Arizona Statutory Agent and Place of Business Requirements
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UPDATE RESULTING FROM ARIZONA'S NEW LLC ACT: Under Arizona's new LLC act, which went into effect in September 2019, an LLC's business address may now be a physical street address or a post office box and the address can be in Arizona or in any other state. The LLC's statutory agent must still maintain a physical street address. |
If you plan to start a business in Arizona, the state requires that you appoint a statutory agent, who is required to sign an acceptance, in order to form the company. A statutory agent is the person or business who will receive and accept service of process or other legal notices on behalf of the company.
Any individual, including the business owner, or a business legally formed in Arizona or legally authorized to conduct business in Arizona is eligible to act as a statutory agent. Many people choose to not act as the statutory agent for their business for a number of reasons, but the primary reasons are: 1. The statutory agent must maintain a physical street address where a process server can find the agent during regular business hours, which may not work for some business owners, particularly those who run their business out of their home and are not available during normal business hours, or are forming an LLC simply to hold real estate or other assets. 2. The physical street address of the statutory agent will be shown in the public records for the business. Those owners running a business out of their home who don't utilize a separate business address may not want to act as the statutory agent for their business and disclose their residential address in the public records for privacy and security reasons. This same reasoning applies with respect to Arizona's place of business requirement, because your business address must also be shown in the public records.The failure to maintain a statutory agent or registered place of business is grounds for administrative dissolution by the state. An Arizona corporation or LLC can be administratively dissolved if it fails to maintain a statutory agent or principal business address, or it fails to notify the Arizona Corporation Commission within sixty days that its statutory agent or business address has been changed. Morrissey law offers statutory agent service and place of business service. To discuss these services or how we can help with forming your LLC or incorporating your business, please call our offices at 480-556-1902 or email us at [email protected]. |