Process Score

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Not legal advice. Confirm the live agent name and street on the South Carolina Business Entities Online search before you file or treat a published street as current. That search is South Carolina’s public lookup. The office that keeps it is the Secretary of State. The lookup labels the line registered agent and registered office. The LLC statute uses different words.

State · South Carolina

South Carolina registered agent: rules, prices, and graded services

South Carolina’s LLC statute names a designated office and an agent for service of process: not a yearly Secretary of State report

A registered agent is the person or company who can be handed a lawsuit for the business. It is not a mailbox. A registered agent is also called a statutory agent, or an agent for service of process. Handing over those court papers is called service of process. South Carolina’s LLC statute does not use the words registered office or registered agent in S.C. Code § 33-44-108. It uses designated office and agent for service of process. The designated office is an office in this state. It need not be a place of business. The agent must have a street address here. The Secretary of State’s search still says registered agent and registered office. Live forms mix both names. We print the statute first. We print the form words second. The page does not publish a California Statement of Information. South Carolina does not use that paper. A typical pass-through limited liability company files no annual report with the Secretary of State. The old annual-report section was repealed in 2004. Form CL-1 and the corporate license fee are Department of Revenue papers for companies taxed as corporations. They are not the agent job. The job is taking court papers at the South Carolina street and forwarding them. This page is the South Carolina rule and the dated prices. It does not reprint vendor cards from another state.

Updated September 15, 2026 · Methodology · Prices retrieved September 15, 2026 from official pages

A registered agent is not a virtual mailbox. We do not score mailbox suites, virtual offices, or Google Business Profile eligibility here. South Carolina wants a street for the agent. If you need scans of catalogs, that is a different product on a different site.

What South Carolina actually requires

A registered agent is the person or company who can be handed a lawsuit. Service of process means handing over those papers. The Secretary of State keeps the list. S.C. Code § 33-44-108 says a limited liability company keeps a designated office and an agent for service of process. The agent is an individual who lives here, a domestic corporation, another limited liability company, or an authorized foreign corporation or company. The statute does not say those two streets must match. The search still says registered agent.

A street is a place a person can walk up to. A P.O. Box is a mailbox at the post office. The articles must include the designated office and the agent’s street. The statute does not add a written-consent sentence. The live change form does. The sources disagree. This page does not pick one. The statement of change is $10. A typical pass-through limited liability company files no annual report with the Secretary of State. Form CL-1 is a tax paper for a company taxed as a corporation. It cannot change the agent. Filing it is not the job of taking the lawsuit.

S.C. Code § 33-44-111 says the agent takes process, notice, or demand. If no agent is kept, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found, the Secretary of State is an agent. That service is $10. S.C. Code § 33-44-809 does not name a missing agent as a dissolution ground. A resignation ends on the 31st day after filing. The live resignation form prints $10. The fee statute’s other-document row is $2. The sources disagree. This page does not pick one.

Related guide: Can I be my own registered agent? An individual who lives in South Carolina may be the agent, and that person needs a street in this State.

Related guide: What is a registered agent for an LLC? The statute calls this person an agent for service of process. The job is taking a lawsuit at a South Carolina street.

Related guide: How much does a registered agent cost? The statement of change is $10. A typical limited liability company files no Secretary of State annual report.

Related guide: How to change a registered agent on an LLC The company delivers a statement of change. No yearly Secretary of State report carries that line for a typical limited liability company.

Related guide: What is a commercial registered agent? South Carolina does not run a ten-company register. A domestic corporation, another limited liability company, or an authorized foreign company may serve.

Related guide: Service of process: what it means for an LLC Papers go to the agent at the street. If the agent cannot be found, the Secretary of State is an agent of the company.

Related guide: What is a registered agent address? The agent needs a street in this State. A P.O. Box is not that street, and the designated office need not be the shop.

Related guide: Best registered agent service A hired company still needs a South Carolina street where papers can be handed over. A P.O. Box is not that street.

Related guide: What is a certificate of good standing? The certificate is a different paper from the agent filing.

The statute does not print a clock. Any Columbia hours are the Secretary of State’s hours, not a designated-office clock. Someone has to be at a South Carolina street to accept hand-delivered papers. A software login is not that street.

Cited prices, retrieved September 15, 2026

We print what the company’s official registered-agent page said on the retrieval date. No company publishes a different South Carolina registered-agent price from the national card, except where we note a South Carolina-page sentence. The page does not publish a separate renewal price.

Vendor Year 1 Year 2 Letters Link
Northwest Registered Agent $125/year standalone; first year free only if you form the entity through Northwest $125/year (same price; $100/year per state if you have five or more states) B+ / B / B Official page
Bizee Free first year when you form through Bizee; standalone registered agent $149/year Official pages we retrieved say $149/year after the free first year (or $149 from day one if you buy standalone) C+ / B- / B Official page
LegalZoom $249/year on the official registered-agent overview (first-time customers) Official footnote: auto-renews at the purchase rate until you cancel; “The renewal rate is subject to change.” C / B- / B- LegalZoom
ZenBusiness $99 + SC state fees for the first year (standalone); national card says $99 + state fees $199/year renewal on the official national pages; those pages say the rate is subject to change C / B- / B- ZenBusiness

A change of designated office or agent is a separate Secretary of State filing. An LLC cannot put the new line on a Secretary of State annual report, because a typical LLC files no such report with that office. Form CL-1 is a Department of Revenue paper for an LLC taxed as a corporation. It is not that change. We cite S.C. Code § 33-44-109, the $10 live form, and S.C. Code § 33-44-1204.

Who publishes a South Carolina street

A city is not a designated office. We print only the streets the companies publish for registered-agent use. The pages we read do not publish the rest. Confirm the live name and street on the Business Entities Online search before you file. Headquarters is not the designated office. The Secretary of State’s Columbia contacts are not vendor suites.

If you are your own agent, the street on the public record is often your home. If you hire a commercial agent, the agent line is that organization’s name. Northwest names Charleston on the product page and Charleston, SC 29406 Charleston County on the office list, and no street on either. LegalZoom names Charleston and no street. Bizee publishes no South Carolina street. ZenBusiness publishes the Secretary of State’s Pendleton Street suite. We label every published city vendor-claimed. Use Business Entities Online.

In-state office, two statute names, and the missing annual report

South Carolina wants a designated office in this state. That office need not be a place of business. It also wants an agent for service of process with a street address in this state. The Secretary of State’s search still says registered agent and registered office. The live change form uses both names. Change the line on the Notice of Change of Designated Office, Agent for Service of Process, or Address of Agent. The live form prints $10.00. A new agent signs a consent box on that form. Resignation ends on the 31st day after filing. The live resignation form prints $10.00. The fee statute’s other-document row is $2. A typical LLC files no annual report with the Secretary of State. Form CL-1 is a Department of Revenue paper for an LLC taxed as a corporation. That paper cannot change the agent. Stay without an agent and S.C. Code § 33-44-111 names the Secretary of State as the company’s agent. S.C. Code § 33-44-809 names unpaid fees, taxes, and penalties, not a missing agent. South Carolina does not post a Florida-style 10–noon / 2–4 clock, and it does not run a Nevada-style ten-company commercial-agent register. Northwest claims Charleston, ZIP 29406, Charleston County. LegalZoom names Charleston. ZenBusiness publishes 1205 Pendleton Street, the Secretary of State. Bizee names no South Carolina street. Process Score has not been to those offices. We do not treat a company 9-to-5 line as S.C. Code § 33-44-108.

Service of process, not marketing mail

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

Home-address privacy

A commercial agent is how most South Carolina owners keep a home off the agent line. The Secretary of State still publishes whatever other addresses you put on a formation filing. Privacy of the agent line is not privacy of every field. A South Carolina LLC must name an agent. It cannot leave that line blank. Confirm the live line on Business Entities Online.

Scorecards

Northwest Registered Agent

Commercial registered agent
Year-1 / year-2 price
B+
National $125/year, same in year 2. Five-or-more-states is $100/year per state. No South Carolina-only price.
SOS street and presence
B
Product page and office-locations list both name Charleston, SC 29406, Charleston County. No street. Confirm Business Entities Online. The page does not publish one.
Process and privacy
B
In-office scan of documents they receive. Grade the court-paper path, not the extra mail-scan add-on.

Year 1: $125/year standalone; first year free only if you form the entity through Northwest

Year 2: $125/year (same price; $100/year per state if you have five or more states)

Retrieved: 2026-09-15

Official page

Bizee

Commercial registered agent
Year-1 / year-2 price
C+
Year 1 can be $0 with formation on the official card. Year 2 is $149. No South Carolina-only price.
SOS street and presence
B-
No South Carolina agent street on the product pages. Houston HQ is not a South Carolina agent street. Confirm Business Entities Online.
Process and privacy
B
Published court-paper path: notify, scan to portal, FedEx the papers. Not a mailbox.

Year 1: Free first year when you form through Bizee; standalone registered agent $149/year

Year 2: Official pages we retrieved say $149/year after the free first year (or $149 from day one if you buy standalone)

Retrieved: 2026-09-15

Official page

LegalZoom

Commercial registered agent
Year-1 / year-2 price
C
Official $249/year. The page does not publish $299.
SOS street and presence
B-
Live South Carolina article names a Charleston office and no street. 1205 Pendleton Street is the Secretary of State. Confirm Business Entities Online.
Process and privacy
B-
Published court-paper scan, email, and postcard. Junk mail is filtered. That is not the product we grade.

Year 1: $249/year on the official registered-agent overview (first-time customers)

Year 2: Official footnote: auto-renews at the purchase rate until you cancel; “The renewal rate is subject to change.”

Retrieved: 2026-09-15

LegalZoom

ZenBusiness

Commercial registered agent
Year-1 / year-2 price
C
Year 1 $99 + SC state fees is a first-year deal. Year 2 is $199, subject to change on the national card. Read the renewal line.
SOS street and presence
B-
South Carolina product page publishes no ZenBusiness street or city. The Columbia suite is a Secretary of State contact. Confirm Business Entities Online. The page does not publish a suite.
Process and privacy
B-
Scan, dashboard, email; overnight for urgent legal notices. Not a mailbox. Their national product currently excludes PLLCs and nonprofits. That is ZenBusiness’s exclusion, not a South Carolina statute.

Year 1: $99 + SC state fees for the first year (standalone); national card says $99 + state fees

Year 2: $199/year renewal on the official national pages; those pages say the rate is subject to change

Retrieved: 2026-09-15

ZenBusiness

What this page does not do

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. Michigan’s statute names a resident agent and sends the filing to LARA: Michigan scorecard. Indiana’s live statute names a registered agent. Older Indiana law called the same job resident agent: Indiana scorecard. Massachusetts’s LLC statute names a resident agent. The $500 annual report cannot change that line: Massachusetts scorecard. Maryland’s statute names a resident agent and sends the filing to SDAT, not the Secretary of State: Maryland scorecard. Tennessee wants a registered office and a registered agent at the same street. The $300 LLC annual report is not that job: Tennessee scorecard. Minnesota wants a registered office. A Minnesota-formed company may name an agent. The free December 31 renewal is not that job: Minnesota scorecard. Wisconsin files the agent at DFI, not the Secretary of State. A P.O. Box, a mailbox service, or a telephone answering service is not the office: Wisconsin scorecard. Oregon’s street cannot be a commercial mail receiving agency, a mail-forwarding shop, or a virtual office. The $100 anniversary renewal is not the registered-agent job: Oregon scorecard. Missouri LLCs file no annual report with the Secretary of State. They still must keep a registered office and a registered agent: Missouri scorecard. Alabama’s street cannot be solely a mailbox service or a telephone answering service. The Business Privilege Tax return is a Department of Revenue paper: Alabama scorecard.

Sources for this page

  1. S.C. Code Title 33, Chapter 44 and S.C. Code § 33-44-108 (retrieved September 15, 2026), continuously maintain a designated office, which need not be a place of business, and an agent with a street address for service of process; who may serve
  2. S.C. Code § 33-44-203 and S.C. Code § 33-44-202 (retrieved September 15, 2026), articles must name the initial designated office and the initial agent’s name and street; deliver the articles to the Secretary of State
  3. S.C. Code § 33-44-109 and Notice of Change of Designated Office, Agent for Service of Process, or Address of Agent (F0080) (retrieved September 15, 2026), statement of change; $10.00; new-agent consent box on the form; street boxes also say registered agent’s office
  4. S.C. Code § 33-44-110 and the Resignation of Agent for Service of Process (F0065 / F0066) (retrieved September 15, 2026), agency ends on the 31st day after filing; live form fee $10.00
  5. S.C. Code § 33-44-111 and the Secretary of State service-of-process page (retrieved September 15, 2026), if the company fails to keep an agent, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found, the Secretary of State is the company’s agent; $10.00 per request
  6. S.C. Code § 33-44-809 and S.C. Code § 33-44-810 (retrieved September 15, 2026), administrative dissolution for an unpaid fee, tax, or penalty after sixty days; that dissolution does not end the agent’s authority; a missing agent is not on that ground list
  7. S.C. Code § 33-44-1204 (retrieved September 15, 2026), articles $110; change of designated office or agent $10; other document $2; certificate of existence $10; service on the Secretary of State $10
  8. S.C. Code § 33-44-211 in the 2004 Chapter 44 archive (retrieved September 15, 2026), annual report to the Secretary of State repealed April 29, 2004
  9. South Carolina Secretary of State, Business Entities, the File and Search Online page, the business-entities FAQ, and the change-and-resignation forms list (retrieved September 15, 2026), LLC statutes § 33-44-101 et seq.; public lookup uses registered agent and registered office; CL-1 is a corporation paper; 1205 Pendleton Street, Suite 525, Columbia, SC 29201
  10. South Carolina Business Entities Online search (retrieved September 15, 2026), official public lookup at businessfilings.sc.gov; lists the agent and office of record
  11. South Carolina Department of Revenue, Corporate FAQs and Form CL-1 (retrieved September 15, 2026), an LLC not taxed as a corporation is not subject to the annual report or license fee; an LLC files CL-1 only if it elects to be taxed as a corporation; this is not a Secretary of State annual report
  12. Northwest Registered Agent, official registered-agent page, South Carolina product page, and office locations (retrieved September 15, 2026), $125/year; first year free only with formation; $100/year per state at five or more states; product page names a Charleston office and extra mail scans; office-locations list Charleston, SC 29406 Charleston County, and says they leave the street off this list
  13. Bizee, official registered-agent page, South Carolina product page, and contact (retrieved September 15, 2026), free year 1 with formation on the official card; standalone $149/year; year 2 $149/year; South Carolina page names $110 online / $135 paper Articles and no LLC annual report; no South Carolina agent street; /llc/south-carolina-registered-agent returned 404; Houston contact HQ is not a South Carolina agent street
  14. LegalZoom, official registered-agent overview and South Carolina registered-agent article (retrieved September 15, 2026; article updated September 18, 2025), $249/year; South Carolina article names a Charleston office and no street; /articles/registered-agent-in-south-carolina returned 404 the same day
  15. ZenBusiness, official registered-agent page and South Carolina registered agent (retrieved September 15, 2026; South Carolina page last updated August 27, 2025), $99 + state fees year 1; $199 renewal, subject to change; South Carolina product page publishes no ZenBusiness street; it prints 1205 Pendleton Street, Suite 525, Columbia, SC 29201 and telephone 803-734-2170, Secretary of State contacts; it also prints a $10 change, a 31-day resignation, and $3 / $5 corporation resignation prices; /south-carolina-resident-agent/ returned 404; national product currently excludes PLLCs and nonprofits

Also setting up payroll in South Carolina? Payroll Score covers the first paycheck there.