Having a registered agent is required for your business, especially if you’re forming in a state other than your home state. A registered agent is someone who accepts and sends legal documents and papers on your behalf – like service of process notices. There are certain requirements that you need to abide by when hiring a registered agent in Texas.

In Texas you are allowed to be your own registered agent, or even higher a friend or employee of your business to do so. Here are a few things you should consider before choosing who will actually be your registered agent.

Who can be your registered agent in Texas?

  • Someone that has a physical street address within Texas – a P.O. box is not enough
  • Someone over 18
  • Any registered agent service
  • Yourself or other members of your company
  • An employee of your company
  • A friend

In Texas, who can be your registered agent is quite flexible – they just have to be over 18, and able to read!

Should you be your own registered agent?

You might be thinking of doing this to save money – registered agents in Texas cost on average $50-$500, but this is pretty much the only downside – here are some reasons you should get one:

  • You could be served a lawsuit in front of customers or family and friends, which is damaging to reputation
  • If you work from home your personal address will be made public, potentially putting your safety at risk as it’s on permanent records with the state.
  • They will sift through all your notices, solicitations and junk mail for you – you don’t have to waste time
  • You need to keep up to date on every single piece of information the state requires. Small companies often forget to do this, which could leave you spending much more than if you paid for a registered agent, that will remind you and keep you up to date
  • You’ll have more freedom to travel and have flexible business hours – registered agents need to be at a certain address during all normal business hours
  • You need a registered agent in every state – if you’re expanding to another state it saves you the hassle of getting a place and an employee to stay there.

So if you do think that you can handle all of this, maybe you should be your own registered agent. But if even one of these slightly applies to you, having a registered agent service can be a great idea.

Selecting an outside registered agent

When you get a registered agent, their responsibilities don’t end with just accepting service of process notices and other documents on your behalf. They also have a responsibility to get you the documents that you need or that are important to you on time, and notifying you of things you have to do immediately. If they fail to do this, you could lose a lawsuit, be subject to court, have to pay heftier fines and maybe even end up losing your business.

So for these reasons, you need to make sure you choose an agent that has great reviews online and one that you feel can cater to your specific needs. For instance, maybe you’d want a service that’s very cheap, or one that’s relatively small, so you don’t feel like just a statistic. Don’t just ask a friend to do it if you’re looking to save some money – having a committed registered agent will mean you get passionate service and never have to look over your shoulder again.

Services 

Here are some registered agent services we think are great, if you’re looking:

  • ZenBusiness – small with great value
  • Northwest – premium customer support and industry experience
  • Incfile – high quality
  • Harbor Compliance – lots of discounts and serving in many states

TRUiC has a great guide on how to get a registered agent. Be sure to visit their site for more: https://howtostartanllc.com/texas-llc/texas-registered-agent