Michigan Resident Agent Service and the Registered Office Rule

Michigan says resident agent where most states say registered agent, and the registered office is the physical address where that agent takes papers. The Michigan LLC Act, at MCL 450.4207(1), requires every LLC to continuously maintain both. The regulator is not a Secretary of State. It is the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, LARA, through its Corporations Division, and filings run through the MiBusiness Registry.

Article IV of the Articles of Organization on Form CSCL/CD 700 holds the agent's name, the street address of the registered office in Michigan, and a mailing address if different. A P.O. box is allowed only as that mailing address. The Articles cost $50, and the form has no member or ownership fields, so the agent and the registered office are among the few details it publishes.

LARA describes a resident agent as someone appointed by the company to receive any documents, notices or demands served upon the company. LARA's annual statement reminders do not depend on the agent: they are emailed 90 days before the due date, with postcards for entities that have no email on file. LLC rules are what follow. Corporations, LPs, LLPs and nonprofits can use the agent service too.

The statute ties the registered office to the agent's actual home or business office. An individual who resides in Michigan can serve if their business office or residence is the registered office. A domestic corporation or LLC, or a foreign one authorized in Michigan, can serve if it has a business office at the registered office.

LARA's own words are blunt: "A business cannot serve as its own resident agent." A member or manager can, as an individual, and so can a commercial agent.

The registered office and the place your LLC actually operates are different things. MCL 450.4207(1) says the registered office may, but need not be, the same as the company's place of business.

LARA's FAQ says the Corporations Division records the name of the resident agent on the public record. Filed documents can be viewed through LARA's entity search, so a home address used as the registered office is public.

LARA's change form says a post office box may not be designated as the address of the registered office.

A commercial agent's street address can serve as the registered office instead of a home address.

A Michigan resident can name themselves and use a home or business office. The registered office has to be updated promptly whenever you move, and your home or office is where papers will arrive.

Any Michigan resident can serve from their own home or business office, whether a co-owner, an employee, an attorney or a friend. Every time they move, your LLC has a filing to make, and missed service is the company's problem, not only theirs.

A commercial agent puts its own Michigan address on the public record, so your public registered office does not change when you move.

The change filing is the Certificate of Change of Registered Office and/or Resident Agent, Form CSCL/CD 520. The fee is $5, and it can be filed online through the MiBusiness Registry or by mail to LARA in Lansing. It takes your LLC's exact legal name, the LARA identification number, the new resident agent's name and the new registered office street address. The form says the resident agent may sign if only the registered office is changed.

LARA says review of a submission without expedite can take up to 10 business days, and the Business Entity Search shows the date it has processed through. Expedited review of an existing company's filing costs $100 for 24 hours or $200 for same day.

We handle the CSCL/CD 520 for you when you move to Mainstay, and the $5 goes through at cost. Keep the old address until the entity search shows the new agent, since the old agent stays the contact of record until LARA processes it.

A Michigan resident agent resigns on Form CSCL/CD 521, the Resignation of Resident Agent, which costs $5 for an LLC and can be filed online, by mail or in person. Notice goes to a member or manager of the LLC. Under MCL 450.4208 the resignation terminates 30 days after the notice is filed or when a successor is appointed, whichever comes first, and the company has to promptly appoint a successor resident agent.

If an LLC fails to appoint or maintain an agent for service of process, or the agent cannot be found or served through reasonable diligence, MCL 450.4207(4) allows service by delivering or mailing by registered mail to the administrator a summons and copy of the complaint.

The agent problem and the annual statement problem are separate, but they meet in the record. LARA's annual statement lists the resident agent and registered office, and it is now filed online only. LARA no longer accepts paper annual reports or statements, a rule that began June 23, 2025.

Under the Michigan guidance, two missed annual statements bring a notice from LARA, and 60 days after that the LLC is no longer in good standing under MCL 450.4207a. It cannot get a certificate of good standing, LARA accepts no filing except restoration, and the name becomes available to someone else.

A restoration costs $50 plus $25 for each missed statement, and LARA will not take the agent change on its own until the company is restored. Email reminders go out 90 days before the due date, with postcards for entities that have no email on file, so keep that address current.

With Mainstay the Michigan resident agent is $149 a year, and the renewal is $149. The price covers the agent role and compliance reminders. Your annual statement, due February 15 and filed through the MiBusiness Registry Portal with a $25 state fee, is not part of it, and filing it is something the $199 formation package does, along with the resident agent, the Articles of Organization and your EIN application.

Mainstay's Michigan address takes the place of your home or business address on the record. A summons or any other service of process is scanned and uploaded the same business day, at no fee. Every year, the first three government mailings are scanned free, and any beyond that carry a per-piece scan or shipping fee. No tier includes free physical forwarding.