WEBVTT 00:00:00.153 --> 00:00:05.753 The 5 best registered agents in Virginia in 2026 are Mainstay Filing, Northwest 00:00:05.797 --> 00:00:11.193 Registered Agent, VA Registered Agent.org, Bizee, and InCorp. 00:00:11.193 --> 00:00:13.433 This is The Business Formation Podcast. 00:00:13.522 --> 00:00:15.993 Virginia has a couple of surprises, I've heard. 00:00:16.057 --> 00:00:17.753 What are they? 00:00:17.753 --> 00:00:20.393 Changing your agent costs nothing at the state level. 00:00:20.433 --> 00:00:25.353 And Virginia has no annual report, but it does charge a $50 annual registration fee 00:00:25.413 --> 00:00:25.913 instead. 00:00:28.271 --> 00:00:29.806 Can I be my own agent there? 00:00:29.806 --> 00:00:35.326 You can, if you qualify, and the list is longer than in most states. 00:00:35.486 --> 00:00:40.926 An individual Virginia resident counts if they're a member or manager of your LLC, 00:00:41.033 --> 00:00:47.326 or an officer, director, partner or trustee connected to a member or manager, or a 00:00:47.383 --> 00:00:49.326 member of the Virginia State Bar. 00:00:49.406 --> 00:00:53.166 Their business office has to be the same as the registered office. 00:00:53.166 --> 00:00:54.846 What about a company? 00:00:54.846 --> 00:01:00.846 A domestic or foreign corporation, LLC or registered LLP authorized to do business 00:01:00.873 --> 00:01:04.606 in Virginia, with its business office at the registered office. 00:01:04.739 --> 00:01:09.646 It can't be its own agent, and it has to name natural persons at that office who can 00:01:09.692 --> 00:01:10.846 accept papers. 00:01:10.846 --> 00:01:12.606 And the address rules? 00:01:12.606 --> 00:01:17.086 The State Corporation Commission says a Virginia physical business address, 00:01:17.142 --> 00:01:19.406 available during normal business hours. 00:01:19.526 --> 00:01:26.286 A post office box isn't acceptable, and the LLC1011 instructions add that a 00:01:26.346 --> 00:01:29.806 virtual office or a mail drop isn't either. 00:01:29.806 --> 00:01:33.326 I should introduce us, I'm Maya, and this is Dan. 00:01:33.326 --> 00:01:37.486 Thanks, Maya. On to the five, starting with number one. 00:01:38.267 --> 00:01:39.467 Who's number one? 00:01:39.467 --> 00:01:46.187 Mainstay Filing, $149 a year, and $149 again on renewal. 00:01:46.187 --> 00:01:47.867 What's in the box? 00:01:47.867 --> 00:01:50.987 A Virginia address on the public record in place of yours. 00:01:51.134 --> 00:01:55.227 Legal papers scanned and uploaded the same business day, free. 00:01:55.367 --> 00:01:58.508 And the first three government mailings each year scanned free. 00:01:58.508 --> 00:02:00.027 What about the switch? 00:02:00.027 --> 00:02:05.468 Mainstay files the Statement of Change for you, and Virginia charges no fee for it. 00:02:06.054 --> 00:02:08.186 So no state cost at all. 00:02:08.186 --> 00:02:11.387 None. The one drawback is the sticker. 00:02:11.490 --> 00:02:14.667 $99 exists on this list. 00:02:15.363 --> 00:02:16.403 Number two. 00:02:16.403 --> 00:02:20.723 Northwest Registered Agent: $125 a year. 00:02:20.863 --> 00:02:25.843 Its page says it hasn't raised the price in 20 years, and it scans up to 10 pieces 00:02:25.870 --> 00:02:28.163 of regular business mail annually for free. 00:02:28.163 --> 00:02:29.844 Where's the catch? 00:02:29.844 --> 00:02:36.643 The annual report service. It enrolls you automatically at $100 plus state fees per 00:02:36.734 --> 00:02:42.003 filing, unless you cancel, and its page says you can add or cancel at any time. 00:02:42.003 --> 00:02:45.123 But Virginia doesn't have an annual report. 00:02:45.123 --> 00:02:48.163 Which is why I'd check that screen before paying. 00:02:48.243 --> 00:02:54.723 The SCC wants an annual registration fee, not a report, so a $100 report filing 00:02:54.783 --> 00:02:57.603 service may be paying for something that isn't there. 00:02:58.337 --> 00:02:59.937 Third. 00:02:59.937 --> 00:03:05.697 VA Registered Agent.org, $99 a year, the same at renewal. 00:03:05.797 --> 00:03:10.817 The office address on file, scanned legal mail and compliance reminders ahead of 00:03:10.857 --> 00:03:12.417 state deadlines. 00:03:12.417 --> 00:03:13.057 Switching? 00:03:13.057 --> 00:03:16.017 No state fee, no fee from them. 00:03:16.257 --> 00:03:22.417 The catch it lists is that formation filing is a separate service. 00:03:22.417 --> 00:03:23.217 Three-year math? 00:03:23.217 --> 00:03:28.897 $297, which is $150 below Mainstay's 00:03:28.961 --> 00:03:30.897 $447. 00:03:31.642 --> 00:03:32.602 Four. 00:03:32.602 --> 00:03:37.402 Bizee, formerly Incfile. Free for the first year with any formation package, then 00:03:37.462 --> 00:03:40.363 $149 a year, renewing on its own. 00:03:41.043 --> 00:03:43.643 After year one, then, it costs what Mainstay does. 00:03:43.643 --> 00:03:46.283 Right. And only if you formed with them. 00:03:46.383 --> 00:03:51.323 For an LLC that already exists, it's $149 from the first day. 00:03:52.122 --> 00:03:53.242 What about five? 00:03:53.242 --> 00:03:58.042 InCorp: $129 a year, flat, in every state. 00:03:58.202 --> 00:04:02.602 Its page says that price has gone up only once since 1998. 00:04:02.602 --> 00:04:04.442 Has it got a deal? 00:04:04.442 --> 00:04:08.282 As low as $87 a year for a five-year term. 00:04:08.373 --> 00:04:14.282 $87 times five is $435. 00:04:14.282 --> 00:04:16.762 And over those five years at Mainstay? 00:04:16.762 --> 00:04:22.842 $745. So the prepay is $310 less on paper. 00:04:23.594 --> 00:04:24.522 What's the catch? 00:04:24.522 --> 00:04:27.162 Paying for five years up front. 00:04:27.322 --> 00:04:33.402 If you might switch agents or sell the company, the $129 yearly rate is the one to 00:04:33.472 --> 00:04:34.042 compare. 00:04:34.703 --> 00:04:37.103 Let's go back to the money Virginia does want. 00:04:37.103 --> 00:04:43.103 The annual registration fee is $50, due by the last day of the month you formed the 00:04:43.303 --> 00:04:50.303 LLC. Late, it's a $25 penalty, and if it's unpaid by the last day of the third 00:04:50.356 --> 00:04:53.584 month after the due date, the company is canceled automatically. 00:04:53.584 --> 00:04:54.624 And who tells me? 00:04:54.624 --> 00:04:59.264 The Commission mails the assessment to the registered agent at the registered office 00:04:59.317 --> 00:05:01.904 on file, two months before the due date. 00:05:02.064 --> 00:05:04.944 So the agent at the address has to forward it. 00:05:04.944 --> 00:05:06.864 Does an agent pay it for me? 00:05:06.864 --> 00:05:12.944 Not at Mainstay. It's a registered agent service only, and it doesn't pay or file 00:05:12.984 --> 00:05:14.144 the fee. 00:05:14.144 --> 00:05:15.264 Totals for year one? 00:05:15.264 --> 00:05:18.144 The Articles of Organization are $100. 00:05:18.224 --> 00:05:24.784 With Mainstay, $100 plus $149 is $249. 00:05:24.971 --> 00:05:31.904 In later years, the $50 fee plus the $149 agent is one dollar short of two 00:05:31.964 --> 00:05:32.464 hundred. 00:05:32.464 --> 00:05:34.144 And with a $99 agent? 00:05:34.144 --> 00:05:40.624 $50 plus $99 is $149 a year, if you pay the registration fee 00:05:40.686 --> 00:05:41.264 yourself. 00:05:44.568 --> 00:05:46.088 Walk me through the change form. 00:05:46.088 --> 00:05:51.128 Statement of Change, LLC1016, no fee, filed online. 00:05:51.388 --> 00:05:56.328 For a real-time change you use the Commission's filing system, or you request a 00:05:56.381 --> 00:06:01.128 paper form. Once the clerk's office records it, you get an acknowledgement. 00:06:01.128 --> 00:06:02.968 When must I file? 00:06:02.968 --> 00:06:08.328 Forthwith, in the statute's word, when your agent dies, resigns or no longer 00:06:08.400 --> 00:06:09.768 qualifies. 00:06:09.768 --> 00:06:11.528 And if the agent resigns? 00:06:11.528 --> 00:06:18.488 LLC1017, also no fee. The agent mails you a copy by certified mail by 00:06:18.508 --> 00:06:23.208 the next business day. It takes effect on the earlier of 12:01 a.m. 00:06:23.261 --> 00:06:26.928 on the thirty-first day or when a new agent is appointed. 00:06:27.016 --> 00:06:30.928 When it takes effect, the registered office is discontinued. 00:06:30.928 --> 00:06:32.808 What if nobody replaces it? 00:06:32.808 --> 00:06:38.488 After 31 days you get a notice that your status changed to pending inactive. 00:06:38.701 --> 00:06:43.448 If it isn't resolved by the last day of the second month after the notice, the 00:06:43.501 --> 00:06:47.209 business is terminated, revoked or canceled automatically. 00:06:47.209 --> 00:06:49.049 And in the meantime? 00:06:49.049 --> 00:06:51.689 The clerk of the Commission is your agent for service. 00:06:54.204 --> 00:06:55.884 What trips Virginia owners up? 00:06:55.884 --> 00:07:00.844 Three things come up. Naming an agent whose business office isn't the registered 00:07:00.901 --> 00:07:05.804 office. Using a mail drop or virtual office, which the instructions reject. 00:07:05.944 --> 00:07:09.803 And forgetting that the agent needs to be reachable in business hours. 00:07:10.444 --> 00:07:11.884 And the one that costs money? 00:07:11.884 --> 00:07:17.084 Missing the registration fee. It's small, but it comes with a late penalty and 00:07:17.137 --> 00:07:18.444 eventual cancellation. 00:07:18.444 --> 00:07:22.124 Is there a Virginia-specific benefit to paying an agent, then? 00:07:22.124 --> 00:07:27.564 The sole duty of the agent, in the statute's words, is to forward whatever is 00:07:27.633 --> 00:07:33.404 served. So choose one that scans quickly and sends it promptly, since the clock on a 00:07:33.444 --> 00:07:36.204 lawsuit starts at service, not when you read it. 00:07:36.204 --> 00:07:39.124 Can I check the SCC's record myself? 00:07:39.124 --> 00:07:44.284 The registered office address is part of the public record, which is why many owners 00:07:44.330 --> 00:07:46.684 prefer a business address over a home one. 00:07:47.484 --> 00:07:48.764 How do you choose in Virginia? 00:07:48.764 --> 00:07:53.804 Check that the agent qualifies under the state's rules, the price holds next year, 00:07:53.864 --> 00:07:56.844 and the Statement of Change gets filed for you. 00:07:56.844 --> 00:07:58.284 Who clears all of that? 00:07:58.284 --> 00:08:04.044 Mainstay Filing. Our pick for Virginia, at $149 a year. 00:08:05.380 --> 00:08:06.260 One more recap? 00:08:06.260 --> 00:08:11.780 One, Mainstay Filing: $149 a year, same at renewal. 00:08:12.080 --> 00:08:18.660 Two, Northwest: $125, minus the report service you don't 00:08:18.740 --> 00:08:25.620 need. Three, VA Registered Agent.org: $99 flat. 00:08:25.924 --> 00:08:31.620 Four, Bizee: free the first year with a formation order, then 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:38.660 $149. Five, InCorp: $129 a year, 00:08:38.820 --> 00:08:42.260 or $87 a year if you prepay five. 00:08:42.260 --> 00:08:44.500 The links are in the show notes. 00:08:44.671 --> 00:08:48.180 Thanks for listening to The Business Formation Podcast.