registered Agent?
- A Texas Registered Agent is a person or entity designated by you that consents to receive service of process, legal documents, and legal correspondence that are sent to your business c/o your legally designated agent. When forming a corporation or LLC you will provide the registered agent's information to the secretary of state who will then display that information online for anyone that needs to legally contact your business. The registered agent is the formal addressee in these cases and receives and then delivers those documents to you. The Registered Agent's address is called the Registered Office or Registered Address. "Service of process" refers to the process of delivering legal documents delivered to your business by a process server, sheriff, or marshal. Typically this only occurs when a lawsuit is filed against your company, or a garnishment is filed against one of your employees.
As your Texas Registered Agent, we are at our Dallas business address during normal business hours to receive such documents. We promptly scan and email them to you. We also retain the original documents for 90 days so they are available for you to pickup, or we can physically forward them to you if desired. TRUE Space is consistently rated as the best registered agent in Dallas, and the best registered agent in Texas. If you need to find a registered agent in Texas, we are ready to serve.
Although every corporation, LLC, LP, and LLP is required to have a registered agent by state law. In most cases you will hopefully never receive legal documents or mail at your registered office. A Registered Agent is NOT a business mailing address. For that you need a virtual office, offered by TRUE Space as a separate service. - When is a Texas Registered Agent Required?
- Any business filing as a corporation, LLC, LP, or LLLP in the state of Texas, including a foreign corporation, LLC, LP or LLLP (those based outside of Texas) is required to maintain a Registered Agent in the state in order to receive service of process and communications from the secretary of state. Registered agent information must be provided to the secretary of state at the time the business filing is made. This information is made public on the secretary of state's website. All legal correspondence is directed to your registered agent who is available during business hours to receive the service of process. The registered agent then forwards the information to you.
The business must maintain a registered agent as long as the business is actively registered (has not been terminated or dissolved) with the secretary of state. - What Information Will I Receive Upon Sign Up?
- You will receive information both on screen and via email providing your registered agent information (Name, Address, Email, Phone #, County. It will include everything you need to complete your corporate filling with the secretary of state. Additionally, the email will provide confirmation that we have consented to act as your registered agent.
- Can I be my own Registered Agent in Texas?
- Absolutely. You must be a resident of Texas and be willing to have your name and address listed publicly in association with your business. Most people prefer to keep their personal life separate from their business life to avoid customers showing up on their doorstep. Additionally, as your own registered agent you must be at your residence to receive service of process during business hours. This can be problematic with work, vacations, etc. It costs nothing to be your own registered agent, but the negatives far outweigh the savings of a few dollars. We strongly encourage you to instead select us to take on the role of registered agent for your business. As the Texas registered agent with the highest customer service ratings and best price, we hope you select us as your registered agent for your LLC or corporation.
- Who files my registered agent information with the state?
- We can help in two ways:
New corporate formation: TRUE Space offers corporate formation services for domestic for profit LLC's and corporations. Cost: $475.00 (includes the Texas $300.00 filing fee). Our corporate formation specialists will work with you via phone to coordinate and ensure your filing is done right. If using an attorney or 3rd party service you can provide them with your registered agent information so they can complete your filing. If filing yourself, you will use the information we email to you to fill in the required fields when filing with the secretary of state. Once you have your business mailing address and have your registered agent, email us as Corp@truesp.com to initiate the corporate formation process. Provide your name, business name, phone # and email. Our corporate formation specialists will call you to gather the needed information needed.
Making a change to an existing corporate filing: TRUE Space can help by making the filing for you. If you aren't comfortable with the state filing process we are happy to help (see below section for more information). Otherwise, you can update/amend your registered agent information with the secretary of state. Detailed information is provided below in the next section.
Otherwise you can make your own state filing or provide the registered agent to your business attorney, or any third party corporate filing service. - How do I submit a change of registered agent for my existing LLC/Corp?
- Easiest: Ask TRUE Space to make the state filing for you. TRUE Space can make the filing for you to change your registered agent information. Our service fee for this filing is $75.00 (includes state filing fee). To request our help, just email us at Agent@truesp.com once you have signed up for Registered Agent Service.
Do it Yourself Online: If making no other changes. Visit the Texas SOSDirect website. Log In to your account, Enter Credit Card Information, Select "Business Organizations" on the top of the page, On the Menu use the "Change Documents" section enter your corporate filing number and click [File Document], Under Filing Type - Select "Change or Registered Agent/Office" and click [Continue], Enter Registered Agent Information exactly as provided to you by us and ensure you select "Consent on file with entity" on the bottom of the form. Click [Continue], then complete the transaction. To find your corporate filing number you can do a search on the Texas Comptroller's site: https://mycpa.cpa.state.tx.us/coa/
By Mail (or if more changes to your corporate filing are also required):
- For Texas based corporations: Use Form 401 "Change of Registered Agent and/or Registered Office" and mail with the required payment to the Texas Secretary of State.
- For Foreign corporations (based outside of Texas) you can file Form 406 "Amendment" to Registration with the Texas Secretary of State. - What is my responsibility after sign up?
- 1) You must maintain an active paid account with us as long as you have us listed as your registered agent. The registered agent part of your corporate filing is legally the most important part of your corporate filing. Failure to maintain accurate and current registered agent information on your corporate filing can result in unreceived legal documents and can enable attorneys to punch holes in your corporate veil.
2) If you move or change your contact information, you are responsible to update your contact info with your registered agent (us) to ensure documents can be delivered to you if needed.
3) If at some point you wish to terminate your registered agent service, simply update/amend your registered agent information with the secretary of state to remove TRUE Space and our address information. Or you can terminate your LLC or dissolve your corporation. You can then notify us by email or contact form letting us know you have accomplished the information change and that you wish to close your account. - What happens when legal mail or documents are received?
- As your Texas registered agent, we will sign for any "served" documents and receive any legal mail (including registered mail, certified mail, mail from attorneys, mail from courts, or legal mail from the secretary of state) that is addressed to us as your legal registered agent. The items will be scanned and emailed to you at no added cost. When you receive the scanned documents, you can contact us to request to pick up the physical documents in person at our Dallas, Texas office, or have them sent to you via mail, 2nd day, or overnight service. If the legal documents are too large to scan, or have too many pages to scan (file size issues) we will scan the cover page and will send that to you and ask how you wish to receive the documents (mail or pickup).
In reality most businesses that keep their secretary of state filing current (taxes and fees paid), will receive no mail and no served documents throughout the year. To have served documents physically forwarded to you by mail costs $5.00 plus the cost of postage. 2nd day or overnight costs $15.00 + shipping cost. Charges are billed to your payment card on file. Documents are held for 90 days after receipt and are then shredded. - Is there a limit to the number of documents I can receive each year?
- There is no limit, but there is a charge for annual documents received in excess of ten. It is important to note that 99.9% of businesses will receive no legal documents, and only some will just receive a rare notice from the secretary of state. But, there are some rare businesses that may receive substantially larger numbers of legal documents, typically because they provide legal services for 3rd party businesses, or they are an extremely large corporate entity. To keep our prices competitive and fair, the annual base rate includes processing up to ten (10) legal documents or notices per year. Additional documents received and processed are $10/document (regardless of the number of pages in each document).
- Can I use this registered agent address as my Mailing Address, Principal office address, Texas place of business, Mailing Address, or as my business address for bank accounts, advertising, business cards, websites, etc.?
- No, the registered agent service only enables you to use this address for registered agent purposes. The only place the provided address is to be used is on your corporate filing as the Registered Office Address for your Registered Agent (not your Initial Mailing Address, place of business, principal office address, etc.).
If you need a professional commercial business address (Mailing Address), please look at the 'Business Address' page on this site. Virtual Office (business mailbox) services are also available as a separate add on service. - Do I need to file a "Consent of Registered Agent" form with the state?
- No, the practice of submitting a signed "Acceptance of Appointment and Consent to Serve as Registered Agent" form to the Texas Secretary of State is no longer required and this is stated on the Texas Secretary of State website FAQs section. Your email will serve as your digital consent form and you simply need to retain this for your records.
A few outdated corporate filing services still request the signed consent form since they bill for each form submitted. You can contact us to send the consent form to you if needed. - Do I sign up for Registered Agent Service before I file with Texas?
- You will need the Texas Registered Agent information before you start your secretary of state filing. So definitely complete your Registered Agent sign up first. You will also need a business mailing address (see Business Address page for more info).
- What if my business name is not accepted by the state?
- If there is a problem with the business name you choose, just let us know the new business name and we will update our records. You can update the business name on an account within 90 days of sign up. Just email us or submit a Contact Us Form with the changed information
- How do I cancel Registered Agent Service?
- Cancelation Process:
STEP 1:
A) Remove our registered agent information from your state filing (secretary of state filing required) by replacing it with information about your new registered agent. This is done via your Annual Registration or an Amended Annual Registration.
or
B) Terminate your LLC or Dissolve your Corporation
STEP 2
When you have verified that TRUE Space has been removed from your state filing. Contact us to let us know you have removed our information from your state filing, or terminated or dissolved your entity (filing must have taken effect, not just the day you submit it). You can call us, or email us at agent@truesp.com and we can then verify the information has been changed and close your account.
We can not close your account and turn off billing until you have removed the information. This is because without the information being changed, the state considers us to still be your legal registered agent, and you need to have an active account for us to do the required services.
NEED HELP? If you need help changing your registered agent on your state filing, let us know. We can make the filing for you (additional filing cost involved). We can also help with LLC terminations and corporation dissolution.
As your Texas Registered Agent, we are at our Dallas business address during normal business hours to receive such documents. We promptly scan and email them to you. We also retain the original documents for 90 days so they are available for you to pickup, or we can physically forward them to you if desired. TRUE Space is consistently rated as the best registered agent in Dallas, and the best registered agent in Texas. If you need to find a registered agent in Texas, we are ready to serve.
Although every corporation, LLC, LP, and LLP is required to have a registered agent by state law. In most cases you will hopefully never receive legal documents or mail at your registered office. A Registered Agent is NOT a business mailing address. For that you need a virtual office, offered by TRUE Space as a separate service.
The business must maintain a registered agent as long as the business is actively registered (has not been terminated or dissolved) with the secretary of state.
New corporate formation: TRUE Space offers corporate formation services for domestic for profit LLC's and corporations. Cost: $475.00 (includes the Texas $300.00 filing fee). Our corporate formation specialists will work with you via phone to coordinate and ensure your filing is done right. If using an attorney or 3rd party service you can provide them with your registered agent information so they can complete your filing. If filing yourself, you will use the information we email to you to fill in the required fields when filing with the secretary of state. Once you have your business mailing address and have your registered agent, email us as Corp@truesp.com to initiate the corporate formation process. Provide your name, business name, phone # and email. Our corporate formation specialists will call you to gather the needed information needed.
Making a change to an existing corporate filing: TRUE Space can help by making the filing for you. If you aren't comfortable with the state filing process we are happy to help (see below section for more information). Otherwise, you can update/amend your registered agent information with the secretary of state. Detailed information is provided below in the next section.
Otherwise you can make your own state filing or provide the registered agent to your business attorney, or any third party corporate filing service.
Do it Yourself Online: If making no other changes. Visit the Texas SOSDirect website. Log In to your account, Enter Credit Card Information, Select "Business Organizations" on the top of the page, On the Menu use the "Change Documents" section enter your corporate filing number and click [File Document], Under Filing Type - Select "Change or Registered Agent/Office" and click [Continue], Enter Registered Agent Information exactly as provided to you by us and ensure you select "Consent on file with entity" on the bottom of the form. Click [Continue], then complete the transaction. To find your corporate filing number you can do a search on the Texas Comptroller's site: https://mycpa.cpa.state.tx.us/coa/
By Mail (or if more changes to your corporate filing are also required):
- For Texas based corporations: Use Form 401 "Change of Registered Agent and/or Registered Office" and mail with the required payment to the Texas Secretary of State.
- For Foreign corporations (based outside of Texas) you can file Form 406 "Amendment" to Registration with the Texas Secretary of State.
2) If you move or change your contact information, you are responsible to update your contact info with your registered agent (us) to ensure documents can be delivered to you if needed.
3) If at some point you wish to terminate your registered agent service, simply update/amend your registered agent information with the secretary of state to remove TRUE Space and our address information. Or you can terminate your LLC or dissolve your corporation. You can then notify us by email or contact form letting us know you have accomplished the information change and that you wish to close your account.
In reality most businesses that keep their secretary of state filing current (taxes and fees paid), will receive no mail and no served documents throughout the year. To have served documents physically forwarded to you by mail costs $5.00 plus the cost of postage. 2nd day or overnight costs $15.00 + shipping cost. Charges are billed to your payment card on file. Documents are held for 90 days after receipt and are then shredded.
If you need a professional commercial business address (Mailing Address), please look at the 'Business Address' page on this site. Virtual Office (business mailbox) services are also available as a separate add on service.
A few outdated corporate filing services still request the signed consent form since they bill for each form submitted. You can contact us to send the consent form to you if needed.
STEP 1:
A) Remove our registered agent information from your state filing (secretary of state filing required) by replacing it with information about your new registered agent. This is done via your Annual Registration or an Amended Annual Registration.
or
B) Terminate your LLC or Dissolve your Corporation
STEP 2
When you have verified that TRUE Space has been removed from your state filing. Contact us to let us know you have removed our information from your state filing, or terminated or dissolved your entity (filing must have taken effect, not just the day you submit it). You can call us, or email us at agent@truesp.com and we can then verify the information has been changed and close your account.
We can not close your account and turn off billing until you have removed the information. This is because without the information being changed, the state considers us to still be your legal registered agent, and you need to have an active account for us to do the required services.
NEED HELP? If you need help changing your registered agent on your state filing, let us know. We can make the filing for you (additional filing cost involved). We can also help with LLC terminations and corporation dissolution.
Corporate Filing: Entity Creation- Should I file as an LLC or as a corporation (Inc/Corp)?
- Each business is different so we can't answer this. Although more than 90% of entity formations we see are LLC's, a corporation may be the better structure for your business. There is a wealth of information online about the differences. As always, you should speak to your business attorney and your accountant if you need help with this decision.
In general it is cheaper to form and terminate an LLC (lower state filing fees and fewer required formation or dissolution filings). - How fast will my new entity be formed?
- Typically 3-5 business days
LLC's and Corporation formations are usually turned around by the Texas Secretary of State within 3-5 business days. We always use electronic filing which provide rapid formations. Our competitors charge additional amounts for "expedited filings", but it is our normal level of service with no extra charge.
Note: The Texas Secretary of State tends to process at a slightly slower rate in January and February (5-7 days), as this is the busiest time of year for entity formations.
In general it is cheaper to form and terminate an LLC (lower state filing fees and fewer required formation or dissolution filings).
LLC's and Corporation formations are usually turned around by the Texas Secretary of State within 3-5 business days. We always use electronic filing which provide rapid formations. Our competitors charge additional amounts for "expedited filings", but it is our normal level of service with no extra charge.
Note: The Texas Secretary of State tends to process at a slightly slower rate in January and February (5-7 days), as this is the busiest time of year for entity formations.
