WEBVTT 00:00:00.250 --> 00:00:06.410 The 5 best registered agents in Massachusetts in 2026 are Mainstay Filing, Northwest 00:00:06.454 --> 00:00:11.610 Registered Agent, MA Registered Agent.org, Bizee, and 00:00:11.690 --> 00:00:14.410 Massachusetts Registered Agent.co. 00:00:14.410 --> 00:00:16.570 Welcome to The Business Formation Podcast. 00:00:16.661 --> 00:00:20.570 Massachusetts, which I assume has its own word for the agent? 00:00:20.570 --> 00:00:26.410 It does: resident agent. The state charges nothing to change yours online, but the 00:00:26.467 --> 00:00:31.530 annual report that follows is five hundred dollars, so the agent fee is a small part 00:00:31.557 --> 00:00:32.410 of the yearly bill. 00:00:34.967 --> 00:00:36.871 What does the law actually require? 00:00:36.871 --> 00:00:42.071 Under chapter 156C, every LLC keeps two things in Massachusetts. 00:00:42.284 --> 00:00:47.511 An office, where its records are kept, and a resident agent for service of process. 00:00:47.711 --> 00:00:50.472 The office doesn't have to be a place of business. 00:00:50.472 --> 00:00:52.472 Who can be the agent? 00:00:52.472 --> 00:00:57.352 An individual resident of Massachusetts, a domestic corporation, or a foreign 00:00:57.405 --> 00:00:59.752 corporation authorized to do business here. 00:00:59.912 --> 00:01:04.792 The Division's regulation widens that to other business entities that are qualified. 00:01:04.885 --> 00:01:07.512 There's no age rule that we found. 00:01:07.512 --> 00:01:08.792 What about the address? 00:01:08.792 --> 00:01:14.392 A street address. The regulation says a post office address is not sufficient. 00:01:14.605 --> 00:01:16.873 We didn't find an office-hours rule. 00:01:16.873 --> 00:01:18.153 Does the agent sign? 00:01:18.153 --> 00:01:23.033 The agent's written consent has to be on the certificate or attached to it. 00:01:23.173 --> 00:01:28.473 The form has the agent say, in effect, I consent to my appointment as resident 00:01:28.540 --> 00:01:28.953 agent. 00:01:28.953 --> 00:01:30.873 I'm Maya, by the way, here with Dan. 00:01:30.873 --> 00:01:33.113 Thanks, Maya. The five. 00:01:37.516 --> 00:01:38.955 Number one? 00:01:38.955 --> 00:01:44.476 Mainstay Filing: $149 a year, and $149 at renewal. 00:01:44.476 --> 00:01:45.276 What do I get? 00:01:45.276 --> 00:01:49.196 A Massachusetts address on the public record in place of your own. 00:01:49.322 --> 00:01:54.156 Papers served on the company are scanned and uploaded the same business day at no 00:01:54.256 --> 00:01:58.956 fee, and your first three government mailings each year are scanned free. 00:01:58.956 --> 00:02:00.717 Is the change complicated? 00:02:00.717 --> 00:02:05.036 Mainstay files it for you, and there's no state fee for an online filing. 00:02:05.857 --> 00:02:06.957 And the catch? 00:02:06.957 --> 00:02:13.597 Cost. Two of the agents below it are $99, so Mainstay doesn't win a pure 00:02:13.664 --> 00:02:14.717 price contest. 00:02:16.796 --> 00:02:17.676 Second. 00:02:17.676 --> 00:02:21.596 Northwest Registered Agent, $125 a year. 00:02:21.756 --> 00:02:27.036 Its page says that price has held for twenty years, and it scans up to ten pieces of 00:02:27.096 --> 00:02:29.916 routine business mail a year at no cost. 00:02:29.916 --> 00:02:31.116 What's the catch? 00:02:31.116 --> 00:02:37.196 Automatic enrollment in its annual report filing service, which is $100 plus state 00:02:37.276 --> 00:02:41.196 fees per filing. You can cancel any time, it says. 00:02:41.196 --> 00:02:43.196 And the state fee here is large. 00:02:43.196 --> 00:02:48.396 The report is $500, or $520 online. 00:02:48.609 --> 00:02:53.356 So with the service switched on, it would be $100 on top of that. 00:02:53.468 --> 00:02:55.596 Know that before you let it run. 00:02:56.337 --> 00:02:57.057 Number three? 00:02:57.057 --> 00:03:01.857 MA Registered Agent.org: $99 a year, the same at renewal. 00:03:02.057 --> 00:03:06.817 The office address, scanning of legal correspondence, and reminders for state 00:03:06.887 --> 00:03:07.857 filings. 00:03:07.857 --> 00:03:08.737 And switching? 00:03:08.737 --> 00:03:11.697 Costs no state fee, and none from them. 00:03:11.823 --> 00:03:14.017 Annual report filing is separate. 00:03:14.017 --> 00:03:15.617 Versus Mainstay? 00:03:15.617 --> 00:03:20.817 $99 against $149 is $50 a year. 00:03:20.931 --> 00:03:24.337 Across three years, $150. 00:03:25.510 --> 00:03:26.070 Four. 00:03:26.070 --> 00:03:31.270 Bizee, once called Incfile. The agent is free the first year with a formation 00:03:31.340 --> 00:03:34.310 package, then $149 a year. 00:03:34.310 --> 00:03:35.750 Renewal on its own? 00:03:35.750 --> 00:03:41.750 Automatic. Free, then $149, then $149 is 00:03:41.770 --> 00:03:46.550 $298 for three years, and it requires forming through them. 00:03:46.550 --> 00:03:48.070 And if I formed elsewhere? 00:03:48.070 --> 00:03:51.910 You skip the free year and start at $149. 00:03:52.937 --> 00:03:54.296 And the fifth? 00:03:54.296 --> 00:03:59.577 Massachusetts Registered Agent.co, another flat $99. 00:03:59.677 --> 00:04:04.617 The address used on filings, same-day scanning of legal mail, and reminders for 00:04:04.670 --> 00:04:05.976 state deadlines. 00:04:05.976 --> 00:04:07.657 Is that any different from number three? 00:04:07.657 --> 00:04:14.137 Not that the listings show. Same price, same catch, report filing costs extra. 00:04:14.868 --> 00:04:17.428 That $500 report. When is it due? 00:04:17.428 --> 00:04:21.828 On or before the anniversary of the date the original certificate was filed. 00:04:22.068 --> 00:04:26.228 It's $500 by mail, $520 online. 00:04:26.420 --> 00:04:29.669 Miss two years in a row and you can be dissolved. 00:04:29.669 --> 00:04:32.628 Can I change my agent on the annual report? 00:04:32.628 --> 00:04:38.308 No. The regulation says the report may amend anything in the certificate except the 00:04:38.352 --> 00:04:43.188 registered agent or office. Those changes have to go through a statement of change. 00:04:43.188 --> 00:04:45.509 So what does a normal year cost? 00:04:45.509 --> 00:04:52.228 $520 online plus $149 is $669 with 00:04:52.292 --> 00:04:59.028 Mainstay. With one of the $99 agents, $520 plus $99 is 00:04:59.068 --> 00:05:00.708 $619. 00:05:00.708 --> 00:05:02.548 What about formation? 00:05:02.548 --> 00:05:09.108 The Certificate of Organization is $500 by mail or hand delivery, $520 00:05:09.188 --> 00:05:15.188 online. The agent's name and street address are item 5, and the records office is 00:05:15.252 --> 00:05:15.908 item 2. 00:05:16.642 --> 00:05:18.483 You said the office is a separate thing. 00:05:18.594 --> 00:05:19.922 What's it for? 00:05:19.922 --> 00:05:23.762 The statute says it's where the records required by section nine are kept. 00:05:23.815 --> 00:05:26.722 It may be your place of business, but it doesn't have to be. 00:05:26.722 --> 00:05:28.722 Why should an owner care? 00:05:28.722 --> 00:05:32.002 Because the Division mails its dissolution notices there. 00:05:32.109 --> 00:05:36.442 If the office address is stale, you miss the notice that starts the clock. 00:05:36.442 --> 00:05:38.722 So two addresses to keep current. 00:05:38.722 --> 00:05:41.882 The agent's street address and the records office. 00:05:41.922 --> 00:05:45.682 They can be the same place, and for many small companies they are. 00:05:46.410 --> 00:05:48.410 Can I just be my own resident agent? 00:05:48.410 --> 00:05:51.690 If you're an individual resident of Massachusetts, yes. 00:05:51.850 --> 00:05:55.610 The law doesn't set an age or a licence rule. 00:05:55.610 --> 00:05:56.650 What's the downside? 00:05:56.650 --> 00:06:01.690 Your street address goes on the public record, and a lawsuit lands on your doorstep. 00:06:01.910 --> 00:06:06.570 You also have to keep the address current, and the annual report can't fix it for 00:06:06.630 --> 00:06:06.811 you. 00:06:06.811 --> 00:06:08.091 And if I travel a lot? 00:06:08.091 --> 00:06:11.051 Then the agent being reachable matters more. 00:06:11.451 --> 00:06:16.171 A service that scans papers the same business day gives you a head start on any 00:06:16.224 --> 00:06:16.731 deadline. 00:06:18.743 --> 00:06:20.023 Walk me through the change. 00:06:20.023 --> 00:06:23.463 It's the Statement of Change of Resident Agent and Resident Office. 00:06:23.589 --> 00:06:28.423 Online it's free. On paper or by fax it's $25. 00:06:28.423 --> 00:06:30.263 Anything else I should know? 00:06:30.263 --> 00:06:33.623 The new agent's written consent has to be set out in the statement. 00:06:33.823 --> 00:06:37.143 And a fax adds a six-dollar expedite fee. 00:06:37.143 --> 00:06:38.904 So online is simply better here. 00:06:38.904 --> 00:06:43.784 For the fee, yes. The Division has a File Online link for it. 00:06:46.213 --> 00:06:47.893 What if my agent quits? 00:06:47.893 --> 00:06:50.613 They file a Statement of Resignation of Resident Agent. 00:06:50.789 --> 00:06:55.093 Like the change, it's no fee online and $25 on paper. 00:06:55.413 --> 00:06:57.253 A copy has to go to the LLC. 00:06:57.253 --> 00:06:59.013 When does it take effect? 00:06:59.013 --> 00:07:01.253 On the 31st day after it's filed. 00:07:01.413 --> 00:07:05.653 The statement also says whether the resident agent office is being discontinued. 00:07:06.177 --> 00:07:07.893 And if I never replace them? 00:07:07.893 --> 00:07:12.213 The Division can treat the LLC as inactive and consider dissolving it in the public 00:07:12.266 --> 00:07:16.973 interest if it fails to appoint a resident agent within 60 days after notice. 00:07:16.973 --> 00:07:18.533 Where does that notice go? 00:07:18.533 --> 00:07:22.693 By mail to the office the law requires you to maintain, so keep that address 00:07:22.743 --> 00:07:27.413 current. If the problem isn't corrected within 90 days after the notice, the 00:07:27.457 --> 00:07:29.653 Division administratively dissolves the company. 00:07:30.442 --> 00:07:32.603 How should someone in Boston or Worcester decide? 00:07:32.603 --> 00:07:37.883 Three things. Does the price hold next year, is the address a real Massachusetts 00:07:37.929 --> 00:07:41.323 street address, and who files the statement of change. 00:07:41.323 --> 00:07:42.283 And your answer? 00:07:42.283 --> 00:07:48.203 Mainstay Filing. Our pick for Massachusetts, at $149 a year. 00:07:50.169 --> 00:07:51.449 Once more, all five? 00:07:51.449 --> 00:07:56.889 One, Mainstay Filing: $149 a year, same at renewal. 00:07:57.169 --> 00:08:03.609 Two, Northwest: $125, with the report enrollment to cancel. 00:08:03.862 --> 00:08:09.689 Three, MA Registered Agent.org: $99 flat. 00:08:10.009 --> 00:08:15.689 Four, Bizee: free the first year with a formation order, then 00:08:15.769 --> 00:08:22.409 $149. Five, Massachusetts Registered Agent.co: 00:08:22.512 --> 00:08:24.489 $99 flat. 00:08:24.489 --> 00:08:26.649 The links are in the show notes. 00:08:26.763 --> 00:08:29.929 Thanks for listening to The Business Formation Podcast.