Top Colorado Registered Agents – Comprehensive Guide (March 2024)


Steve Goldstein
Steve Goldstein
Business Formation Expert
Steve Goldstein, founder of LLCBuddy, is a specialist in corporate formations, dedicated to guiding entrepreneurs and small business owners through the LLC process. LLCBuddy provides a wealth of streamlined resources such as guides, articles, and FAQs, making LLC establishment seamless. The diligent editorial staff makes sure content is accurate, up-to-date information on topics like state-specific requirements, registered agents, and compliance. Steve's enthusiasm for entrepreneurship makes LLCBuddy an essential and trustworthy resource for launching and running an LLC.

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Colorado Registered Agent: If you wish to start a Colorado LLC, you have to appoint a registered agent. According to Colorado State Law, it is mandatory to have a Colorado Registered Agent if you are conducting business in the state. A registered agent receives all the official and legal documents from the State. They also receive the service of process if there’s any lawsuit in concern.

In the following guide, we have shared all the required information regarding hiring a registered agent, why you need a registered agent in Colorado, and who can be a registered agent for your LLC. Read this guide carefully before you hire a Colorado Registered Agent.

What is a Colorado Registered Agent

A registered agent (or a statutory agent or a resident agent) in Colorado is an individual or a business that represents your business in receiving official documents. These official papers include formation documents, business renewal documents, tax filing, and any legal document if the LLC gets sued by other companies. All these documents go straight to the registered agent’s official address in the state. While forming an LLC, it is mandatory to appoint a registered agent.

When you file the Colorado LLC formation papers with the Secretary of State, LLCs have to mention their registered agent’s name and address. When you choose a registered agent in Colorado, you can go for two options, hiring an in-house registered agent or outsourcing the service.

Hiring a Registered Agent in Colorado

You may have several options for hiring a registered agent in Colorado. To become a registered agent, one has to meet the basic eligibility criteria. If the minimum requirements are fulfilled, anyone residing in Colorado can represent your LLC as your registered agent.

registered agent service

Who Can Be a Registered Agent

  • The person must be above 18 years old.
  • The person must have a legal and physical address in the state where the LLC will operate.
  • The person must be physically present during normal working hours.
  • Anyone who fulfills the above requirements can act as a registered agent.
  • Recommended – You should use a professional registered agent in Colorado always.

Can I Be My Own Registered Agent

Yes, you can be your own registered agent. In fact, any member of the LLC, managers, and the owner can be a registered agent. Besides, someone from the owners’ family, such as a spouse, relatives, or other family members, can also act as a registered agent. As mentioned above, anyone who is representing the business as an agent should fulfill the basic criteria.

Why You Shouldn’t Be Your Own Registered Agent

Many small businesses do not hire a registered agent to save a chunk of money. However, it is not recommended to be your own registered agent. There are a bunch of problems one has to face while being a registered agent of his own LLC. Following are some of the issues you face,

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  • If you are operating your business from home or you are into web business, then your home address will be shared on the public portal. This address will be used for mailing and other official purposes. This will hamper your privacy.
  • A registered agent has to be physically available at the official address during working hours on working days for 52 weeks. Being your own registered agent might restrict your other work due to this.
  • The registered agent’s address must be up to date in the Secretary of State portal.

It is recommended to outsource the registered agent service to ease your work as it protects your privacy, especially if you conduct your business from home. It is always wise to outsource the RA service than be your own registered agent.

Recommended: You can get the best registered agent service at a reasonable price with online LLC service providers. We recommend using –

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LegalZoom – $299 Per Year

How to Choose a Registered Agent in Colorado

You can choose a Colorado Registered Agent in two ways, either you can employ an in-house RA or outsource the service. Another option is to be your own registered agent. However, it is recommended to outsource the service as it is less worrisome and hassle-free.

In-house Registered Agent

As far as the in-house registered agent is concerned, it can be anyone from the LLC, including you, or you can employ an individual for this position. In that case, your office or home address will be the Registered Agent’s office address. Every LLC has to share its principal office address, mailing address, and registered agent’s office address to the state public portal. Hiring a registered agent service will make it easier as you can use the RA’s address as a mailing address.

Outsourcing Registered Agent Service

You may also avail yourself of professional registered agent services. Doing so ensures that you will have the best service provider to represent your business. Following are the best Registered Agent services on our list that will provide you with registered agents to ease your worries.

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$125 Per Year

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Note that availing of the services of professional registered agents would be your best option since you are guaranteed that whoever is handling your legal affairs knows their stuff well. If you are forming your LLC from scratch, then with LegalZoom Registered Agent, you will get the full formation package.

What to Consider While Choosing a Colorado Registered Agent

Here are some factors to consider when choosing a registered agent.

  • Service Fee: Since most states require formal businesses to have registered agents, selecting the best-registered agent is critical. Hiring a registered agent typically costs between $99 and $300 annually. When you consider how much time it will save you, this is a small price to pay.
  • Tenure in Business of Registered Agent: You want the registered agent to have established and time-tested procedures for handling documents. We recommend Registered Agent Services that have been in business for a long time. They are experienced and well capable of handling all your documentation.
  • State Jurisdiction Limitation: If your company expands to another state, you should use the same registered agent in all states to reduce the administrative burden of dealing with multiple registered agent service providers. Check out the best Registered Agent Services to consider for this job.
  • Offer Monitoring and Follow-up Services: You want to receive up-to-date information and alerts from your registered agent as soon as possible so that you are aware of the various statutes, rules, and regulations that apply to your company. Some of the service providers offer this service. Make sure to choose an RA service that includes this service.

How to Appoint a Registered Agent in Colorado

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At the time of submitting the Colorado Articles of Organization, the registered agent can be appointed by the LLC. It can be done online or by mail. No additional fee is charged for appointing a Registered Agent. Only the state filing fee should be paid.

Appoint Registered Agent Online

To appoint a registered agent online, you have to go to the Colorado LLC Online Filing page and provide the information of your Registered Agent accordingly. For more information, read on Colorado Articles of Organization.

Cost of a Colorado Registered Agent

The cost of having a registered agent can be variable. It depends on whether you are employing an in-house registered agent, being your own agent, or outsourcing the service. The cost of having a registered agent can start from $99 and go up to $300 per year. It will be cost-effective if you outsource the registered agent service in Colorado.

Registered Agent services that also provide LLC formation packages can provide the same service at a lower price. For example, LegalZoom offers standalone registered agent service at $299 per year, but if you buy their LLC formation package at $0 + state fees, you might get a registered agent at a low cost.

How to Change a Registered Agent in Colorado

To change the Colorado registered agent, you must file a Change of registered agent or office by entity form. This form can be submitted to the Colorado Secretary of State via online filing. Read more on how to change a registered agent in Colorado.

File Online

For online filing, you need to get the online form, which is available on the Colorado Secretary of State portal. Fill in all the necessary information of LLC as well as current and old registered agents. This form must be completed and signed by the newly appointed registered agent and any authorized member of the LLC. The signature of the new registered agent acts like the consent to be appointed as one. Submit it online. Read the instructions before you submit the form.

Fee: $10

How to Pay: The filing amount is payable to the Colorado secretary of state through a credit card when filing online/by email. For paper filing, you can choose to pay through money order or check.

Why Do LLCs in Colorado Need a Registered Agent Service

There are several reasons why a business should appoint a registered agent in Colorado. Some of the most important reasons are listed below,

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  • Confidentiality: Having a registered agent service in Colorado ensures the complete privacy of your business and related documentation. Appointing a registered agent company instead of an individual gets you privacy and confidentiality contracts beforehand.
  • Up-to-date Compliance: LLCs and corporates have plenty of paperwork and compliances that are to be updated on time. With a registered agent service, you don’t have to worry about those compliances as your registered agent will maintain a compliance calendar.
  • Privacy: It is mandatory for businesses in Colorado to publicly upload their address to the Colorado Secretary of State. If you are using the home address for your business, then it would not be safe to make your private address public. On the other side, appointing a registered agent service will cover you up here as they have to provide their address to the Colorado SOS and not yours.
  • Availability: Every registered agent has to be available during office hours of work on business days. If you hire a registered agent service, then they can be available at the required time without harming other tasks at the company.
  • Online Safe Backup: Every registered agent in Colorado or any other state usually takes online backup of all the documents and paperwork. This ensures the LLC papers are securely saved in a central system.
  • Lawsuits or Summons: Getting summoned or involved in a lawsuit does not leave a good impression on the employees. With a registered agent, all the related papers will be delivered to the Registered Agent’s official address. Hence, owners do not have to receive any such papers in their office in front of their employees.

Colorado Business Laws for Registered Agents to Note

If you are interested in starting a business in Colorado, then you must know about the business laws the state has. There are some basic business laws that exist in Colorado. Below is the list of business laws one has to consider while forming a Colorado LLC.

Deceptive Trade Practice Law

Unlike California, Colorado has adopted the deceptive trade practice law in the state. Under this law, there are some activities that are considered to be trade malpractice. The following activities are punishable under the Colorado Deceptive Trade Practice Law,

  • Knowingly disregard products from other businesses
  • Knowingly sell damaged or old products faking it to be a new one
  • Knowingly not detecting fire or water-damaged products
  • Knowingly represent false certificate of quality for the goods or services
  • Appointing sale persons falsely just to sell products to them

The penalty for attempting any of the above-mentioned activities is the cost of the total damage or 3 times the total damage or $500, whichever is more.

Antitrust Law

Colorado Antitrust Act started in the year 1992. Under this act, there are some points that are punishable. The state attorney general can bring the claim. The time span is 6 years. Following are the situations when an Antitrust claim can be raised,

  • Mergers and acquisitions to form a monopoly and reduce price competition
  • Rigging bids to influence the fixed market price
  • Any attempt to monopolize the market

The punishment can be up to 6 years of imprisonment for any criminal offense and up to 4 years in jail for a civil offense.

Interest Rate Law

In Colorado, like every other state, there is one threshold of interest rate under this law. If no certain interest rate is mentioned in the contract, then any consumer loan will have an 8% of interest rate. For non-consumer loans, the interest rate is 45% which is much higher among other states. However, crossing this threshold may end up being punished.

  • No mention of interest rate > 8% by default
  • Consumer loan interest rate > 8% to 12%
  • Non-consumer loan interest rate > 45%

The penalty for violating the rules will be a class 6 felony and a fine from $1000 to $100,000.

Civil Statute of Limitation

In Colorado, the time span for bringing a civil case is 1 to 3 years. For the cases related to the collection of debts and rents, the time span is 6 years. In case of personal injury or involving any motor vehicle, one additional year is available, which sums up to 3 years total.

FAQ

How To Change Registered Agent In Colorado?

The Colorado Secretary of State must receive the RA change application form if you want to modify the registered agent. By entering all the necessary, crucial information online, this may be accomplished. Colorado levies a $10 fee for changing a registered agent.

How To Become A Registered Agent In Colorado?

A registered agent in Colorado may be obtained with ease. You must be at least 18 years of age and a resident of the state in order to register as an agent. Being a registered agent in Colorado doesn’t call for any particular educational training.

Who Can Be A Registered Agent In Colorado?

As a registered agent in Colorado, anybody may apply. Anybody who meets the requirements, including your spouse, family, LLC members, and you, may serve as a registered agent. The candidate must be a legal adult who resides in Colorado.

How To Change Registered Agent Address In Colorado?

You must submit the RA Change Form with the new address listed in order to change a registered agent’s address in Colorado. Once all the necessary information has been entered, the form may be submitted online. To the Colorado SOS, please submit this form.

How To Find A Company’s Registered Agent In Colorado?

Visit the Colorado Secretary of State website to see who the registered agent is for a corporation in Colorado. The option of finding the company by name will be presented to you. You may choose the registered agent’s name to see the data if you input the company name.

What Does A Registered Agent Do In Colorado?

In Colorado, a company’s registered agent is in charge of obtaining the necessary permissions and notifications from the government as well as serving any processes. Colorado requires that all businesses have a registered agent. In Colorado, you have the choice of working with a pro or acting on your own.

How To Appoint Someone As The Registered Agent In Colorado?

During the Colorado business registration process, registered agents may be designated by providing their information. There is a part in the formation document where you must provide information about the registered agent, such as name, address, and contact information. Don’t forget to provide your personal details if you’re acting as a registered agent.

How To Search For Registered Agent Address In Colorado?

Following these procedures will allow you to look for a registered agent’s address:
1. Access the webpage for Colorado’s Secretary of State
2. Look up a business using its name
3. Verify the address list and Registered agent sections.
The address of the registered agent in Colorado may then be found using this method.

How Do I Look For A Business In Colorado By The Registered Agent Name?

Visit the Colorado Secretary of State’s website to look for a company in Colorado. The “Search” option is where you’ll find it. The name of the registered agent and the name of the company may both be used to find it. To retrieve the business information, choose “registered agent” and input your registered agent’s name.

What Is Required Of A Registered Agent In Colorado?

There are three basic requirements to become a registered agent in Colorado. The first requirement is that you must be older than 18 years old. A resident in the state is a requirement two. To put it another way, you need a Colorado street address. The right to operate a company in Colorado is the last requirement.

How To Look Up The Registered Agent Of A Corporation In Colorado?

In Colorado, it is simple to locate a corporation’s registered agent. The Colorado Secretary of State’s website must be accessed in order to achieve this. Navigate to the Business Search menu item. You may look for a company by name by choosing the option to “Look up by name.” The registered agent information may be checked after you have the company.

How Do I Resign As A Registered Agent In Colorado?

A registered agent in Colorado must write a letter of resignation to the business that they are currently working for if they wish to quit. A resignation notification should be given to the Colorado Secretary of State after a predetermined period of time, together with the resignation letter, to confirm the registered agent’s resignation.

How To Update Registered Agent In Colorado Online?

The Colorado Secretary of State must receive the RA Change Form in order to make an online change to a registered agent in Colorado. It’s not possible to update a new registered agent in every state online. To find out whether the online approach is offered, visit the Colorado SOS website.

How To Get A Free Registered Agent In Colorado?

In three different methods, Colorado offers free registered agents. As your own registered agent, you may take the initial step. The second is if any of your friends, family members, or partners choose to register as a registered agent. In Colorado, free registered agent services are offered by a few company creation firms.

How To Research For Registered Agent Information In Colorado?

A registered agent in Colorado may be readily found online. The Colorado Secretary of State’s website must be accessed. Choosing “search by name” is an option if you know the company name. You may look for a registered agent’s information from the list when you discover the business information.

Where To Mail Registered Agent Forms In The State Of Colorado?

The Colorado state website should receive the registered agent form. You must choose a registered agent and provide all of their information on the formation paperwork when registering your firm. After that, send it via mail to the aforementioned address.

If A Company Does Not Have A Registered Agent In Colorado, Who Is Served?

It’s required in Colorado for your business to have a registered agent. In contrast, you could run into legal issues if your firm lacks a registered agent. Thus, it’s crucial to choose a registered agent in Colorado (although you may simply serve as your own registered agent).

How To Serve A Deceased Registered Agent in Colorado?

A deceased registered agent will leave your firm without a registered agent. It is required that your firm in Colorado have a registered agent. Any remaining power will be useless if he or she passes away. Companies are required to inform the SOS as soon as they replace or alter their registered agent.

How To Hide Registered Agent Name From SOS Colorado?

If the registered agent’s name can be disguised or not, that cannot be answered with certainty. An LLC member’s or the owners’ identities may be concealed from public registration in certain states. If your LLC is unidentified, it can happen. You may not be able to conceal the name of the registered agent in certain states. For further information, see the Secretary of State’s company registration rules in Colorado.

Who To Call To Identify Registered Agent Information In Colorado?

Make a call to 303-894-2200 to get the registered agent details for Colorado. The Colorado Secretary of State is open from eight till five daily (central time). The division you’re searching for may be reached by dialing this number and following the instructions.

What Is Registered Agent’s Consent In Colorado?

The consent of a registered agent is a statement in writing that the agent is prepared to act as the company’s representative. If you want to alter or appoint a new registered agent in Colorado, the new agent must get the SOS’s approval first.

What Is The Difference Between Registered Agent And Resident Agent In Colorado?

A registered agent and a resident agent are not distinguishable in this way. A resident agent is another name for the registered agent in Colorado. A resident agent is referred to as a registered agent in the majority of states. Several states refer to agents as residents.

What Happens If The Registered Agent Does Not Give A Consent In Colorado?

A legal fine and responsibility may be imposed on the person appointing a registered agent in Colorado without the approval of the person who will be represented by them as the registered agent. Additionally, individuals have the ability to reject any obligation imposed by the procedure.

Can An LLC Be Sued If There Is No Registered Agent In Colorado?

The answer is that your LLC may still be sued even though it has no registered agent in Colorado. Any corporate entity in Colorado may be sued in a number of ways. There will be an alternative method of suing the corporation if nobody is available to accept the legal paperwork.

How To Reject The Registered Agent’s Designation In Colorado?

The designation is revocable in Colorado by the registered agent. By signing the declaration of refusal and delivering it to the Secretary of State, the individual may reject the designation. On the SOS website, you may get the rejection statement.

How to Remove a Registered Agent for LLC in Colorado

A registered agent for LLC in Colorado can be removed by submitting a Statement of Change form with Colorado Secretary of State along with a filing fee of $10.

The process of removing a registered agent for an LLC in Colorado is relatively straightforward but must be done carefully to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to avoid any negative consequences for the company. Here is a general guide on how to remove a registered agent for an LLC in Colorado:

1. Review LLC Operating Agreement: The first step in removing a registered agent for an LLC in Colorado is to consult the company’s operating agreement. The operating agreement is a legal document that outlines the structure and operations of the company, including procedures for removing or changing a registered agent. It is essential to follow the procedures outlined in the operating agreement to avoid any potential legal issues.

2. Notify the Existing Agent: Once you have reviewed the operating agreement and determined the proper procedure for removing a registered agent, you must notify the existing agent of your intent to make a change. It is important to communicate your decision in writing and provide a reasonable timeline for the agent to transition out of their role. This notification should be sent via certified mail to ensure that it is received by the agent.

3. File the Necessary Forms with the Colorado Secretary of State: After notifying the existing agent, the next step is to file the necessary forms with the Colorado Secretary of State to officially remove the agent. The specific forms and fees required may vary depending on the circumstances of your LLC, so it is recommended to consult with a legal professional to ensure that you are completing the process correctly.

4. Appoint a New Registered Agent: Once the necessary forms have been filed with the Colorado Secretary of State to remove the existing agent, you will need to appoint a new registered agent for your LLC. The new registered agent must meet the qualifications set forth by Colorado state law, including being a resident of the state or a company authorized to conduct business in Colorado.

5. Update LLC Information: After appointing a new registered agent, it is essential to update the company’s information with the Colorado Secretary of State to reflect the change. This may include filing additional forms and paying any required fees to ensure that the new registered agent is officially recognized by the state.

In conclusion, while the process of removing a registered agent for an LLC in Colorado may seem fairly straightforward, it is crucial to follow all necessary steps to ensure that the transition is completed correctly. By carefully reviewing the operating agreement, notifying the existing agent, filing the necessary forms, appointing a new agent, and updating the company’s information with the state, you can successfully remove a registered agent for your LLC in Colorado.

In Conclusion

Before you choose a registered agent for your Colorado LLC, compare their price and services from the table. They will be responsible for all your documentation, filings, and other LLC-related tasks. Hence, choose the best one for your business that provides 100% accurate service at a reasonable price.

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