Oregon Registered Agent Service Under the Physical Street Address Rule

Oregon says registered agent at a registered office. ORS 63.111(1) says the registered office must be located at a physical street address where process may be personally served, and that it may not be a commercial mail receiving agency, a mail forwarding business or a virtual office. The Secretary of State's Corporation Division, in Salem, describes it as the physical street address where the registered agent is located during normal business hours.

Articles of Organization, under ORS 63.044 and 63.047, carry the registered agent and its Oregon street address, a mailing address for notices and the principal office. They also require the name and address of at least one individual who is a member or manager, or an authorized representative with direct knowledge of the operations. The filing fee is $100, and the information is public record.

The agent is the LLC's agent on whom any process, notice or demand required or permitted by law may be served (ORS 63.121), and the Secretary of State describes its sole responsibility as accepting physical delivery of legal documents such as service of process, lawsuits, liens and subpoenas. State mail goes to a different address: the Corporation Division mails correspondence, renewal and late notices to the registered office unless a separate mailing address for the business is provided, and the Articles and the Information Change both ask for one. The ORS chapter cited here is the LLC chapter, and Mainstay offers the same agent service to corporations, LPs, LLPs and nonprofits.

The agent can be an Oregon-resident individual whose business office is the registered office. It can also be a domestic or authorized foreign LLC, corporation, professional corporation or nonprofit corporation with that office.

The Secretary of State's guidance adds two points. An entity cannot designate itself as its own registered agent, but an individual owner can be the agent. And the agent must have consented to serve, so ask before you list anyone.

A commercial agent fits the entity category when it holds an Oregon registered office.

Oregon's own guidance puts the expectation in plain words: the registered office is where the agent is located during normal business hours, and a process server cannot physically serve the registered agent at a PO Box or a mail forwarding business. For a one-person operation that is a real commitment.

The information on the Articles is public record, so a home address named as the registered office is published there.

An Oregon resident whose business office is the registered office can name themselves, at no extra cost. You carry the exposure of a public address and the duty to be reachable.

A co-owner, an employee or an attorney who lives in Oregon can serve, and their address becomes public too.

A commercial agent puts its own Oregon address on the record in place of yours, and the address stays put when you relocate. A service charges an annual fee, so owners with a stable street address of their own may prefer to do it themselves.

Oregon handles the change as an Information Change, online or on paper, and the fee schedule lists the Change of Registered Agent/Address for an LLC at $0.00. ORS 63.114 requires the filing to include a statement that the new agent has consented and that the registered office and the agent's business office will be identical. Online, you log in, click Information Change, enter your registry number and submit your changes. The filing terminates the existing registered agent on its effective date.

When you move to Mainstay we prepare and submit the Information Change. There is no state fee to pass along on it. Because the change costs nothing, there is no reason to hold it until the annual report. Afterward, look up the LLC in the public registry and confirm the new agent shows.

An Oregon agent resigns by delivering a signed statement to the Secretary of State and sending a copy to the LLC at its mailing address or principal office as shown in the records. Under ORS 63.117 the agency ends on the 31st day after the Secretary of State files the statement, unless the LLC sooner appoints a successor. The Secretary of State adds that a registered agent must continue to be available to accept service for 30 days after the Corporation Division is notified, and that failure to designate a new registered agent will result in administrative dissolution. The fee schedule lists no resignation fee.

If the LLC fails to appoint or maintain a registered agent, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the registered office, the Secretary of State is the LLC's agent for service. The plaintiff serves the Secretary of State, pays a $20 process service fee, and mails notice and a copy by certified or registered mail. The Secretary of State says it does not notify the business named in the complaint or contact its registered agent about it.

Being without a registered agent or registered office, or not notifying the Secretary of State that the agent resigned, is also a ground for administrative dissolution under ORS 63.647. The LLC is dissolved if the problem is not corrected within 45 days after notice is given under ORS 63.651(2). Name a replacement right away with the same free filing.

ORS 63.787 lists what the annual report states: the registered agent and office, the principal office, the managers or at least one member, and the primary business activity. Online renewal is completed within minutes.

Because the report names the agent, a stale record shows up in the one filing Oregon expects every year. If the agent has changed, correct it with the free Information Change rather than waiting for the anniversary.

The Articles carry their own reminder. They require an individual with direct knowledge, under ORS 63.047(1)(i), and the information on the application is public record.

In Oregon, Mainstay charges $149 a year for the agent role, the same $149 at renewal, and sends compliance reminders. Oregon's annual report renewal, which falls on your formation anniversary and costs $100 at the state, is yours to file under this service. A new Oregon company can use the $199 formation package, which files it, includes the agent, and adds the Articles of Organization and your EIN application.

Mainstay's Oregon address replaces yours on the public registry. Any service of process is scanned and uploaded within the same business day, and we charge nothing for that. Government mail gets three free scans a year, then a per-piece scan or shipping fee. No Oregon tier carries free physical forwarding.