Every formal business in Connecticut is required by law to have a Connecticut registered agent. A registered agent receives any official documents from the State of Connecticut, as well as any service of process that may be served on a firm in a lawsuit.
In this Connecticut Registered Agent guide, we’ll go over everything there is to know about registered agents, including what they do and how to choose one.
What Is a Registered Agent in Connecticut?
A Connecticut registered agent is a person or corporate organisation that serves as your company’s point of contact for:
All correspondence with the State of Connecticut, including the Connecticut Annual Report and certificate of good standing
In every litigation, the company receives full service of process.
In Connecticut, any formal business, such as an LLC or corporation, is required by law to have a registered agent.
In Connecticut, may I act as my own registered agent?
Yes, any owner or employee of a company may serve as its registered agent in Connecticut as long as they are above the age of 18 and have a Connecticut street address.
You might also designate a member of your LLC or a friend you trust, as long as they match these standards as well.
Why Do Companies Hire a Connecticut Registered Agent?
Many firms opt to employ a registered agent service when forming an LLC for the following reasons:
Compliance
A registered agent service keeps a compliance calendar and will notify you when yearly reports or other files are due, as well as assist you in submitting them.
This helps you avoid penalties and maintains your firm in good standing, both of which are necessary to preserve your limited liability protection.
If you do not reply immediately to serving of process, legal complexities, costs, or other concerns may develop. A registered agent will scan your papers, upload them to the internet, and tell you when they are ready.
Privacy
If you operate from home or a private office as your own registered agent, your address will be publicly available on the Connecticut Business Registry Search.
If your privacy is important to you, a registered agent service will use their own address instead of yours.
Discretion
Receiving service of process for a lawsuit at your place of business may be a delicate circumstance to have in front of your staff and customers.
To circumvent this problem, a registered agent will accept service of process and other papers at their office and deliver them to you discreetly online.
Flexibility
If you are your own registered agent, you must be accessible every working day of the year during regular business hours.
Registered agent services have real offices and people to cover certain hours, allowing them to be accessible during those times.
Hiring a registered agent service enables you to be more flexible with your working hours and locations. So go ahead and take a vacation, work from home or the office, or travel the globe knowing they’ll be there to collect your documents.
Online Data Storage
A competent registered agent service will scan your papers as soon as they arrive, maintaining a digital record of all your company documents and any service of process on a user-friendly dashboard.
If you employed an LLC creation service, you would most likely also use them as a registered agent. This implies a copy of your formation paperwork will be accessible online as well.
Having all of this information, which is accessible as PDFs, is really useful when you need to do things for your company, such as create a business bank account, apply for a business credit card, apply for small business loans, and many other things that need a copy of your paperwork.
National Reach
If you want to grow your company into other states, such as by employing an out-of-state employee or establishing a new sales office, you must have a registered agent for your foreign LLC or other corporation.
The majority of registered agent services are available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Simply pay a little fee for the new state in which you operate, and they will transmit all of your paperwork to the same web dashboard.
Best Registered Agent Service in Connecticut
A registered agent service normally costs between $50 and $300 each year. When you consider how much time it will save you, this is a little amount to pay.
Best Registered Agent Service in Connecticut
Northwest is the greatest registered agent service in terms of overall quality and cost transparency. Northwest provides a unified user experience as well as industry-leading customer service and privacy protection.
When you choose Northwest as your registered agent, you will get an online account with access to important papers, mail forwarding, and business address services.
Northwest’s virtual mailbox service will scan your mail and electronically transmit it to you. This means you can keep track of your mail from anywhere in the globe.
In Connecticut, How Do I Choose a Registered Agent?
When you finish your LLC’s Certificate of Organization in Connecticut, you must choose your registered agent. In Connecticut, the Certificate of Organization is the primary document used to incorporate an LLC.
Online Registration of a Registered Agent
The State of Connecticut’s CT Business One Stop site allows you to create an LLC online ($150 filing fee needed). When you submit your LLC’s Certificate of Organization, the name and contact information of your registered agent will be required in the “Key Contacts” section.
Choosing a Registered Agent by Mail
Download the Certificate of Organization ($150 filing fee necessary), fill out the appropriate information, and send a physical copy to the Connecticut Secretary of State to create your LLC by mail. Under Article IV on page 1, you will be requested to supply the following information about your registered agent:
How Do I Change My Connecticut Registered Agent?
Simply complete out a Change of Agent form and submit it to the Connecticut Secretary of State along with the $50 filing fee ($20 for nonprofit organisations and limited partnerships). This cost may be paid by cheque (for paper filings) or credit card (online).
Connecticut offers many Change of Agent forms for various company structures:
Domestic Corporations (formed in Connecticut)
Foreign Corporations (formed outside Connecticut)
This may be done in person, via mail, or online.
Online
Mail:
Division of Commercial Recording
Secretary of State of Connecticut
P.O. Box 150470
Hartford, Connecticut 06115-0470
Person to Person:
Division of Commercial Recording
Secretary of State of Connecticut
Suite 1000, 165 Capitol Ave.
Hartford, Connecticut 06106
Appointment Consent
Your new registered agent must also agree to their appointment. This may be accomplished by signing the Change of Agent form (for paper filings). The authorizer must indicate that the agent has agreed to their appointment when filing online.