NC registered agent
North Carolina registered agent service, $3.50 a year
North Carolina requires every corporation and LLC on its books to keep a registered agent at a real address in the state. Here is what North Carolina law says about who that agent has to be and where it has to be.
What North Carolina requires of a registered agent
The requirement
Unified rule for ALL NC entities in Chapter 55D: every domestic corporation, nonprofit, LLC, LP and LLP (and every qualified foreign counterpart) must continuously maintain a registered office and a registered agent, who must be a resident individual, or a domestic corporation/nonprofit/LLC, or an authorized foreign corporation/nonprofit/LLC - in each case with a business office identical to the registered office.
must continuously maintain in this State: (1) A registered office that may be the same as any of its places of business... and (2) A registered agent, who must be: a. An individual who resides in this State and whose business office is identical with the registered office; b. A domestic corporation, nonprofit corporation, or limited liability company whose business office is identical with the registered office; or c. A foreign corporation, foreign nonprofit corporation, or foreign limited liability company authorized to transact business or conduct affairs in this State whose business office is identical with the registered office.
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55D-30(a)
How we comply
We don't.
What North Carolina 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.
Administrative dissolution
Being without a registered agent or registered office for 60 days or more, or failing to notify the Secretary of State within 60 days of an agent change, resignation, or office discontinuance, is a ground for administrative dissolution (corporations) after written notice and a 60-day cure period. LLC parallel: G.S. 57D-6-06(a)(3)-(4).
The Secretary of State may commence a proceeding under G.S. 55-14-21 to dissolve administratively a corporation if: ... (3) The corporation is without a registered agent or registered office in this State for 60 days or more; (4) The corporation does not notify the Secretary of State within 60 days that its registered agent or registered office has been changed, that its registered agent has resigned, or that its registered office has been discontinued...
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55-14-20(3)-(4); § 55-14-21(b); § 57D-6-06(a)(3)-(4)
Revocation (foreign entities)
The same registered-agent failures are grounds for revoking a foreign corporation's certificate of authority (60-day notice and cure); revocation makes the Secretary of State the corporation's agent for service of process. Foreign LLC parallel: G.S. 57D-7-30(a)(3)-(4).
The Secretary of State may commence a proceeding under G.S. 55-15-31 to revoke the certificate of authority of a foreign corporation authorized to transact business in this State if: ... (3) The foreign corporation is without a registered agent or registered office in this State for 60 days or more...
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55-15-30(a)(3)-(4); § 55-15-31(d); § 57D-7-30(a)(3)-(4)
And also
Name exposure after administrative dissolution: the dissolved entity's name is protected for five years after administrative dissolution, but reinstatement may require a name change if another entity took a non-distinguishable name (see § 55-14-22(a1)).
In the case of an administrative dissolution or revocation of registration as a limited liability partnership, the expiration of five years after the effective date of the administrative dissolution or revocation.
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55D-21(d)(2)
The bill to come back
Reinstatement fee
An administratively dissolved corporation may apply for reinstatement; the application fee is $100. Reinstatement relates back to the dissolution date, but the entity may have to change its name if it became unavailable.
A corporation administratively dissolved under G.S. 55-14-21 may apply to the Secretary of State for reinstatement... [Fee schedule:] (16) Application for reinstatement following administrative dissolution 100.00
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55-14-22; § 55-1-22(a)(16)
What happens to the lawsuit you never saw
Substituted service
When an entity fails to appoint or maintain a registered agent, or the agent cannot with due diligence be found at the registered office, or a foreign entity's authority is revoked, the Secretary of State becomes the entity's agent for service; the SoS mails a copy to the entity's principal office (or registered office).
When an entity required to maintain a registered office and registered agent under G.S. 55D-30 fails to appoint or maintain a registered agent in this State, or when its registered agent cannot with due diligence be found at the registered office, or when the Secretary of State revokes a certificate of authority or a statement of foreign registration of a foreign entity... the Secretary of State becomes an agent of the entity upon whom any such process, notice or demand may be served.
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55D-33(b)
Statutory text as captured by incFACTS (retrieved 2026-08-01, verified word-for-word against the state code 2026-08-10). Laws change. The statute governs; this page does not.