Michigan files a resident agent with LARA — a P.O. Box is not the registered office

What Michigan actually requires

MCL 450.4207 is Michigan’s starting LLC rule. Each domestic limited liability company, and each foreign limited liability company authorized to transact business in this state, shall have and continuously maintain in this state both a registered office and a resident agent. The registered office may, but need not be, the same as the company’s place of business. The resident agent may be an individual who lives in Michigan whose business office or residence is identical with the registered office, or a domestic or authorized foreign corporation or limited liability company that has a business office identical with the registered office. The resident agent is an agent of the company upon whom any process, notice, or demand required or permitted by law to be served upon the company may be served. MCL 450.1241 is the corporation pair. It uses the same two words: registered office and resident agent. The address of the agent’s business office or residence must be the same as the registered office. Washington files the agent’s prior consent with the Secretary of State. Arizona waits on a signed acceptance. Florida files a written acceptance and posts a 10–noon / 2–4 clock. Michigan names a resident agent and sends the filing to LARA. We do not invent a Michigan clock we did not retrieve.

LARA’s Corporations Division FAQ, retrieved September 11, 2026 and revised January 14, 2026 on the page we read, is the office’s own gloss. A resident agent is a person designated to accept mail, documents, or service of process on behalf of an entity. The Corporations Division records the name of the resident agent on the public record. The registered office address is the physical location of the resident agent. A registered office may, but need not be, the same as the entity’s place of business. We print the office’s own words.

Form CSCL/CD-520, revised July 2025 and retrieved September 11, 2026, is the street rule this page is built on. Item 4 asks for a street address for the registered office. The mailing line may be a street address or a P.O. Box. The instructions say: a post office box may not be designated as the address of the registered office. The certificate must also say the address of the registered office and the address of the resident agent, as changed, are identical. MCL 450.1242 uses the same split: the street address of the registered office, and a mailing address if different from that street. We print that P.O. Box ban. We do not treat a mailing line as the registered office.

MCL 450.4209 is how an LLC changes the line. The company files a statement with the administrator. The statement names the then registered office and the new address if the office is changing, the then resident agent and the successor if the agent is changing, and it must say the address of the registered office and the address of the resident agent are identical. The Limited Liability Company Changes page, retrieved September 11, 2026, is how that change is filed in practice: submit a Certificate of Change of Registered Office/Agent, form CSCL/CD-520. The FAQ, retrieved the same day, files that form online through the MiBusiness Registry Portal at michigan.gov/corpfileonline. Form CSCL/CD-520 prices that certificate at a nonrefundable $5.00. The resident agent may sign if only the registered office is changed. Those dollars are Corporations Division dollars. They are not the vendor’s year-1 card.

MCL 450.4208 is how an LLC resident agent steps down. The agent files a written notice of resignation with the administrator and with a member or manager. The company shall promptly appoint a successor. The appointment of the resigning agent terminates 30 days after the date the notice is filed with the administrator, or upon the appointment of a successor, whichever occurs first. MCL 450.1243 is the corporation clock. That resignation is filed with the president or a vice president and with the administrator. The appointment ends upon a successor or upon expiration of 30 days after receipt of the notice by the administrator, whichever first occurs. When that corporation resignation becomes effective, the resigned agent’s business or residence address is no longer the registered office. We print both clocks. We do not invent a third one.

MCL 450.4207(4) is service of process when the everyday path fails. If a limited liability company fails to appoint or maintain an agent for service of process, or the agent cannot be found or served through the exercise of reasonable diligence, service of process may be made by delivering or mailing by registered mail to the administrator a summons and copy of the complaint. MCL 450.1246 is the corporation service sentence. The resident agent appointed by a corporation is an agent of the corporation on which any process, notice, or demand required or permitted by law to be served upon the corporation may be served. New York starts with the Secretary of State on the agent line. Michigan starts with your appointed resident agent. We did not retrieve a published dollar for that LARA fallback. We do not invent one.

Michigan also bills an annual statement. That bill is not the resident-agent job. MCL 450.4207(3) is the statement. A domestic or authorized foreign limited liability company shall file with the administrator an annual statement containing the name of its resident agent and the address of its registered office in this state. The statement shall be filed not later than February 15 of each year, except that a company formed after September 30, or a foreign company authorized after September 30, need not file on the February 15 immediately succeeding its formation or authorization. The Annual Reports and Annual Statements page, retrieved September 11, 2026, is the calendar this page is built on. The LLC annual statement is $25.00. A professional limited liability company pays $75.00. The late penalty after February 15 is $50.00. A profit corporation annual report is $25.00 and is due May 15. That page also says the resident agent address must be in Michigan; if you do not have a Michigan address, you may hire a service company or law firm; and a business cannot serve as its own resident agent. The annual filing is where you add or update the registered office and the resident-agent name and address. We print the LLC line first because that is the formation most first-time owners file. We do not treat the $25 statement as the resident-agent job. North Carolina’s LLC annual report is $200 paper or $203 online. Washington’s profit company pays $70. Virginia’s LLC pays a $50 fee and files no annual report. Michigan’s LLC pays $25 and still needs the resident agent on a street.

MCL 450.4207a is what happens if those statements stop. If a company fails to file an annual statement required by section 207 for two consecutive years, the administrator shall notify the company. If the company does not file the missing statements and fees within 60 days after that notice is sent, the company is not in good standing. The name becomes available. The administrator will not accept later filings except a certificate of restoration of good standing. The company remains in existence and may continue to transact business in this state. That two-year-plus-60-day clock is LARA’s clock. It is not the 30-day resignation clock.

Confirm the live name and street on the Business Entity Search before you treat a marketing city as current. Headquarters is not the registered office. The LARA desk is not a vendor suite. Form CSCL/CD-520, retrieved September 11, 2026, lists the mailing line as Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Corporations, Securities & Commercial Licensing Bureau, Corporations Division, P.O. Box 30054, Lansing, MI 48909, and the in-person line as 2407 N Grand River Ave, Lansing, MI 48906, telephone (517) 241-6470. Those lines are LARA, not a commercial resident agent. The form also points filed documents to michigan.gov/corpentitysearch, which redirected to the MiBusiness Registry search on retrieval. That search returned a Cloudflare challenge from this retrieval. We do not invent a row we could not open.

Cited prices, retrieved September 11, 2026

We print what the company’s official registered-agent page said on the retrieval date. No company publishes a different Michigan registered-agent price from the national card, except where we note a Michigan-page renewal line. We do not invent a renewal.

• Northwest Registered Agent: official page: “$125 Per Year.” Same price in year two on the national card. Five or more states is $100 a year per state. Retrieved September 11, 2026 from northwestregisteredagent.com/registered-agent and the Michigan product page. First year free only if you form through them; we do not treat that bundle as the standalone price.
• Bizee: official registered-agent page: free first year with formation; standalone $149/year; year two $149/year. Retrieved September 11, 2026 from bizee.com/business-management/registered-agent. A bizee.com/llc/michigan-registered-agent URL returned 404 the same day. We do not invent a Michigan-only price from a missing page.
• LegalZoom: official overview retrieved September 11, 2026: “Get registered agent services for $249/year.” Product card: $249/year. Footnote: auto-renews at the purchase rate; “The renewal rate is subject to change.” Retrieved from legalzoom.com/…/registered-agent-overview.html. The Michigan registered-agent article, updated April 30, 2026 and retrieved the same day, also prints $249 per year. We do not invent a higher year-two number.
• ZenBusiness: official Michigan page: first-year and renewal dollars are the national card. The Michigan page says starts at $99 + MI state fees for the first year and renews at $199/yr, subject to change. The same national page says they currently do not offer registered-agent service to PLLCs or nonprofits. That is their national exclusion, not a Michigan statute. Retrieved September 11, 2026 from zenbusiness.com/registered-agent and the Michigan product page.

A change of resident agent is a separate Corporations Division filing. We cite Form CSCL/CD-520, retrieved September 11, 2026, not company blogs. The change certificate is $5.00. Expedited review on that form is extra: 24-hour service on an existing entity is $100; same-day on an existing entity is $200. Those dollars are office dollars. The $25 LLC annual statement is still not the resident-agent job.

Who publishes a Michigan street

A city is not a registered office. We print only the streets the companies publish for registered-agent use. We do not invent the rest. Confirm the live name and street on the Business Entity Search before you file. Headquarters is not the registered office. LARA’s Lansing contacts are not vendor suites.

• Northwest. The Michigan FAQ answers “Where is Northwest’s registered office in Michigan?” with “We maintain a commercial registered office location in Okemos, close to Lansing in Ingham County.” The office-locations page lists Okemos, MI 48864, Ingham County, and says they leave the street off this list. No street is published. We have not been to an Okemos office.
• Bizee. Claims owned offices in all 50 states. The official registered-agent page names no Michigan street. The Michigan product URL we tried returned 404 on September 11, 2026. The contact page lists 17350 State Highway 249, Suite 220, Houston, TX 77064 as headquarters. That address is not a Michigan resident-agent street.
• LegalZoom. The official registered-agent overview does not publish a Michigan street. The Michigan article, updated April 30, 2026, says “Our registered office in Flint meets all state requirements.” That is a city. No street is published. We do not invent a suite. We do not treat a LegalZoom virtual-mail street as the resident-agent street.
• ZenBusiness. The Michigan product page publishes a vendor-claimed office at 221 West Lake Lansing Road, Suite 200, East Lansing, MI 48823, Ingham County, telephone (517) 816-9863. That is a published street. It is still a vendor claim. We have not been there. The live Business Entity Search was Cloudflare-gated on retrieval, so we did not confirm that line on the Corporations Division record. We do not treat 2407 N Grand River Avenue, Lansing, as their street. That line is a LARA counter on Form CSCL/CD-520.

If you are your own resident agent, the street on the public record is often your home. If you hire a commercial resident agent, the agent line is that organization’s name. Northwest names Okemos, ZIP 48864, Ingham County, and no street. LegalZoom’s Michigan article names Flint and no street. Bizee publishes no Michigan street. ZenBusiness publishes an East Lansing street and labels it vendor-claimed until the Business Entity Search confirms it. Use the Business Entity Search.

In-state office and the P.O. Box ban

Michigan wants an in-state person or an authorized company, a physical registered office identical with the agent’s office or residence, and someone who can take court papers at that street. A P.O. Box is not that street. Filings go to LARA’s Corporations Division, not the Secretary of State. Change the agent on Form CSCL/CD-520 for $5, or on the $25 annual statement when that filing is open. Resignation is effective on the 30th day, or sooner if a new agent is filed. The LLC annual statement is due February 15 and costs $25. Michigan does not post a Florida-style 10–noon / 2–4 clock, and it does not run a Nevada-style ten-company commercial-agent register on the text we could read. Northwest claims Okemos, ZIP 48864, and no street. LegalZoom’s Michigan article names Flint and no street. ZenBusiness publishes 221 West Lake Lansing Road, Suite 200, East Lansing — vendor-claimed. Bizee names no Michigan street. Process Score has not been to those offices. We do not treat a company 9-to-5 line as MCL 450.4207.

Service of process, not marketing mail

We grade scan-and-forward of service of process and official notices:

• Bizee: notifications by text and email; court papers mailed via FedEx with tracking; portal upload by employees. Contact-page support hours are Monday–Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST. Those are support hours, not registered-office hours.
• Northwest: “We scan every document you receive right where you receive it—in our office.” Their mail-forwarding extras are a different product. We do not grade those extras as a mailbox.
• LegalZoom: upload, email, and a postcard for urgent legal mail; they say they shred junk mail. Junk-mail shredding is not the job we score.
• ZenBusiness: scan and upload to a dashboard; email; overnight the original for urgent legal notices. Their own FAQ says you cannot use the agent address as your business address. Their national product currently excludes PLLCs and nonprofits; that is their exclusion, not a Michigan statute. The Michigan page prints Monday–Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST. That is vendor copy, not MCL 450.4207.

Home-address privacy

A commercial resident agent is how most Michigan owners keep a home off the agent line. LARA still publishes whatever other addresses you put on a formation filing or an annual statement. Privacy of the agent line is not privacy of every field. Confirm the live line on the Business Entity Search.

Scorecards

What this page does not do

• It does not rank mailbox networks or virtual offices.
• It does not publish combined star ratings or a fake 4.8.
• It does not treat a company 9-to-5 line as MCL 450.4207.
• It does not treat the $25 annual statement as the resident-agent job.
• It does not treat a Houston headquarters as a Michigan street.
• It does not treat P.O. Box 30054 or 2407 N Grand River Avenue as a vendor suite. Those contacts are LARA.
• It does not invent a Michigan-only price a company did not print.
• It does not treat ZenBusiness’s East Lansing street as confirmed on the Corporations Division record. The live search was Cloudflare-gated.
• It does not treat a LegalZoom article’s Flint line as a published street.
• It does not treat a P.O. Box as the registered office because a mailing line may sit next to the street.
• It does not invent a ten-company commercial-agent bar. Michigan’s statute names a resident agent. It does not copy Nevada’s ten-company register on the text we retrieved.
• It does not treat the Secretary of State as Michigan’s filing office. The Corporations Division at LARA keeps the list.

Choosing among being the agent yourself, asking a lawyer, or hiring a commercial agent: DIY vs lawyer vs commercial. California’s scorecard is a different statute: California scorecard. Texas keeps the written consent with the company: Texas scorecard. Florida files the acceptance and posts a 10–noon / 2–4 clock: Florida scorecard. Delaware bans a virtual-only agent and sets the commercial bar above 50: Delaware scorecard. New York starts with the Secretary of State already on the agent line: New York scorecard. Nevada makes a commercial agent register at ten companies: Nevada scorecard. Wyoming bans UPS stores and virtual addresses as the registered office: Wyoming scorecard. Arizona makes the statutory-agent appointment wait on a signed acceptance: Arizona scorecard. Illinois gives you 60 days after your agent resigns, then you are not in good standing: Illinois scorecard. Ohio cancels the articles if you miss the 30-day statutory-agent notice: Ohio scorecard. Georgia wants the registered office at the same street as the agent: Georgia scorecard. Pennsylvania files a registered office, not a registered agent: Pennsylvania scorecard. New Jersey wants a street for your registered agent and will not take a P.O. Box alone: New Jersey scorecard. Colorado will not take a commercial mailbox or a P.O. Box as the registered-agent street: Colorado scorecard. North Carolina’s LLC annual report is $200 paper or $203 online by April 15. That filing is not the registered-agent job: North Carolina scorecard. Virginia’s LLC pays a $50 annual registration fee and files no annual report: Virginia scorecard. Washington files the agent’s prior consent and will not take a P.O. Box or a PMB as the street: Washington scorecard.