Ohio Registered Agent
When You Want More
An Ohio registered agent (also known as a statutory agent) is an individual resident or company that accepts service of process and other legal notifications on behalf of a Ohio business. When you hire Northwest as your Ohio registered agent, we accept legal documents or official business mail on your behalf, contact you immediately and upload these documents to your secure online account for you to view.
With our registered agent service, get Privacy by Default®, business address, free mail forwarding, free Phone Service for 60 days, and local Corporate Guides®—only at Northwest.
Everything You Need To Know About Ohio Registered Agents:
Get Ohio Registered Agent Service
Instant Online
Service
Sign up & immediately get a secure account where you’ll find:
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Ohio business forms
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Biennial report reminders
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All your scanned & stored documents
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Easy access to all our business services
Do Business
the Right Way
See why the pros choose Northwest:
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Same price every year
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Free limited mail forwarding
- Free 60-day trial of Phone Service
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Privacy by Default®
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Lifetime support from our Corporate Guides®
Ohio Registered Agent Service
$ 125 Per Year
Hire Us What Do Ohio Registered Agents Do?
An Ohio registered agent is a resident or company that maintains a physical address in the state of Ohio and is willing to accept legal documents on behalf of a business. (Note that in all Ohio forms and legislation, the state uses the term “statutory agent.” The only difference between Ohio statutory agents and Ohio registered agents is the name. The words are interchangeable and the responsibilities of each are the same.)
Essentially, your registered agent’s address acts as the official place where any service of process and official mail for your Ohio LLC, Ohio corporation or Ohio nonprofit will be sent.
However, the right registered agent service can do much more. At Northwest, we go above and beyond the minimum to ensure top speed, security, privacy and support.
What Are the Legal Requirements for Ohio Registered Agents?
According to Ohio State Law (Title 17, Section 1701.07, a statutory agent (registered agent) must:
- Be able to accept legal documents.
- Have a physical, registered office address located within the state of Ohio. No P.O. Boxes.
- Be a resident or a company that provides registered agent services.
How Do I Change My Ohio Registered Agent?
There are two ways to change your registered agent in Ohio.
- Hire us and we’ll complete the change of agent form for you for free.
- Do it yourself and file a Statutory Agent Update form with the Ohio Secretary of State. There is a $25 fee to file this form.
What Makes Northwest Different From Other Services?
At Northwest, we do business the right way. We’re dedicated to getting you your docs fast, protecting your privacy and offering you support. Here’s how:
- Same-Day Scans, Instant Notifications: We accept and scan your docs at our local office the same day. We notify you instantly and reach out to you if your essential mail goes unread.
- Privacy by Default®: We automatically minimize the exposure of and access to your personal data. If we can put our address on a public doc instead of yours, we do. If we don’t have to list your personal info, we don’t. We have tough privacy policies to keep your data safe and private. And we never sell your data.
- Free Limited Mail Forwarding: Of course we’ll get you your state and legal mail. That’s our job. But what if we get some of your regular business mail? It happens a lot—clients and businesses trying to connect with you via your registered agent. We scan 5 documents per year for FREE. We can also scan additional mail at a per document rate of $15.
- Corporate Guides®: Have questions? We have answers. Our guides are business experts whose sole job is to provide phone and email support for all your toughest business questions.
Ohio Registered Agent FAQs
Why Do I Need An Ohio Registered Agent?
- State law requires all legitimate, registered businesses to appoint one.
- The secretary of state will reject your business filing if you don’t appoint a registered agent.
- A registered agent requirement gives the public and the state a reliable way to contact your business.
Can I Be My Own Registered Agent In Ohio?
Yes, you can be your own registered agent in Ohio. However, after considering the registered agent requirements most business owners elect to hire a registered agent service instead. Why? Well although being your own registered agent will cost you $0, an Ohio registered agent’s name and address becomes part of the public record. Additionally, the registered agent is required to be available to accept service of process during normal business hours 5 days a week.
Where Is Northwest’s Registered Office In Ohio?
We accept and scan all of our Ohio clients’ documents on-site at our registered office in North Canton, OH.
Can I Use Your Ohio Registered Office Address For Everything On My Business Filing?
Definitely! We’re the only national registered agent service that allows our clients to list our address for everything when you’re doing a filing to keep your private address off public records.
Can I Have My Business’s Mail Delivered To Your Ohio Office?
We don’t want ALL of your business mail. It’s not what we do. And it wouldn’t serve you well. You wouldn’t have unique address or suite number. Any mail we receive on your behalf would come to to Northwest Registered Agent, care of you.
But we understand that businesses and clients sometimes reach out to you through your registered agent. Through us. That’s why we give you 5 FREE scans of regular business mail a year. You can request any additional documents to be forwarded at a per document rate of $15.
Should I Hire A Registered Agent Before Or After I Start My Business In Ohio?
You should hire us first and then form your Ohio LLC or corporation because the Ohio Secretary of State will reject your business registration filing if you don’t list your OH registered agent. You’ll find all the forms and instructions you need to complete your filing instantly after you place an order.
How Do Ohio Registered Agents Get Served?
Service on your registered agent is legal proof that you were notified. Regardless of whether you actually receive the documents your Ohio registered agent signs for, once they accept the documents, you’ve been notified. This is a serious responsibility that we do not take lightly. This is how it works:
- A process server, the county sheriff, or any third party will walk into our office and hand us the documents (service of process), which we sign for.
- The process server then gives an affidavit (a receipt of service) to the court as confirmation that they “served” us.
Note: If you’ve hired Northwest, you’ve received your documents long before the process server hands in their affidavit to the court—because we scanned them to your online account within minutes of having been served.
How Do I Search For An Ohio Registered Agent?
- You can do an Ohio business name search on the state’s website
- Type in the company name you are trying to look up.
- Look at the OH registered agent name and registered office street address.
NOTE: If you want to legally notify someone through their Ohio registered agent service, just send a certified letter directly to the registered agent name and registered office address.
How Do I Resign From Being A Registered Agent In Ohio?
In Ohio, to resign as a registered agent, you need to submit a Statutory Agent Update Form to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Business Services Division. For a more detailed walkthrough, you can refer to our guide on how to resign as a registered agent in Ohio.
How To Order Ohio Registered Agent Service:
You sign up online, clicking on one of the buttons or links that says “HIRE US.”
We collect the first year of the registered agent service fee up front.
For new businesses, we’ll become your Ohio registered agent service once your business registration filing with the Ohio Secretary of State is complete.
About a year later, we’ll send you an invoice for another year of Ohio registered agent service. If you want to keep using us, great; if you don’t, you can easily cancel.
With offices in every state, we make it easy to add registered agent services anywhere in the country. We don’t farm out work (or your info) to other companies—wherever you are, WE are your registered agent.
We make your account a real go-to resource for you, not just for Ohio registered agent service or paying a bill but for keeping up with state corporate compliance.
Information Your Ohio Registered Agent Should Help You Understand:
Your Ohio statutory agent needs to sign your filing if you’re making a domestic Ohio corporation or LLC. The necessary forms are pre-signed in your online account. There are no annual reports in Ohio, unless you have a professional corporation. A foreign corporation needs the officers’ signatures notarized. LLCs do not. Your Ohio statutory agent does not need to sign the form if it’s a foreign LLC or corporation. Northwest provides Ohio registered agent service for $125 a year.
If you are going to start an Ohio LLC, corporation, or register your foreign out of state entity there are a couple things you should know: All filings do not need to be original inked signatures. Filings will take about 1 week to get processed. If you are qualifying an out of state corporation, you will need a certificate of good standing that’s less than 90 days old.
At Northwest, we can also form your LLC or form your corporation in Ohio for $100 plus state fees. As part of our commitment to Privacy by Default®, we put our business address on your filings to better protect your privacy. And you always have the support of our Corporate Guides®.