What is a registered agent?

A registered agent (sometimes called a statutory or resident agent) is the official point of contact between a formal business entity — an LLC or corporation — and the state. Every state requires one at formation, and the agent's job is to reliably receive service of process (lawsuit notices), state compliance mail, and tax correspondence during normal business hours.

What a registered agent does

• Receives service of process: If your business is sued, the registered agent is who gets legally served — this is the core reason states require one.
• Receives state correspondence: Annual report reminders, franchise tax notices, and other official state mail go to the registered agent's address.
• Maintains a public address of record: The registered agent's address becomes part of the public record, which is one reason many owners hire a commercial registered agent instead of using their home address.

Can you be your own registered agent?

Yes, in most states, as long as you have a physical street address (not a P.O. box) in the state where the business is registered and can be available during standard business hours to receive documents. Many owners instead hire a commercial registered agent service — typically $50–$150/year — for privacy (keeping a home address off the public record) and to avoid missing a time-sensitive legal notice while away from the office.

Brian's take: when DIY stops making sense

Brian's take: for a single-member LLC or a small S-corp, DIY is usually the right call unless privacy is a real concern — every one of the 50 states will accept you as your own registered agent if you meet the address and business-hours requirement, and the $50–$150/year a commercial service charges is money better spent on the business itself early on. Run the math over a typical 5-year hold: DIY saves $250–$750 versus paying a commercial service every year — real working capital, not a rounding error, for a business still finding its footing. Multi-state operators are the clear exception: if you're registered as a foreign entity in 3 or more states, a single commercial service that covers all of them (instead of $50–$150/year per state run separately) is worth the fee just to avoid missing a notice in any one jurisdiction.