A “registered agent” (also known as an agent for service of process, a registered agent, resident agent or statutory agent) is a person or company designated to accept service of process (such as a complaint of a company becomes involved in a lawsuit) and other important documents on a company’s behalf.

The Registered Agent for a business may be an individual or a third party, such as the company’s lawyer or a service company.

The purpose of a Registered Agent is to provide a physical legal address within that state where individuals are available to receive legal documents.  The Registered Agent receives these documents on behalf of the company and then is required to promptly provide them to the company.