Texas Registered Agent
When you choose Northwest as your Texas Registered Agent, you get instant service, Privacy by Default®, a business address, and free mail forwarding. And if you want more, you can get a domain name, website, email, and phone number for free.
Want to learn more about what a registered agent does in Texas? We'll explain the Texas Secretary of State's requirements, what your registered agent should do for you, and how to change your registered agent in Texas.
When You Want More
$125 a Year Every Year
Northwest is the choice of professionals for registered agent service.
- Same-Day Scans, Instant Notifications
- Privacy by Default®
- Business Address & Free Mail Forwarding
- Free Domain, Website, Email & Business Phone
What Is a Texas Registered Agent?
A Texas registered agent is a person or company that you designate to receive legal mail (like service of process) on behalf of your business. Registered agents exist to provide an official and reliable way to contact your business.
If your business is ever served with a lawsuit, the process server will deliver the paperwork directly to your registered agent. At that point, your business is legally considered “served.” The registered agent should then forward you your mail, quickly and securely.
Per Texas state statutes (Title 1 Sec. 5.201), registered agents are legally required in Texas. At a minimum, your registered agent must list a physical address on the public record and be present at that address during business hours. But ideally, your registered agent should do more.
How Do I Change My Texas Registered Agent?
There are two ways to change your registered agent in Texas.
- 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 Texas Secretary of State. There is a $15 fee to file this form.
Why Northwest Is the Best Registered Agent in Texas
Our Texas Registered Agent Service includes the tools you need to keep your business running without a hitch. When you hire Northwest as your registered agent, you get:
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- Same-Day Scans: We scan your legal docs the same day we receive them and reach out if your essential mail goes unread.
- Mail Forwarding: We accept and scan all your state and legal mail, and will scan up to 5 personal documents for free. For $20 a month, we offer unlimited Texas mail forwarding.
- Privacy by Default®: We list our business address on public docs to keep your personal info safe. And unlike those other guys, we never sell your data.
- Corporate Guides®: Have questions? We have answers. Our guides are business experts whose sole job is to provide support for all your business questions.
And if you want more? Add free trials of any of these options at checkout:
- Domain Name: Choose a domain name from a list of popular extensions (like .com and .net).
- Website: We provide a pre-built business website, customizable using an open source platform.
- Business Email Address: Create up to 10 business email addresses of your choosing. They’ll end in your domain name for branding ease.
- Phone Number: Keep your personal line private by using a business phone number for client communications.
How to Order Texas Registered Agent Service
You sign up online, clicking on one of the buttons or links that says “HIRE US.”
We collect the first year’s fee for registered agent service up front.
For new businesses, once your business registration filing with the Texas Secretary of State is complete, we’ll become your Texas registered agent.
About a year later, we’ll send an invoice for another year of Texas registered agent service. If you want to keep using us, great; if you don’t, you can easily cancel.
It’s easy to add registered agent services in other states if your business expands. We have offices in every state. 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 Texas registered agent service or paying a bill but for keeping up with Texas corporate paperwork formalities.
Get a Registered Agent Today!
Get StartedTexas Registered Agent FAQs
- 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.
Yes, you can be your own registered agent in Texas. 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 Texas 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.
We accept and scan all of our Texas clients’ documents on-site at our registered office in Austin, TX.
Yes! Each year, you have to file the Texas Franchise Tax with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. There are lots of penalties and fees if your Franchise Tax is past due, so you don’t want to forget to file! We always send reminders based on the May 15 Texas Franchise Tax due date. Our sophisticated business compliance reminder system does the work for you programmatically on the backend and provide you not only with a reminder, but the forms to file populated with your info on them. This is all included with our Texas registered agent service!
Definitely! We’re the only national registered agent service that allows our clients to list our address for everything on a filing to help keep your address private.
Yes! Just sign up for our unlimited Texas Mail Forwarding option ($20/month). You’ll get a unique suite number and a Texas business address you can use for mail, advertising and more. While you can use our address, we are not a return depot for online or Amazon sellers, though we’d love to accept your foosball tables.
Don’t need a unique suite number? Our Texas registered agent service comes with free limited mail forwarding. We’ll list our business address (no unique suite number) on your public docs to better protect your privacy. And, we’ll scan the occasional business mail we receive—up to 5 documents a year, for FREE. You can request any additional documents to be forwarded at a per document rate of $15.
You should hire us first and then form your LLC or corporation. The Texas Secretary of State will reject your business registration filing if you don’t already have a registered agent. You’ll instantly find all the forms and instructions you need to complete your filing after you place an order.
How Do Texas Registered Agents Receive Service Of Process?
Serving a registered agent is legal proof of notification. Whether you receive the documents your Texas 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 office and hand us the documents (service of process), and 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.
You can do a Texas business name search on the state’s website.
- Type in the company name you are trying to look up.
- Look at the TX registered agent name and registered office street address.
If you want to legally notify someone through their Texas registered agent service, just send a certified letter directly to the registered agent name and registered office address.
In Texas, to resign as a registered agent, you need to submit two copies of the Resignation of Registered Agent to the Texas Secretary of State, Corporations Division. For a more detailed walkthrough, you can refer to our guide on how to resign as a registered agent in Texas.