Acting as your own registered agent or listing your home address can cause big problems for your LLC.
Colin Ley is an asset protection attorney and the creator of the PREP Trust® and Better LLC™. He is also the co-founder of LayRoots (along with with partner in life & business – Shreya Ley)
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Transcript:
Hey friends, Colin and Shreya Ley here, of LayRoots, an asset protection law firm where we help protect people from stupid lawsuits.
Yeah, we do.
Shreya Ley, today I wanted to talk about what is a registered agent?
So the registered agent is the number one thing, I would say, that I get the most pushback on when people want to form a business and they’re like, “Why do I have to pay–
“Whoa, whoa.”
“For this registered agent thing?”
Whoa, whoa, let me queue it up. I unleashed her. Shreya Ley, the reason I wanted to talk about it is, we had a new client come on and they’ve already got some businesses that they’ve set up, or other people have set up, and we kind of dig through them a bit when they come on–
Oh yeah.
To see–
Check ’em out online to make sure that they are representing themselves accurately.
Yes, and you know what? They’re not always doing that, so continue.
Well, it’s not just to see if they’re representing themselves accurately, it’s also to ensure that we are providing all of the value that we can to them, right? Because if they think that they have something that they don’t, we need to check up on that and let them know and fix it for them, oftentimes. But yes, . I think, in a previous video, we talked about how one of the number one issues that we see when people come in and they think that they have an LLC or some sort of business entity, is that it’s actually expired and they don’t have what they think they have. And so the registered agent is a critical piece of that.
What is a registered agent, Shreya?
The registered agent, it’s like an official place, or role of a person, that can receive that official mail. So the Secretary of State may send you official mail there. If you get sued, that lawsuit will get served upon your registered agent. And so they receive your official documents and that’s their whole job. And you can, if you’re a big company, you might have someone in the office all day every day that can receive that official mail and so you can have someone assigned to that rule. But a lot of times, most people don’t, and so you can hire a commercial registered agent, and their whole job is to do this for you.
We a lot of times see people list their home address as their registered agent address.
Yes, that is true. People a lot of times don’t know what a registered agent is, or they don’t want to pay for a registered agent service and so they just list themselves, maybe a spouse, as the registered agent person, and they put their home address on there.
And why is that a problem, Shreya?
Well, I don’t know about you, but us, as busy business owners, we’re sometimes not home. And so if we’re not home to receive that important official mail, sometimes things can pass us by that have important deadlines. And then it can have unintended and serious consequences for our lives, right? So if you miss those notices to file reports with your state, your business could be administratively dissolved. Or you could have to pay extra fees. And even more serious, if you’re not around to receive that official paperwork for a lawsuit being served, you could get a default judgment against you. And then you have to pay money, yeah.
Then you’re broke.
Yeah, it’s terrible.
Your life is ruined.
Ruined!
One step forward, five steps back.
Yes.
Gotta start over, basically.
Yes. But another issue, a lot of times, too, is people move, these days. And so maybe the address that you had listed on there it’s no longer the right address. And so that’s another benefit is having that registered agent service give some continuity for that address for the official paperwork, and that’s a benefit too.
Well thanks, Shreya.
Yeah.
Thanks for venting your thoughts on registered agent service. I enjoyed it, I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please go ahead and hit that Like button. If you want to see more videos like this be sure to subscribe right there. Alright, take care.
Peace out.
Goodbye.
