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Order $89 to $99 Minnesota registered agent service online for immediate access to our address and state forms. No additional charges.
Your business must appoint a Minnesota registered agent to receive documents in legal matters, including notice of lawsuit. Our reliable registered agent service fulfills this requirement. You get:
Designating a registered agent with the Minnesota secretary of state is an essential step toward ensuring your organization runs in accordance with the law. The agent accepts service of process and other official notices on your behalf, helping you meet your obligations and respond to legal challenges.
In this guide, you’ll learn who can serve as a registered agent in Minnesota, what their responsibilities are, and what the appointment process looks like. We’ll also show you how Harbor Compliance performs the duties of a registered agent to help your organization operate without any legal setbacks.
A Minnesota registered agent is your main point of contact with the secretary of state. They accept official documents such as lawsuit notices at the registered office—a designated physical location every Minnesota organization needs to have. Your agent then forwards the notice to you, ensuring you’re aware of any legal obligations or proceedings related to your organization.
Your agent must be available at the registered office during all regular business hours, or they run the risk of missing your notice. If this happens, you may be unaware that your organization is involved in litigation and might miss the court hearing. In such cases, courts typically issue a default judgment in the plaintiff’s favor, which can negatively affect your organization’s reputation and legal standing.
According to Section 5.36 of Minnesota Statutes, you are allowed to appoint the following as registered agents:
If you go with an individual agent, you can appoint an employee, family member, friend, or even yourself. Still, none of these options are particularly appealing, as they all come with specific disadvantages, as explained in the following table:
| Individual Agent | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| Employee | You might receive lawsuits and court summons in front of your team or clients. |
| Friend/family member | They might be absent due to personal obligations, travel, and various other reasons, which increases the chance of missed notices. |
| Yourself | You’d have to be at the registered office during business hours, which is limiting or even impossible if you run a multistate organization. If you list your home address as your registered office, you’ll be at risk of receiving service of process in front of your family and friends. |
With the above in mind, it’s no surprise that many organization leaders appoint specialized registered agent service providers, known as commercial registered agents. They offer the necessary availability, expertise, and systems to ensure your notices are received and forwarded timely.
The process of appointing a registered agent depends on whether you’re registering a new entity in Minnesota or expanding from another state:
If you want to change your existing agent, you must file the Notice of Change of Registered Office/Registered Agent form with the secretary of state. Note that if your current agent changes their address, it’s the agent’s responsibility to notify the secretary of state.
It’s crucial to keep your agent’s information accurate on official filings like annual reports. Failing to do so can lead to administrative dissolution—the process by which the state revokes your right to operate in Minnesota, effectively shutting down your organization. To avoid this, make sure the secretary of state is updated on any changes.
If you want to outsource the registered agent responsibility to a team of experts, consider Harbor Compliance. We offer a convenient Registered Agent Service that comes with numerous benefits, such as:
The Registered Agent Service is only a part of our extensive portfolio. We can help you meet all the legal obligations for operating in Minnesota through various services, most notably:
| Service Category | Services |
|---|---|
| Entity lifecycle management | |
| Tax registration and management | |
| Nonprofit formation | |
| Document filing and retrieval |
We’ve mentioned some of the biggest drawbacks of appointing an individual agent, from limited flexibility if you appointed yourself to the increased risk of missed notices if you named another individual. You don’t need to worry about any of this if you partner with Harbor Compliance.
Thanks to a combination of extensive experience, advanced infrastructure, and nationwide presence, we offer the following benefits unavailable with a typical individual agent:
The process of appointing us as your registered agent varies depending on three scenarios:
Whatever your circumstances, Harbor Compliance makes it easy to meet the registered agent requirement—check out the specific steps in the following breakdowns.
We offer both a fully managed and DIY approach to appointing Harbor Compliance while registering your entity so you can decide how involved you want to be in the process.
If you want us to handle the formation on your behalf, you can choose between three services based on your business structure:
When you sign up for your preferred service, we’ll complete the registration from start to finish and list Harbor Compliance as your registered agent.
If you prefer to form your entity independently, you can appoint us by following these steps:
You can’t expand to Minnesota before appointing a registered agent. Our Foreign Qualification Service package helps you meet this requirement alongside all others to help you qualify as quickly as possible.
Once you complete the simple wizard, we’ll gather and submit all the necessary documentation and obtain your Minnesota certificate of authority. Not only will we appoint Harbor Compliance on your behalf, but you’ll also get the Registered Agent Service at no extra cost for a year if you opt for the package.
If you want to change your agent without submitting any forms, sign up for our Registered Agent Service.
You’ll see the Change of Agent service option before checking out. Select it, and we’ll submit the relevant filings and appoint Harbor Compliance as your new agent.
Located in nearby Owatonna, MN!
Appoint us as your Minnesota registered agent when you incorporate your business or form your LLC. Sign up for registered agent service and file using the state forms and instructions in your Client Portal. The forms are pre-filled and signed as required by the state.
Appoint us as your agent when you apply for a certificate of authority to transact business in Minnesota. Sign up for Minnesota registered agent service and file using the forms and instructions in your Client Portal. The forms are pre-filled and signed as required by the state.
Changing your registered agent to us is easy. Sign up for Minnesota registered agent service and file using the forms and instructions in your Client Portal. The forms are pre-filled and signed as required by the state.
Harbor Compliance is a provider of nationwide registered agent service. We can help you consolidate your agent representation and achieve cost savings. Our specialists manage the process to change registered agents so that virtually no work is required on your part. We will complete the state filings to appoint us as your registered agent. Additionally, we can extend your subscription term so that you avoid double payment for any portion of your current contract. There’s no reason to wait. Simply contact us for consolidation and we’ll take care of the rest. If you have registered agent appointments spanning multiple states or entities, contact us today.
You’ll see some of the most commonly asked questions about Minnesota registered agents below. If you need additional information, visit the Harbor Compliance Information Center.
Regardless of whether your organization is a nonprofit or an LLC, a registered agent is a person or legal entity that accepts service of process and other official correspondence and forwards it to you.
A registered agent can be a Minnesota resident, domestic organization, or foreign organization authorized to do business in the state.
You can be your own registered agent, but your personal details would enter the public record, and you’d have to be available at the registered office five days a week during business hours.
You can look up an organization’s information online through the secretary of state’s portal, and the results will include its registered agent details.
Harbor Compliance is a convenient, reliable solution for your registered agent needs. Sign up for our Registered Agent Service today, and let us help you meet Minnesota’s regulatory requirements with ease.
We’re here to support your organization’s overall regulatory standing—find out how by doing the following:
To learn more about registered agent service in other U.S. states and territories Harbor Compliance operates in, refer to the following table:
