NONPROFIT organisations in California will almost certainly need to select and employ a registered agent.
A registered agent receives any official documents from the State of California, as well as any service of process that may be served on a firm in a lawsuit.
An agent for service of process is a professional who will represent your company to the California Secretary of State while you do business. Service of process agents are known as registered agents, resident agents, or statutory agents in certain states.
Typically, your agent for service of process will receive letters on your behalf, such as compliance information and tax alerts. Process service agents are also in charge of taking service of process papers. This simply means that if your organisation is sued, your agent for serving of process will receive the court summons and papers on its behalf.
The following are the criteria for service of process agents in California:
As long as they satisfy the conditions specified above, any anyone may act as your nonprofit’s agent for serving of process. You may opt to serve as your nonprofit’s agent for service of process; alternatively, you may appoint a member of your board of directors or a trustworthy friend.
If you choose to serve as your organization’s agent for process service, you must grasp the significance of the job. If you miss a filing date or misplace a document, your nonprofit’s compliance status may be jeopardised, and the Secretary of State may revoke your nonprofit’s corporate registration.
Many organisations and other companies engage a professional registered agent service to guarantee that their company is always in compliance.
Before you choose a California registered agent service, think about the benefits and drawbacks of this technique.
There are various reasons why you should consider employing a registered agent service for your nonprofit organisation. This strategy, in particular, can:
The sole downside of using a registered agent service is that it is costly, while you might serve as your own agent for free.
While employing a professional registered agent service is a good idea for many reasons, in other cases it is required. If you answered “yes” to any of the following questions, your organisation should use a registered agent service.
When you file your California nonprofit’s Articles of Incorporation, you must choose an agent for service of process. In California, the fundamental nonprofit creation document is the Articles of Incorporation.
Download Form ARTS-PB-501(c)(3) – Articles of Incorporation, fill it out completely, and send it (with with the $30 filing fee) to the California Secretary of State. This may be accomplished by posting a PDF version of the form online or by mailing or delivering the original form along with a copy.
In Article 3, you will provide the name and contact information for your process server’s agent.
To lawfully alter the agent for service of process for your California nonprofit, add this change on your normal Form SI-100 – Statement of Information filing or submit a No Fee Statement version to the California Secretary of State. The charge for a standard Statement of Information is $20, however there is no fee for a Statement of Information used to alter an agent for service of process.
When you work at a charity, you have more essential things to worry about than monitoring the mail, submitting legal paperwork, and remembering compliance deadlines. That is what a process serving agent can accomplish for you. When you engage a professional registered agent service, you can put these responsibilities in their skilled hands and completely concentrate on what is most important to your firm.