Tennessee Registered Agent
Do Business the Right Way
A Tennessee registered agent is a person or company responsible for accepting service of process and official documents on behalf of a business. All business entities in the state of Tennessee are legally required to have a registered agent. When you sign up for our registered agent service, we scan your documents to you in real time!
With our Tennessee 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 Tennessee Registered Agents:
Get Tennessee Registered Agent Service
Instant Online
Service
Sign up & immediately get a secure account where you’ll find:
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Tennessee business forms
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Annual 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®
Tennessee Registered Agent Service
$ 125 Per Year
Hire Us What Do Tennessee Registered Agents Do?
According to Tennessee law (§ 48-15-101 & § 48-208-101), at minimum, your Tennessee registered agent accepts legal documents (service or process) and official mail at a physical location in the state, which is called a registered office.
In other words, your registered agent’s address acts as the official place where any service of process and official mail for your Tennessee LLC, Tennessee corporation or Tennessee 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.
How Do I Change My Tennessee Registered Agent?
There are two ways to change your registered agent in Tennessee.
- Hire us and we’ll complete the change of agent form for you for free.
- Do it yourself and file a Change of Registered Agent form with the Tennessee Department of State, Division of Business Services.
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.
Tennessee Registered Agent FAQs
Why Do I Need A Tennessee 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 Tennessee?
Yes, you can be your own registered agent in Tennessee. 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, a Tennessee 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 Tennessee?
We accept and scan all of our Tennessee clients’ documents on-site at our registered office in Memphis, TN.
Will You Let Me Know When My Tennessee Annual Report Is Due?
Absolutely! As part of our registered agent service, we’ll not only send you a reminder, but we’ll make sure you have access to all the forms and instructions you need to stay compliant.
In Tennessee, the Secretary of State sends annual reports to the mailing address you specify. Domestic Tennessee corporations cost $20 if there are no changes and $40 if there are. All other entities cost $300 if there are no changes and $320 if there are. Reports are due April 1st, or the first day of the 4th month after your fiscal year ends. Annual reports for Tennessee LLCs get mailed out at the end of December or beginning of January.
Can I Use Your Tennessee Registered Office Address For Everything On My Business Filing?
Yes! We don’t mind if you put our address on your filing with the Secretary of State. We’re the only national registered agent service that allows clients to use the registered office address and keep your own address of the public record.
Can I Have My Business’s Mail Delivered To Your Tennessee 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.
Do I Hire A Registered Agent Before Or After I Start My Business In Tennessee?
You should hire us first and then form your Tennessee LLC or corporation because the Secretary of State will reject your business registration filing if you don’t list your registered agent. You’ll find all the forms and instructions you need to complete your filing instantly after you place an order.
How Do Tennessee Registered Agents Get Served?
Serving a registered agent is legal proof of notification. Whether you receive the documents your Tennessee registered agent signs for or not, once they accept the documents, you’ve legally been notified. This is a serious responsibility and we don’t take it lightly. Here’s how it works:
- A process server, the county sheriff, or any third party will walk into our Tennessee office and hands us the documents (service of process), then we sign for them.
- The process server then gives an affidavit (a receipt of service) to the court which states that they “served” us.
- If you’ve hired us, long before the server hands in their affidavit to the court, you’ve received your documents because we scanned them to your online account within minute of having been served.
How Do I Search For A Tennessee Registered Agent?
If you want to legally notify someone through their registered agent, just send a certified letter directly to the registered agent name and registered office address.
- You can do a Tennessee business name search on the state’s website
- Type in the company name you are trying to look up.
- Look at the TN registered agent name and registered office street address.
How Do I Resign From Being A Registered Agent In Tennessee?
In Tennessee, to resign as a registered agent, you need to submit a Statement of Resignation of Registered Agent (and the $20 fee for processing) to the Tennessee Secretary of State. For a more detailed walkthrough, you can refer to our guide on how to resign as a registered agent in Tennessee.
How To Order Tennessee 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 Tennessee registered agent service once your business registration filing with the Tennessee Secretary of State is complete.
About a year later, we’ll send you an invoice for another year of Tennessee 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 Tennessee registered agent service or paying a bill but for keeping up with Tennessee corporate compliance.
Information Your Tennessee Registered Agent Should Help You Understand:
- Domestic Tennessee corporations cost $100 and you must appoint a TN registered agent.
- Domestic LLCs cost $300 or $50 per member whichever is more, to organize.
- Foreign corporations have a HUGE filing fee of $600. Sometimes we have helped people create a new domestic
- Tennessee entity to avoid this monster fee. Foreign corporations need to keep a Tennessee registered agent at all times.
- Foreign LLCs have the same filing fees as domestics, and all LLCs must keep an active Tennessee registered agent.
- Filings in Tennessee need to have original inked signatures. You cannot fax the filing in. You can file domestic entities online, but foreign business registrations need to be mailed in. Filings take about 4 days if mailed, and 2 if done online. Your TN registered agent does not need to sign your filing. Completed filings will get mailed back to the address on the envelope you mail with.
At Northwest, we can also form your LLC or form your corporation in Tennessee 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®.