Illinois Registered Agent
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What Is an Illinois Registered Agent?
A registered agent (also known as a resident or statutory agent) receives all communication from the state on behalf of a business. This includes service of process, as well. Registered agents make sure that the business receives this communication, often by immediately uploading documents to a digital server. It’s important to know that Illinois law requires businesses to have a registered agent. This is because registered agents provide a single point of contact which prevents confusion. Businesses can’t make any excuses about not knowing who received important notifications, either. Registered agents are elected by businesses upon their formation.What Are the Requirements To Be a Registered Agent in Illinois?
The requirements to be a registered agent are not strict. One must be 18 or older, maintain a physical address in Illinois, and keep regular business hours. It is perfectly legal for you yourself to be the registered agent for your company should you meet all these criteria. Similarly, a business partner, an employee, or a friend could be the registered agent for your business. However, most businesses prefer to hire a registered agent service. We’ll go more in detail on that in our next section.Why Businesses Need an Illinois Registered Agent
As we explained, it is against the law for businesses in Illinois not to have a registered agent. That aside, registered agents can be invaluable because they can save you time as well as provide certain other perks. Let’s talk about the many reasons why businesses need a registered agent, as well as why you might prefer to hire a registered agent.
Compliance
The state has certain expectations of businesses, and it’s important that those expectations be met in order to remain compliant. For instance, LLCs must file annual reports; should businesses fail to do so by the given deadline, they can lose their good standing. Good standing is important because with it comes protections like limited liability. In the worst-case scenario, a business that loses its good standing could eventually be prohibited from operating in the state of Illinois. Similarly, businesses must respond to service of process before the given date. If they don’t, they may incur fees, and it certainly won’t do them any favors for winning a lawsuit. Registered agents help businesses remain compliant by keeping track of important due dates. They send businesses reminders to ensure that important documents are filed on time. Some registered agent services are even able to help businesses get back on track if they do lose their good standing.Privacy
A registered agent’s address is easy to find. This is because it becomes public record and is searchable on the Illinois Business Search. If you value your privacy and don’t want your own address to be public, then hiring a registered agent is the best solution. Aside from personal privacy, there are some sensitive business matters that you’ll likely want to keep private as well. For instance, it would be embarrassing to receive service of process in front of clients or employees. A registered agent will receive service of process on your behalf at their office. They’ll make sure you’re notified discreetly.Online-Only Business
According to the 2018 U.S. Census data, 85% of households had an active internet subscription. The internet has become part of our day-to-day lives and could even be considered more of a necessity than a privilege. The internet has opened so many doors, one of them being online business. It’s easy to operate a business 100% online. Obviously, these businesses do not have any physical addresses. That’s where registered agent services come in. If you’re not comfortable using your personal address to be a registered agent for your company, then your best option is to hire a registered agent service.Irregular Business Hours
One of the requirements to be a registered agent is to keep regular business hours. For some business owners, this isn’t realistic, especially if they have multiple locations to run. Similarly, you may want to take trips, either for business or pleasure; in this case, you won’t be at a single location or keep regular hours. This is one reason to hire a registered agent service. They always have trained professionals available to receive important communication for your business.Organization
Registered agents receive a lot of documents on behalf of businesses. They have to sort both the paper versions and the digital versions of these documents so that they are easy to find and access. Not only that, but they have to keep track of important deadlines and create a schedule for reminders. This way, they can help businesses remain compliant. While anyone could do this type of clerical work, it can be somewhat time consuming. Business owners tend to be busy people with full schedules. It’s a load off of their shoulders to let someone else worry about organizing files and keeping track of deadlines.Locations in Different States
If your business is going to operate in different states, then you will need to hire registered agents for each state. Even if you’re happy to be the registered agent in Illinois, you likely won’t have physical addresses in other states. However, many registered agent services do have locations all around the U.S., which means you only have to hire one service, keeping things streamlined.What To Look for When Choosing an Illinois Registered Agent
If you’re looking to hire a registered agent service in Illinois, then you’ll have plenty of options. In fact, it can be a lot of work to sort through and choose a registered agent service. In order to pick the best one for your business, we recommend considering three factors: price, services provided, and time saved.