LLC Registered-Agent and Registered-Office Requirements in New Mexico

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and terminology

NMSA 1978 § 53-19-1 names Article 19 the Limited Liability Company Act. Section 53-19-5 uses registered office for the New Mexico location and registered agent for the person or entity designated to receive process. Current civil service mechanics appear in Rule 1-004 NMRA.

Continuous designation duty

NMSA 1978 § 53-19-5(A) requires the LLC to maintain both a registered office and a registered agent in New Mexico. Under § 53-19-8(B), the articles state the initial office's street address, the initial agent's name at that address, and the current principal-business street address if it differs.

The registered office may be the principal place of business, but the Act does not require those locations to be the same.

Eligible individual

An individual agent must be a New Mexico resident. Section 53-19-5(A) states no separate minimum age, citizenship, professional-license, business-address, or fixed-hours qualification for the individual.

A member, manager, owner, or employee may be named personally only if that individual independently meets the New Mexico-residency rule.

Eligible entity and self-service

The domestic entity route covers a corporation, LLC, or partnership with a New Mexico place of business identical to the registered office. A foreign corporation, LLC, or partnership must be authorized to transact business in New Mexico and have the same co-located New Mexico business place.

The text says “a domestic ... limited liability company” rather than “another” LLC, but it does not separately state that the represented LLC may appoint itself. This page therefore reports the entity list without treating entity self-service as expressly confirmed or prohibited.

Registered office, address, and hours

Sections 53-19-5(B) and 53-19-8(B) repeatedly require a street address for the office and the agent's business place. The entity agent's place of business must match the registered office. The cited provisions do not supply a mailing- only or P.O.-box alternative.

The Act states no numbered availability window or “ordinary business hours” condition for the registered office. Rule 1-004 uses regular business hours only for its secondary principal-office delivery route when the named service recipients are unavailable.

Consent and initial filing

The organizer files the signed articles and a separate statement from the appointed agent accepting the appointment. NMSA 1978 § 53-19-9(A)(2) makes that acceptance part of the formation filing, not an optional private record.

Under § 53-19-12, the organizer signs before the LLC is formed and states the signer's name and capacity. The Secretary of State now requires business applications to be submitted through its online portal.

Change, resignation, and replacement

An LLC-initiated change statement identifies the LLC, current agent, current office, and the replacement or new address. A successor agent supplies a statement accepting appointment, and the successor's business-place address must match the registered office. The change takes effect when the Secretary of State files a conforming statement.

An agent can change the registered-office address for represented LLCs after written notice and an agent-signed filing. For resignation, the agent delivers a written notice in duplicate. The Secretary of State mails a copy to the LLC's recorded principal place of business, and the appointment ends on the earlier of a successor's effective appointment or 30 days after the Secretary receives the resignation.

Agent duties and service

Section 53-19-5 designates the agent for service of process. Unlike statutes that separately regulate an agent's forwarding work, Article 19 states no general forwarding deadline or broader notice-and-demand forwarding duty for the private agent.

Rule 1-004(G) permits service on the LLC through an officer, managing or general agent, or another agent authorized by appointment, law, or rule. If those recipients are unavailable, process may be delivered during regular business hours to the person in charge at the principal office or place of business. The rule also permits its specified mail or commercial-courier route.

Lapse consequences and fallback service

Under NMSA 1978 § 53-19-66.1, the Secretary of State may administratively revoke the LLC after 30 days without appointing and maintaining a registered agent. The same 30-day trigger applies after an office or agent change when the LLC does not file the required statement.

The revocation does not create a shield from service. Rule 1-004(G) preserves the officer, agent, principal-office, mail, and courier routes. If service cannot reasonably be made by the rule's ordinary methods, Rule 1-004(J) permits a court order for another method or combination reasonably calculated to give notice, including publication.

A revoked LLC may apply for reinstatement within two years after revocation. When effective, reinstatement relates back to the revocation date and the LLC resumes business as if revocation had not occurred.

What trips people up

The agent must separately accept at formation. Naming the agent in the articles is not the whole filing; § 53-19-9(A)(2) requires the appointee's acceptance statement as well.

Domestic-LLC fallback is a court-rule sequence, not an automatic Secretary-of- State-agent clause. Rule 1-004 reaches officers and authorized agents, then a person in charge at the principal business location, and permits court-approved alternate service when ordinary methods cannot reasonably work.

Resignation and revocation use different 30-day clocks. Resignation ends 30 days after the Secretary receives it unless a successor takes over first. The separate revocation provision applies after 30 days without maintaining an agent or without filing a required change.

Common questions

Can the registered office differ from the principal business address? Yes. The statute allows the registered office to be the principal place but does not require that choice; the articles state both when they differ.

Can an agent change the address for represented LLCs? Yes. After written notice, § 53-19-5(C) permits an agent-signed filing that changes the registered- office address for represented companies.

Does administrative revocation permanently end the LLC? Not necessarily. Section 53-19-66.2 provides a two-year application window and relation-back reinstatement when the statutory conditions are met.

Statutes and sources

• NMSA 1978 §§ 53-19-1, 53-19-5, 53-19-8 to -9, and 53-19-12 — Act name, continuous office and agent, eligibility, street addresses, changes, resignation, articles, acceptance, and execution. https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/4400/1/document.do (accessed 2026-07-27)
• NMSA 1978 §§ 53-19-66.1 to -66.2 — 30-day administrative-revocation grounds and two-year relation-back reinstatement. https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/4400/1/document.do (accessed 2026-07-27)
• Rule 1-004(G), (J) NMRA — LLC service recipients, principal-office delivery, mail/courier service, and court-approved alternate methods. https://supremecourt.nmcourts.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/Rule-1-004-NMRA.pdf (accessed 2026-07-27)
• New Mexico Secretary of State — Business Services — current online-only filing instruction. https://www.sos.nm.gov/business-services/ (accessed 2026-07-27)