LLC Registered-Agent and Registered-Office Requirements in Maryland

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and terminology

Maryland's domestic LLC rules are in Corporations and Associations Article, Title 4A. Under § 4A-101, a domestic LLC is an organization formed and existing under that title. The shared definitions and service rules in Title 1 call the legal-delivery role the resident agent.

Continuous designation duty

Section 4A-210(a) says each LLC shall have both a Maryland principal office and a resident agent. The articles start that public record under § 4A-204 by giving the Maryland principal-office address and the agent's name and address.

The principal office and the agent's address are separate fields. They may be the same physical place, but the statute does not require co-location.

Eligible individual

Section 1-101(x) limits an individual resident agent to someone residing in Maryland. The current text does not add an age, citizenship, professional license, member status, or specified-hours test.

A member, manager, owner, or employee can therefore serve as an individual only if that person independently satisfies the Maryland-residency rule.

Eligible entity and self-service

The same definition allows a Maryland corporation, Maryland LLC, or Maryland limited partnership to serve. It does not expressly exclude the represented LLC. The current paper form, however, tells a filer using a business agent to provide the business's exact name as listed on SDAT's file, and the signer for that business must provide a name and title.

Registered office, address, and hours

Maryland does not create a separately named “registered office” for an LLC. The articles instead list a Maryland principal office and a Maryland address for the resident agent.

Although § 1-101(b)'s general definition says an address includes a street and number “if any,” SDAT's current mandatory filing form requires the resident agent's complete physical Maryland address and says P.O. boxes cannot be accepted. Neither the cited statute nor the form imposes a fixed daily availability window.

Consent and initial filing

Under § 4A-206, an individual authorized by the people forming the LLC must execute the articles. SDAT's current form adds a distinct required line: “I consent to serve as Resident Agent for this LLC.” The resident agent signs that consent; a person signing for a business agent also supplies the person's full name and title.

Change, resignation, and replacement

An authorized person files an LLC-requested agent, agent-address, or principal- office change. Section 4A-210 makes the change effective when SDAT accepts the statement for record, and SDAT's current change form requires the new agent to sign.

An agent moving within Maryland may file its own address statement. It must give the LLC name, old and new addresses, and effective date. If the agent also moves a co-located principal office, the agent must notify the LLC in writing and recite that notice in the filing.

A resignation is not always immediate. It ends on filing if a successor has already been appointed; otherwise it ends 10 days after filing, unless the resignation specifies a later time. The statute states no longer replacement grace period.

Agent duties and service

Under § 1-401, service on the resident agent is effective service on the LLC. Rule 2-124(h) likewise starts with the resident agent. The current SDAT form describes the role as the person or business designated to receive the LLC's legal papers.

The cited Maryland provisions do not impose a separate general statutory duty on a private resident agent to forward every paper after receipt. That silence does not change the consequences of valid service on the agent.

Lapse consequences and fallback service

SDAT's current status guidance lists “not having an active resident agent” as a common reason a business is not in good standing and directs the business to file a resolution appointing one. Title 4A's forfeiture provisions—§ 4A-911 and § 4A-912—state tax, unemployment-payment, and annual-report grounds; they do not supply a separate resident-agent lapse-to-forfeiture timetable.

The reinstatement provision begins, "A limited liability company that pays all taxes, unemployment insurance contributions, reimbursement payments, interest, and penalties due," and then requires the due annual report, when applicable, within the statute's 60-day window (Md. Code, Corps. & Ass'ns § 4A-912).

Loss of the agent does not block a lawsuit. After no agent or a failed good- faith attempt, Rule 2-124(h) permits service on a member or another person expressly or impliedly authorized to receive process. Rule 2-124(o) separately allows substituted service through SDAT when the LLC has no resident agent, the agent is dead or no longer at the recorded address, or two good-faith attempts on separate days have failed.

What trips people up

The current statute and the current filing form answer different parts of the address and consent question. The statute identifies who is eligible and what the articles must state. The form supplies the operational filing rules: a physical Maryland agent address, no P.O. box, the agent's separate consent signature, and a business-agent signer's name and title.

Older Maryland business forms may describe a narrower “adult citizen” or corporation-only rule. The current § 1-101(x) instead says an individual residing in Maryland or a Maryland corporation, LLC, or limited partnership, and the May 2026 LLC form no longer states the older age-and-citizenship wording.

Common questions

Can the principal office and resident-agent address be the same? Yes. The law treats them as different filings, but § 4A-210 expressly contemplates an agent address change that also changes a co-located principal office.

May I use only a mailbox for the resident agent? No on the current paper form. It requires the complete physical Maryland address and says a P.O. box cannot be accepted.

Does the LLC become immune from service during the 10-day resignation period? No. The resigning agent remains appointed until the effective time, and Maryland's rule supplies member, authorized-person, and SDAT routes when the agent later cannot be used.

Statutes and sources

• Md. Code, Corporations and Associations §§ 1-101, 1-401, 4A-101, 4A-204, 4A-206, 4A-210, and 4A-911 to 4A-912. Current official Maryland General Assembly text. Accessed July 27, 2026; § 4A-912 rechecked August 24, 2026.
• Maryland Rule 2-124(h), (o). Current Maryland Code and Court Rules portal text, current through amendments received June 1, 2026. Accessed July 27, 2026.
• Maryland SDAT LLC articles, change-resolution, and entity-status guidance. Current official filing and compliance materials. Accessed July 27, 2026.