REGISTERED AGENT IN ALABAMA
What is the reason for registered agents in the first place?
Back in the good old days, you just herded sheep and paid your taxes to the king. Eventually, economies changed, new company structures like limited liability companies and corporations emerged. These types of company structures were created to protect business owners from liabilities and provide tax advantages. Entities are furnished stature that is disconnected from the individuals who form them. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for people to understand that they could stay away from business lawsuits by personally steering clear of servers of process. So, to close that loophole, most Secretaries of State insist that business entities to select a “registered agent.”
Are there any requirements or restrictions I should know about my resident agent?
There are only a few restrictions relating to who can be a registered agent in Alabama. In particular, the person or entity acting as your registered agent must be available and located at a physical street address within Alabama during typical business hours. Your Registered Agent will be responsible to receive all tax-related and legal documents, annual report forms, litigation (service of process) documents, etc., on your behalf. It is critical that you choose a reputable company, such as RegisteredAgentOffice.com when choosing your registered agent.
How can having a registered agent help my company?
First and foremost, appointing a registered agent keeps your company in conformity to Alabama state law. On top of that, we accept delivery of and scan any service of process, legal notice, annual report, or letter received into your customer account locally in Alabama. You receive instantaneous notice of any notices scanned into your Alabama registered agent client account.
As an added Alabama registered agent service, we also keep track of your State annual report due date and forward you prompts with do-it-yourself links to submit your report on time with the Alabama Secretary of State.
What qualities should I be looking for in a registered agent?
Experience: You want to appoint a registered agent who is competent at what they’re doing, who’s been acting as a registered agent for many years and has a good reputation.
Reliability: You need to be able to depend on your registered agent. You need to know that they will live up to their duties and be accessible during normal business hours to accept legal documents and service of process.
Solid Character: Your Alabama registered agent must have a reputation for delivering service of process and legal documents in a reliable and timely manner. If they receive legal papers on your behalf and don’t deliver them to you, you could end up with a judgment against you in court without even knowing your company is party to a lawsuit.
Consumer Relations: Just imagine you need to clarify or have a question about some aspect of your business as it relates to the State. You don’t want to discuss it with a person reading off a script in a call center in India, you want to chat with a customer service rep who actually knows a thing or two about commercial registered agent service.
Additional Services: Besides basic registered agent service (by accepting your legal paperwork), make sure your registered agent offers additional services like: Pre-populated paperwork for state filings, email reminders for important filing deadlines and due dates, tools that will keep your company in compliance with State law.