Oregon Registered Agent

At minimum, your Oregon registered agent should do the following:

• Accept legal documents and official mail on behalf of your business in Oregon and get them to you fast.
• Have a physical address (no P.O. boxes) in the state of Oregon where they can accept legal documents (service of process) and official mail like tax notices. This location if called a registered office.
• Keep regular business hours.

In other words, your registered agent’s address acts as the official place where any service of process and official mail for your Oregon LLC, Oregon corporation or Oregon 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.

According to Oregon law (ORS 60.111) the state of Oregon requires the following of a registered agent:

• A registered agent must be a state resident or a company that provides registered agent services.
• Registered agents must maintain a registered office (a physical address in Oregon).
• Registered agents must accept legal documents (service of process) during normal business hours.

Note: In Oregon, if your registered agent is unable to be reached or served, the Secretary of State will be served on behalf of your business. This may seem like a good thing, but if your registered agent in Oregon can’t be reached by a process server and the Secretary of State receives your business’ service of process, it’s possible that you’ll never know your business was served. This could result in a judgment against your business without you ever knowing. In short, it’s important to hire a registered agent that you know can always be reached.

If you do not mind your name and address on public record, you may act as your own registered agent in Oregon. Keep in mind that you must keep regular business hours at this address, as to be available to accept certain documents in person.

To act as your own registered agent, simply fill out your name and address on the formation documents in the spaces where it asks for registered agent information when forming your business.

How to change your registered agent to yourself

If you have already formed your company, you can change your Oregon registered agent by filing a Change of Registered Agent/Address Form with the Oregon secretary of state. If you mail in the form it will take roughly one week to process, and same goes for a faxed-in filing. If you deliver it in person or mail your form via FedEx, processing will only take a day. Here are some pointers for filing the form:

• You will need your registry number – if you do a name search on the Oregon secretary of state website, you will be able to find the number for your Oregon LLC or Oregon corporation. This is an identification number for your business, given to it by the state when you form your business.
• Put your name and address in the spaces where it asks for new registered agent information.
• If you do not want to mail it, you may fax file. Fax file the credit card cover sheet and Change of Registered Agent form. There is no fee unless you request a confirmation copy, which is $5.
• You are now your own registered agent!

Being your own registered agent in Oregon is pretty simple. The only concern, however, is whether you want your name and address to become public information—this makes it accessible to anyone. Also, if your address is liable to change frequently or you are unable to maintain the required business hours, it could be a hassle to serve as your own registered agent.

There are two ways to change your registered agent in Oregon.

1. Hire us and we’ll complete the change of agent form for you for free.
2. Do it yourself and file a Change of Registered Agent/Address Form with the Oregon secretary of state. There is no fee to file this form.

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.