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Texas Registered Agent

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Your business must appoint a Texas registered agent to receive documents in legal matters, including notice of lawsuit. Our reliable registered agent service fulfills this requirement. You get:

  • Same-day documents from our local office in Austin
  • Immediate online access to state forms with our address and, where required, our signature
  • Annual fees from $89Multi-Year Discount to $99 per state with no additional charges
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Charitable Registered AgentBOC-3 Process AgentD.C. FCC Appointment

Texas Registered Agent—A Complete Guide

When forming your organization in Texas, appointing a registered agent with the secretary of state is among the first steps you must take to meet your statutory obligations. The agent serves as your official representative with the state and is tasked with accepting and forwarding legal or government notices.

All filing entities (corporations, LLCs, etc.) must appoint a Texas registered agent, and this guide will show you how to do it. You’ll also learn why many organizations trust Harbor Compliance to serve as their agent and ensure all notices are delivered timely.

Responsibilities of Texas Registered Agents

A registered agent accepts service of process and other official notices on behalf of your organization. They then forward such correspondence so that you can respond timely and avoid legal issues.

To perform their duties, the agent must be available during regular business hours at the registered office—a physical address in Texas to which process servers will deliver court summons, subpoenas, and similar correspondence.

Any absence during work hours might result in your agent missing a notice, which can harm your organization’s legal standing. For example, if the agent fails to receive a summons, you may not know your organization is involved in litigation and that you must appear in court.

As a result of your absence, the judge will most likely rule in the plaintiff’s favor, which is known as default judgment. You won’t be able to defend your case and might incur penalties.

The good news is that avoiding such setbacks is easy—all you need to do is find a responsible agent who will deliver your notices efficiently.

Registered Agent Requirements in Texas

According to Section 5.201 of the Texas Business Organizations Code, your registered agent can be either of the following two entities:

  1. An individual who resides in Texas (e.g., a friend, family member, attorney, employee, or yourself)
  2. A domestic or foreign organization other than yours

Businesses that provide registered agent services are known as commercial registered agents. Like any well-run business, they have staff redundancies to ensure continuity of service in case of a team member’s absence. This makes them more reliable than individual agents, as someone is always available to receive your notice at the registered office.

Whether you choose an individual or organization, they must sign the 401-A form and consent to serve as your agent. While you don’t need to submit the form to the secretary of state, you should have it on file as proof of consent.

Appointing a nonconsenting entity is a punishable offense pursuant to Sections 4.007 and 4.008 of the Business Organizations Code. It’s either considered a Class A misdemeanor or a state jail felony if there is intent to defraud or harm another party.

How To Appoint and Change a Registered Agent in Texas

If you’re forming a new organization in Texas, you’ll appoint an agent in your registration filings, which depend on your business structure:

Entity Type Formation Documents
Profit Corporation Articles of Incorporation
Nonprofit Corporation Nonprofit Articles of Incorporation
LLC Articles of Organization

You only need the agent’s name and address (registered office) to appoint them. The agent’s consent isn’t a part of the registration documents, so including their details implies they’ve already signed the aforementioned 401-A form.

Whether you’re forming or foreign qualifying your organization, the corresponding filings will contain a section where you need to enter the agent’s name and address. The documents will also include the Consent to Appointment by Registered Agent form, which confirms the agent has agreed to provide the aforementioned services.

Appointing an agent works similarly if you’re expanding an existing organization to Texas, except you’ll name them in your foreign qualification filings.

If your organization already operates in Texas and has an agent, but you wish to work with a different one, you must submit the Change of Registered Agent/Office form to the secretary of state.

Note that if only the address changes, your agent can send a different form to update the secretary of state on behalf of all represented entities. Commercial agents often assume this responsibility, which is another argument in favor of choosing them over individuals.

Texas Registered Agent Services by Harbor Compliance

Harbor Compliance is one of the nation’s leading Registered Agent Service providers. We combine extensive experience with a robust system to help you stay on top of all legal or government correspondence. When you partner with us, you get the following:

  • Same-day electronic delivery of time-sensitive notices from our local office in Austin
  • A phone call in case of legal action to ensure important correspondence isn’t missed
  • A secure Client Portal for managing your notices and accessing pre-filled state forms with our signatures wherever necessary

We can help you meet Wyoming’s registered agent requirement effortlessly and ensure all correspondence reaches you timely. Our rich service portfolio encompasses numerous other services that help you operate in accordance with the law, such as the following:

Our service ensures you don’t need to worry about missed notices or undetected legal threats—we’ll leave you ample time to promptly respond to any legal action taken against you.

Besides acting as your registered agent, Harbor Compliance offers a rich portfolio of services that help you meet your other regulatory obligations, most notably:

Individual Texan Registered Agent vs. Harbor Compliance

As mentioned, the main drawback of an individual registered agent is that they might miss your notice. This can happen due to personal or work obligations, travel, emergencies, or many other reasons.

You might feel compelled to appoint an employee to resolve the availability issue, as they’ll be at the office during business hours anyway. Appealing as this may sound, it exposes you to the risk of receiving service of process in front of your team or clients.

Another option is to appoint yourself, which might seem the simplest. Still, this would mean your personal details enter the public record, and you’d need to be available at the registered office 40 hours per week.

By partnering with Harbor Compliance, you can eliminate all of the above issues and enjoy the following benefits:

  • Constant availability of our team members at our Austin office
  • Undisturbed privacy as a result of our information being listed with the secretary of state instead of yours
  • Complete flexibility thanks to the Client Portal, which lets you manage notices online wherever you are
  • Enhanced security through various measures unavailable to a typical individual agent (data encryption, cloud monitoring, etc.)
  • Nationwide presence that lets you appoint us in any state your organization operates in and manage all official correspondence in a centralized hub

How To Appoint Harbor Compliance as Your Texas Registered Agent Service Provider

The steps to partnering with us vary between the following three scenarios:

  1. Forming a new organization in Texas
  2. Foreign qualifying to the state
  3. Changing your existing registered agent

Forming a New Organization

If you’re registering your organization in Texas for the first time, we can help you go through the process effortlessly with the following services tailored to different entity structures:

  1. Incorporation
  2. Nonprofit formation
  3. LLC formation

Choose your preferred service, and we’ll complete the registration on your behalf and enlist Harbor Compliance as your registered agent.

If you wish to be more involved in the registration process and only need the Registered Agent Service, you can order it separately and take the following steps to appoint us:

  1. Order the service
  2. Find the address of our Austin office in the Client Portal
  3. Complete and submit the filings to the secretary of state

Foreign Qualifying to Texas

Expanding to another jurisdiction is no easy feat due to the many requirements you must meet. Our Foreign Qualification Service package can make the process a breeze.

Complete the wizard, and we’ll take all the necessary steps to obtain your Texas certificate of authority. Not only will we appoint Harbor Compliance as your agent, but we’ll also offer the service at no extra cost for a year if you opt for the package.

Changing Your Agent

While changing an agent in Texas is straightforward enough, we can completely take this task off your plate once you purchase the Registered Agent Service.

You’ll see the option to add the Change of Agent service right before checkout. Select it, complete the purchase, and we’ll make the change for you.

Located in nearby Austin, TX!

How to Appoint Us as Your Texas Registered Agent

Formation

Appoint us as your Texas registered agent when you incorporate your business or form your LLC. Sign up for registered agent service and file using the state forms and instructions in your Client Portal. The forms are pre-filled and signed as required by the state.

Foreign Qualification

Appoint us as your agent when you apply for a certificate of authority to transact business in Texas. Sign up for Texas registered agent service and file using the forms and instructions in your Client Portal. The forms are pre-filled and signed as required by the state.

Change Agent

Changing your registered agent to us is easy. Sign up for Texas registered agent service and file using the forms and instructions in your Client Portal. The forms are pre-filled and signed as required by the state.

Book of Business

Harbor Compliance is a provider of nationwide registered agent service. We can help you consolidate your agent representation and achieve cost savings. Our specialists manage the process to change registered agents so that virtually no work is required on your part. We will complete the state filings to appoint us as your registered agent. Additionally, we can extend your subscription term so that you avoid double payment for any portion of your current contract. There’s no reason to wait. Simply contact us for consolidation and we’ll take care of the rest. If you have registered agent appointments spanning multiple states or entities, contact us today.

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Texas Registered Agent FAQs

Below you’ll see some of the most common questions about Texas registered agents. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, check out our extensive Information Center.

All corporations and LLCs are legally obligated to appoint a registered agent in Texas before they can operate in the state.

A registered agent can be any person of legal age residing in the state or a domestic or foreign organization besides yours.

You can use the SOSDirect service to perform online business searches and find an organization’s registered agent. Note that you must create an account and pay $1 per search

To change your existing registered agent, you must submit the Change of Registered Agent/Office form to the secretary of state.

Partner With Harbor Compliance as Your Texas Registered Agent

Outsourcing the responsibilities of a registered agent to us ensures your notices will be processed by experts and delivered without complications. To enjoy such convenience and all of the aforementioned benefits, order our Registered Agent Service today.

If you need additional help ensuring your organization operates in accordance with the law, you can take the following steps:

Harbor Compliance can serve as your agent across the U.S.—check out the following table to learn about registered agents in other states and territories:

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