A Louisiana Registered Agent or Louisiana Registered Agent Service is required by law for every business entity in the state of Louisiana. A registered agent is an individual or business entity that will accept legal papers (documents) on your behalf if it is sued. The registered agent or registered agent service must have a physical street address in Louisiana and be available during regular business hours.
In my Louisiana Registered Agent guide, I’ll walk you through the detailed process of when you should get a registered agent or registered agent service for your Louisiana business, how to pick one, if they are required and how to change one if needed. Typically you’re getting a registered agent when you setup your Louisiana LLC. Check out my guide on how to setup a Louisiana LLC so you can make sure you’re following all the right steps in the process. If you are just looking for the professional service to help you – use Northwest Registered Agent or ZenBusiness.
Best Louisiana Registered Agent Service
ZenBusiness will be the best option for setting up a registered agent service in Louisiana. They can also help you with getting your LLC formed so if you’re looking for the best option, check them out today!
When you’re thinking about picking your registered agent service – just go with ZenBusiness. There are lots of options but they do the best job and make it easy for you to get your registered agent setup. They will also include this as you’re forming your LLC with them. There are other services out there that just work on setting up registered agents but they do not have LLC formation services built into it.
You could consider looking at a Louisiana law firm that has this as a service or be your own registered agent but I really don’t think that’s a good idea. Focus on your business and building it vs. trying to worry about saving a few dollars by being your own registered agent.
If you want another service to look at – go take a look at ZenBusiness or IncFile but at the end of the day ZenBusiness does a great job of making their service known and has the best options for you as a business owner.
What is a Louisiana Registered Agent?
A Louisiana Registered Agent is no different than any other type of state based registered agent. They are all required to do three main things for you:
- Be available during regular business hours at a physical address in the state of Louisiana to receive legal papers on your behalf if you’re sued.
- Receive and forward any official correspondence from the Secretary of State to your business.
- Maintain records of any documents that are served on the company.
You will be required to have a Louisiana Registered Agent when you form your LLC in the state. The other item they need to help you with is make sure you’re in compliance with the state and the laws associated. There are annual fees and compliance reports you’ll need to submit and a registered agent service is going to help you really figure out the best way of making this a reality.
Sometimes I’ve chatted with business owners that think they can go get a virtual mailbox service or setup a UPS Store box that acts as their ‘office’ but that does not work. If you do that and someone needs to serve you legal papers and they show up at a UPS Store -you’re in violation of what a registered agent is and what you need to do.
The last thing you need is for someone to show up like this and then you have the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office dissolve your business. That’s not what you need as a business owner. That would be a problem you create of your own making and it’s completely unnecessary.
Why do I need a Louisiana Registered Agent?
The main reason for setting up a Louisiana Registered Agent is because it’s the law. The reason it’s the law is because we need to have help legally to protect ourselves from the legal ramifications. It’s possible for anyone to search the Louisiana Secretary of State’s business name search portal for your business. In that public record they will find the registered agent’s name and the registered agent’s address.
Think about that. If you have your home address and and name on file as the registered agent anyone can jump in and see your information. Think of a registered agent like you think of the GoDaddy website privacy protection. We use that type of service on a domain to make sure there is a little legal protection against seeing who owns that domain. This is the same thing with greater potential problems if you don’t use it.
This means that if you decided to act as your own registered agent in Louisiana you’ll have your name and address on file publicly. This also would mean that you’d have to be available during normal business hours and accept legal documents on your business’s behalf. This is a distraction from building your business and you’d be required to be there during business hours. That does not sound like fun.
When should I obtain a Louisiana Registered Agent?
The best time to setup your Louisiana Registered Agent is at the beginning of the business formation. It’s required by law to have it associated to any business that you form and if you don’t then you’re in violation of the Louisiana Secretary of State laws and could have your business dissolved.
Use Northwest Registered Agent to stay in compliance and make sure you’re also following the annual reports that need to be followed. If you’re in the beginning stages of your business journey, you will want to make sure you’re following the right laws and this is one of those. Annual compliance and reports is something a registered agent service can help you with and I’d recommend you follow what they tell you to do.
Can I Be My Own Registered Agent In Louisiana?
Yes it is possible to technically be your own registered agent in Louisiana but I don’t recommend it. It’s really a bad idea for all the reasons we’ve been talking about in this guide. If you wanted to do this the only reason I can think of is to save a few dollars and it’s really not worth it. You’re still going to have to:
- Be available during business hours to accept any legal documents
- Have a physical street address in Louisiana
- File the annual reports Make sure you’re meeting all the requirements for a registered agent
You would think that it’s easy enough to do this but there are so many moving parts to being a registered agent.
How Much Does a Registered Agent Cost?
The cost ranges quite substantially depending on how you go about doing this. It can be $0 if you do it yourself but again, like we’ve talked about, it’s not worth it. You’ll save a few dollars every year on your business but you’re really going to have more issues than it’s worth. The typical range is $100-300/year and with Northwest Registered Agent, you’ll have the first year included in the LLC formation and they typically will charge a $125 per year annual fee for this. The other option is looking at a local law firm in Louisiana that has their own registered agent service which might be a bit lower cost but in the long run – they haven’t helped 1000s of business owners across the country with this.
How Do I Elect A Registered Agent In Louisiana?
The best way to elect your registered agent in Louisiana is doing so when you’re forming your LLC. You’ll need to submit the Articles of Organization doc and make sure that you’ve done so because that’ is the LLC formation document that’s recognized in Louisiana.
How Do I Elect A Registered Agent Online in Louisiana?
You are able to submit this LLC form online at the Geauxbiz.sos.la.gov site here after you’ve setup your account and have started your business formation process. In the formation steps of this, you’ll find the spot to include the registered agent’s name and registered agent’s address.
How Do I Elect A Registered Agent by Mail, Fax or In Person?
If you want to download the Articles of Organization and want to submit it by mail, you can do so here:
Commercial Division
P. O. Box 94125
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9125
(225) 925-4704
it looks like the filing fee is $100 and if you want to expedite it there are two options of $30 for a 24 hour turnaround or $50 for a 2-4 hour turn around time. I don’t know of another state that has an option to turn this around in 2-4 hours so take advantage of that if you’re in a hurry.
How Do I Change My Registered Agent In Louisiana?
If you want to change your registered agent, you’ll need to do so with submitting the Notice of Change of Registered Agent Office and/or Change of Registered Agent . On this form, you’ll be able to fill out what needs to be changed and you can follow the instructions included there.
You can also do this online if you’d like.
I recommend you do this online so you don’t have to go in person. Go log back into your account Geauxbiz.sos.la.gov site here and get to the ‘File an Amendment’ section where you can select the ‘File Notice/Statement of Change’. From there you’ll be able to complete the form and submit with payment information to get it done.
If you’d rather do this by Mail or In Person, you can do that too and submit it to the following addresses:
Submit by Mail:
Commercial Division
P.O. Box 94125
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9125
(225) 925-4704
Go In Person:
Louisiana Secretary of State
8585 Archives Ave.
Baton Rouge, LA 70809
Louisiana Registered Agent FAQ
Does Louisiana require a registered agent?
Yes, all businesses entities organized in Louisiana (including LLCs, corporations and non-profit organizations) must appoint and maintain a registered agent in the state. The only exception is when a business entity is wholly owned by residents of Louisiana.
Does registered agent mean owner?
No, the term “registered agent” and “owner” are not interchangeable. A registered agent is an appointed individual or business entity that agrees to accept service of process on behalf of your company. An owner, on the other hand, is an individual who has ownership stake in the company.
What is a registered agent service?
A registered agent service is a business entity that agrees to act as the designated registered agent for your company. Registered agent services typically charge an annual fee in exchange for their service.
Best Registered Agent
The best option for your registered agent service
