Hi - I am about to form a LLC for my business. Someone suggested to me that I have a lawyer be the registered agent for my Company, instead of me or one of my partners. The reason was to keep my Company anonymous. Have any of you done this, and know the benefits or costs of doing this?
Thanks, juliet
There is no anonymity. Your LLC records will become available during discovery. The only reason to use your attorney as a registered agent is that he will know the LLC is sued before you do.
My friend told me that it would hide who owns the properties from the general public - so that if someone was looking at public records at a particular property, and wanted to find or contact me (for whatever reason), they would be able to know that I am personally involved in a particular property. Not sure that it matters if my name is associated with the property, or not - what do you think? Thanks for your reply.
Many states require the managers and members to be listed in the public record. Some go as far as to require the address where the LLC records are kept to be disclosed. There are better ways to hide than an LLC, like trusts.
When I set up my LLC I used a Register Agent service that cost me $75/year. My reason for using the RA was not, however, to hide member names or anything like that. It was to establish a place where official documents (like law suit notifications and other) could be delivered by a Server with signature return any time during business hours at a specific location. I am not typically available during the day to receive these things myself - too busy doing the work. Upon receipt the RA immediately tells you of the delivery (whereas, if you were on vaction and someone was trying to notify you by currier, at your home based office, of something important you would never know about it until you got back and found out the hard way).
I know there is other reasons too, but that was my reason for doing it along with the cost.