CA registered agent
California registered agent service, $2.50 a year
California requires every corporation and LLC on its books to keep a registered agent at a real address in the state. Here is what California law says about who that agent has to be and where it has to be.
What California requires of a registered agent
The requirement
California uses the term 'agent for service of process' (never 'registered agent'). For corporations, the agent must be a natural person residing in California or a corporation that has filed a certificate under Corp. Code § 1505 (a § 1505 corporate agent must be authorized to do business in CA and in good standing). LLCs have the identical rule: an individual who is a resident of the state or a § 1505 corporation (Corp. Code § 17701.13(c)). There is no registered-office concept; a natural-person agent lists a complete business or residence street address.
The statement required by subdivision (a) shall also designate, as the agent of the corporation for the purpose of service of process, a natural person residing in this state or a corporation that has complied with Section 1505 and whose capacity to act as an agent has not terminated. If a natural person is designated, the statement shall set forth that person's complete business or residence street address.
Source: state statute, via FACTS: Cal. Corp. Code § 1502(b); accord § 17701.13(c) (LLCs)
How we comply
We don't.
What California does to your company when we don't
Here is what the state does to an entity that has no agent, or whose agent is us.
Civil penalty
Corporation: failure to file the Statement of Information (the filing that designates the agent for service of process) triggers a delinquency notice; if not cured within 60 days the Secretary of State certifies the corporation to the Franchise Tax Board, which assesses the penalty set by Rev. & Tax. Code § 19141 (amount stated outside this corpus).
If, within 60 days of providing notice of the delinquency, a statement pursuant to Section 1502 has not been filed by the corporation, the Secretary of State shall certify the name of the corporation to the Franchise Tax Board. (b) Upon certification pursuant to subdivision (a), the Franchise Tax Board shall assess against the corporation the penalty provided in Section 19141 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
Source: state statute, via FACTS: Cal. Corp. Code § 2204(a)-(b)
And also
Corporation: suspension of corporate powers, rights, and privileges for a corporation that fails to file the Statement of Information, has not filed one in the preceding 24 months, and was already certified for penalty - after a 60-day notice period.
After the expiration of the 60-day period without any statement filed pursuant to Section 1502, the Secretary of State shall notify the Franchise Tax Board of the suspension and provide a notice of the suspension to the corporation, and thereupon, the corporate powers, rights, and privileges of the corporation are suspended, except for the purpose of filing an application for exempt status or amending the articles of incorporation as necessary either to perfect that application or to set forth a new name.
Source: state statute, via FACTS: Cal. Corp. Code § 2205(a), (c)
Civil penalty
LLC: failure to file the LLC Statement of Information (which designates the agent) draws a $250 penalty if not cured within 60 days of the delinquency notice; a parallel provision (§ 17713.09) routes the Rev. & Tax. Code § 19141 penalty through the Franchise Tax Board.
If, within 60 days after providing notice of the delinquency, a statement pursuant to Section 17702.09 has not been filed by the limited liability company or foreign limited liability company, the limited liability company or foreign limited liability company shall be subject to a penalty of two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
Source: state statute, via FACTS: Cal. Corp. Code § 17713.07(b); see § 17713.09
And also
LLC: suspension of the LLC's powers, rights, and privileges for repeated failure to file the Statement of Information (no filing in the preceding 24 months plus a prior penalty certification), after a 60-day notice period.
After the expiration of the 60-day period without any statement filed pursuant to Section 17702.09, the Secretary of State shall notify the Franchise Tax Board of the suspension, and shall provide a notice of the suspension to the limited liability company and thereupon, except for the purpose of amending the articles of organization to set forth a new name, the powers, rights, and privileges of the limited liability company are suspended.
Source: state statute, via FACTS: Cal. Corp. Code § 17713.10(c)
The bill to come back
We couldn't be bothered to look this up. FACTS carries no human-verified reinstatement fee for California in the registered agent dataset, and we are not the kind of company that checks.
What happens to the lawsuit you never saw
Substituted service
If the agent has resigned and not been replaced, cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the designated address, or no agent was ever designated, a court may order that service be made by hand-delivery to the Secretary of State; service is deemed complete on the 10th day after delivery. The identical mechanism applies to LLCs (§ 17701.16(c)). The SOS then forwards the process to the entity by registered mail.
If an agent for the purpose of service of process has resigned and has not been replaced or if the agent designated cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the address designated ... or if no agent has been designated, and it is shown by affidavit to the satisfaction of the court that process against a domestic corporation cannot be served with reasonable diligence upon the designated agent ... the court may make an order that the service be made upon the corporation by delivering by hand to the Secretary of State ... Service in this manner is deemed complete on the 10th day after delivery of the process to the Secretary of State.
Source: state statute, via FACTS: Cal. Corp. Code § 1702(a); accord § 17701.16(c) (LLCs)
Statutory text as captured by FACTS (retrieved 2026-08-01, verified word-for-word against the state code 2026-08-10). Laws change. The statute governs; this page does not.