WA registered agent
Washington registered agent service, $3.50 a year
Washington requires every corporation and LLC on its books to keep a registered agent at a real address in the state. Here is what Washington law says about who that agent has to be and where it has to be.
What Washington requires of a registered agent
The requirement
Washington's Uniform Business Organizations Code hub chapter (RCW 23.95, art. 4) governs registered agents for ALL entity types; RCW 23B.05.010 and the LLC act simply cross-reference it. Every domestic entity and registered foreign entity must maintain a registered agent (RCW 23.95.405), which may be a commercial registered agent, a noncommercial registered agent - an individual or domestic or foreign entity that serves in this state - or the holder of a designated office or position with the entity (RCW 23.95.415(1)(b)(ii)). Required addresses must be a street address in this state (RCW 23.95.410). No residency or authorized-to-transact-business restriction appears beyond the in-state street address.
"Noncommercial registered agent" means a person that is not a commercial registered agent and is: (a) An individual or domestic or foreign entity that serves in this state as the registered agent of an entity; (b) An individual who holds the office or other position in an entity which is designated as the registered agent pursuant to RCW 23.95.415(1)(b)(ii); or (c) A government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality ... that serves as the registered agent of an entity.
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: RCW 23.95.405; 23.95.105(22); 23.95.410; 23.95.415(1)
How we comply
We don't.
What Washington 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
A domestic entity (any type except a domestic LLP, RCW 23.95.600) that has no registered agent for 30 consecutive days is subject to administrative dissolution (60-day cure window after notice; a dissolved entity may only wind up).
The secretary of state may commence a proceeding under RCW 23.95.610 to dissolve a domestic entity administratively if: ... (3) The entity does not have a registered agent in this state for thirty consecutive days
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: RCW 23.95.605(3); procedure and effect at RCW 23.95.610
Revocation (foreign entities)
The secretary of state may terminate a registered foreign entity's registration if it does not have a registered agent as required, or fails to file a statement of change after the agent's name or address changes (60-day cure window after notice).
The secretary of state may terminate the registration of a registered foreign entity in the manner provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section if: ... (c) The entity does not have a registered agent as required by RCW 23.95.405; (d) The entity does not deliver to the secretary of state for filing a statement of change under RCW 23.95.430 if change occurs in the name or address of the entity's registered agent
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: RCW 23.95.550(1)(c)-(d)
No access to the courts
A foreign entity doing business in Washington may not maintain an action or proceeding unless it is registered and has paid all fees and penalties for the unregistered period.
A foreign entity doing business in this state may not maintain an action or proceeding in this state unless it is registered to do business in this state and has paid to this state all fees and penalties for the years, or parts thereof, during which it did business in this state without having registered.
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: RCW 23.95.505(2)
And also
A foreign entity transacting business without registration is liable to the state for all fees that would have been imposed had it registered and filed all reports, plus all penalties for failure to pay those fees.
A foreign entity that transacts business in this state without a certificate of registration is liable to this state, for the years or parts thereof during which it transacted business in this state without a certificate of registration, in an amount equal to all fees which would have been imposed by this chapter upon the entity had it applied for and received a certificate of registration ... plus all penalties imposed by this chapter for failure to pay such fees.
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: RCW 23.95.505(5)
The bill to come back
Reinstatement fee
Reinstatement (available up to five years after administrative dissolution) requires paying all annual license/renewal fees that would have been assessed during dissolution, plus a penalty fee set by secretary of state rule, plus the fee for the year of reinstatement - no dollar amount is stated in the statute.
To be reinstated, an entity must pay the full amount of all annual license or renewal fees which would have been assessed during the period of administrative dissolution had the entity been in active status, plus a penalty fee established by the secretary of state by rule, and the license or renewal fee for the year of reinstatement.
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: RCW 23.95.615(2)
What happens to the lawsuit you never saw
Substituted service
If an entity ceases to have a registered agent, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, service may be made by registered/certified mail (or commercial delivery) to the entity's principal office as shown in its most recent annual report; failing that, by handing a copy to the individual in charge of any regular place of business; and if all of those fail, the secretary of state is the entity's agent for service of process.
If a represented entity ceases to have a registered agent, or if its registered agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, the entity may be served by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, or by similar commercial delivery service, addressed to the entity at the entity's principal office. ... (4) The secretary of state shall be an agent of the entity for service of process if process, notice, or demand cannot be served on an entity pursuant to subsection (1), (2), or (3) of this section.
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: RCW 23.95.450(2)-(4)
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.