South Carolina Registered Agent Service for an Agent Who Signs the Articles

South Carolina's LLC Act, S.C. Code section 33-44-108, requires a designated office in the state and an agent for service of process, and it requires the LLC to maintain both continuously. The designated office need not be a place of business. The Secretary of State's forms and FAQ say registered agent, and the statute says agent for service of process.

The Articles of Organization, Form F0006, carry the initial designated office, the initial agent with the agent's signature and address, and the name and address of each organizer. Filing costs $110, the same online or on paper.

Under section 33-44-111 the agent is the company's agent for service of any process, notice or demand required or permitted by law. State mail follows a different path: when an agent resigns, the Secretary of State mails a copy to the designated office and another to the LLC's principal office. The Act cited here is the LLC Act, and Mainstay also serves as agent for corporations, LPs, LLPs and nonprofits.

The statute lists who qualifies. An agent must be an individual resident of this State, a domestic corporation, another limited liability company, or a foreign corporation or foreign company authorized to do business in this State.

Notice the word another. It means your LLC cannot serve as its own agent. In practice that leaves an individual, a corporation or a different LLC.

The agent's street address goes in the Articles, and the agent signs the form, so nobody can be named without agreeing.

The statute asks for the agent's street address and sets no office hours. If an agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the agent's address, section 33-44-111 makes the Secretary of State an agent of the company for service.

Form F0006 has a signature line for the agent. The change form, F0080, carries a consent line too: "I hereby consent to the appointment as registered agent."

Whatever address you put there is a public record.

A South Carolina resident with a street address where they can be found can act as their own agent, with no separate service to pay for. Your address goes into the public record, which is a consideration if you run the business from home.

Any South Carolina resident with an in-state street address can serve: a partner, an employee, an attorney or a friend. They sign the Articles, so they need to agree and to stay reachable.

A commercial agent puts its own South Carolina address on the public record in place of yours.

Section 33-44-109 provides for a statement of change of designated office or agent, and the fee is $10 under 33-44-1204(a)(9). The state's form is F0080, the Notice of Change of Designated Office, Agent for Service of Process or Address of Agent. It covers a new agent, a new designated office or both, and a manager, member, organizer, fiduciary or attorney-in-fact signs it. You submit it through the Secretary of State's Business Entities Online or on paper, in duplicate, and the form says online filing provides faster processing time.

The change is effective when the Secretary of State endorses it for filing, unless a delayed date is given. No processing time is published.

When you move to Mainstay we prepare and file the statement, and the $10 is charged at cost. Keep a service you are leaving in place until the state's record shows the replacement.

A South Carolina agent resigns by delivering to the Secretary of State a record of the statement of resignation. The Secretary of State mails copies to the designated office and the principal office, and under section 33-44-110 the agency is terminated on the 31st day after the statement is filed. The state's form is F0065, Resignation of Agent for Service of Process, filed in three copies, and its forms list shows a $10 filing fee. So you have about a month to file the $10 F0080 with a replacement.

If an LLC fails to appoint or maintain an agent for service of process, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the agent's address, section 33-44-111 makes the Secretary of State an agent of the company. Duplicate copies are left with the Secretary of State, who forwards one by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to the company at its designated office. Service is effective at the earliest of receipt, the return receipt date, or five days after the mail is deposited, and each service on the Secretary of State carries a $10 fee.

Not keeping an agent is not by itself a ground for administrative dissolution in the Act. The ground that applies is an unpaid fee, tax or penalty: if it is not paid within 60 days after it is due, the Secretary of State can serve notice, and the LLC then has 60 days to correct it under sections 33-44-809 and 33-44-810.

Form F0006, revised in August 2016 and filed under sections 33-44-202 and 33-44-203, asks for the name with its company ending, the initial designated office in South Carolina and the initial agent for service of process, whose signature and address appear on the form. It also takes the name and address of each organizer. One organizer is enough, and each one signs.

Optional items include a term company, manager management with the managers named, member liability under section 33-44-303(c), a delayed effective date and other provisions. Unless delayed, the Articles are effective on filing.

Business Entities Online at businessfilings.sc.gov is the Secretary of State's online system, and a later change of agent can be submitted there too.

A South Carolina agent costs $149 a year through Mainstay, renewing at $149, and reminders are part of it. A standard South Carolina LLC files no annual report, so no recurring state filing is left outside the price. An LLC taxed as a corporation files a CL-1 within 60 days and an annual report with its SC1120 or SC1120S, and this service does not file those. A new company can use the $199 formation package, which includes the agent and adds the Articles of Organization and your EIN application, with the state's $110 fee at cost.

Mainstay's South Carolina address would be on the record. Service of process is scanned and uploaded the same business day, free of charge. Government mailings are scanned free for the first three each year, and every further piece carries a per-piece scan or shipping fee. No tier includes free physical forwarding.