Maryland Registered Agent Requirements (the Resident Agent Statute)

Maryland requires every LLC to designate what its statutes call a resident agent, the role known everywhere else as a registered agent. The requirement lives in Md. Code, Corps. & Ass'ns § 4A-210, applies from the day the Articles of Organization are recorded, and never lapses while the company exists.

What § 4A-210 Actually Requires

The statute pairs two obligations and states them plainly: "Each limited liability company shall have: (1) A principal office in this State; and (2) A resident agent." So a Maryland LLC needs both a principal office located in Maryland and an agent whose designation, with a Maryland address, sits on file with SDAT. You can read the section yourself on the General Assembly's statute site.

Who Can Serve Under Maryland Law

The definition comes from § 1-101 of the same article: an individual who resides in Maryland, or a Maryland corporation, LLC, or limited partnership. One wrinkle worth knowing: SDAT's own instruction sheet describes a narrower set, naming only Maryland-resident citizens and active Maryland corporations, but the statutory definition is broader and the statute controls.

Practically, the designation needs a real Maryland street address where a person is present during the business day, because service of process arrives by hand. A mail drop cannot accept a summons in person.

What the Agent Handles

• Court papers when the LLC is sued, delivered in person to the agent's address
• Notices and correspondence from SDAT, including anything touching the charter record
• State tax mail routed to the entity
• The kind of deadline-sensitive documents that go badly when nobody is there to receive them

The agent's name and address are part of the public charter record, searchable by anyone.

Naming Yourself, a Colleague, or a Company

An individual member or employee who lives in Maryland can be designated, since the statute accepts any Maryland-resident individual. Whether an LLC may list itself as its own agent is a question the statute simply does not address, so in practice companies name a person or a separate Maryland entity. Before naming yourself, weigh the tradeoffs: your address joins the public record, someone must reliably be at that address during business hours, and a missed delivery can mean a lawsuit proceeding without your knowledge.

Changing a Registered Agent in Maryland

The change document is the Resolution to Change Principal Office or Resident Agent, unnumbered like SDAT's other charter forms. It is filed with SDAT's Charter Division with a $25 fee, and the form PDF is available from SDAT. An agent who resigns files at no charge.

Our Registered Agent Service

The standalone price is $99 per year, flat. Form your LLC through us and the first year is already inside the $199 formation package, with renewal at $99 per year after that. The service includes:

• A Maryland street address for your SDAT filings, keeping your own off the record
• Same-day scanning and delivery of legal documents to your inbox
• Reminders ahead of the April 15 annual report and other deadlines
• A portal holding every document we have ever forwarded you

Why This Role Deserves a Professional

The registered agent is the one channel the courts and the state rely on to reach your company. Keeping that channel staffed, private, and reliable is exactly what a professional service is for, and it is the difference between learning about a lawsuit on day one and learning about it after a default judgment.

Get Resident Agent Service