Tennessee Registered Agent Requirements

Every Tennessee LLC must maintain a registered agent and a registered office under Tenn. Code Ann. § 48-249-109. The agent is the state's designated contact point for your LLC: lawsuits, official notices, and Secretary of State correspondence all route through that address. You name the agent on your Articles of Organization during the formation process, and the designation stays live for as long as the LLC exists.

Who Can Serve as a Tennessee Registered Agent

Under § 48-249-109, the registered agent may be:

• An individual who resides in Tennessee, or
• A corporation, nonprofit corporation, LLC, or partnership entity, either domestic or foreign and authorized to transact business in Tennessee

In either case, the agent must maintain an office at the same street address as the LLC's registered office. The agent's business office and the registered office are the same place by definition, not two addresses that happen to be related.

The Registered Office Address Rule

The registered office must be a Tennessee street address, listed with city, state, ZIP, and county. A post office box is not acceptable as the registered agent or registered office address. The point of the rule is physical availability: the address has to be somewhere documents can actually be handed to the agent during normal business hours, Monday through Friday.

Whatever address you list becomes part of the public record, which is worth thinking about before putting a home address on file.

Changing Your Tennessee Registered Agent

Changes are filed under Tenn. Code Ann. § 48-249-110. You have two routes:

1. File the Statement of Change of Registered Agent by Entity, Form SS-4534, with the Secretary of State's Division of Business and Charitable Organizations. The fee is $20.
2. Update the agent or registered office on your annual report, which adds $20 to that report's membership-based fee.

Either way, the new agent takes effect once the state records the filing.

Our Tennessee Registered Agent Service

We provide a Tennessee street address that satisfies § 48-249-109, accept service of process during business hours, forward documents to you the day they arrive, and send reminders ahead of the annual report window. The service is $99 per year. If we form your LLC ($199 plus the state fee), the first year of registered agent service is included, and it renews at $99 per year after that.

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FAQ

Can the registered office be a PO box or mailbox store?

No. The statute requires a street address, county included, where the agent can be reached in person during business hours. A PO box fails that test.

Does the agent have to be in the office all day?

The agent needs to be available at the registered office during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, since service of process is delivered in person. That availability requirement is the practical reason many LLCs hire a commercial agent instead of using an owner's address.

What is the fee to switch agents later?

$20 with Form SS-4534, or $20 added to your annual report if you make the change there. Switching to our service is $99 per year with no charge from us for handling the paperwork.