How to keep your home address off the public record

Which names and addresses go on an LLC's state filings?

LLC filings name the agent and its office, most of the reports cited in this guide also ask for a principal office, and some add a mailing address and the people who manage the company.

The formation document starts the record, and each recurring report updates it. The safe working assumption is that anything typed into a state filing becomes part of the company's state record, which outsiders can look up. This guide's sources do not list, state by state, which fields each business search displays. They do show what the forms ask for, and that is the part an owner controls.

Here is what the recurring report asks for in a spread of states.

• California's Statement of Information asks for "Principal office, mailing and California office addresses" and a section headed "Manager(s) or Member(s)".¹
• Florida's annual report requires the principal and mailing addresses, and adds that "The limited liability company must provide the name, address and title of each manager or managing member."²
• Nebraska wants the designated office, the agent, and the "principal office street and mailing addresses".³
• Idaho asks for "The street and mailing addresses of the entity's principal office" along with the agent and the name of at least one governor.⁴
• Texas asks for the agent on its Public Information Report, and the instructions add "Enter the address within the United States where the entity's records are kept."⁵

Each of those address lines is a place where a home-based owner might write their home. A commercial agent changes only the agent's name and office on those forms.

Other states ask for far less. Colorado's periodic report "allows an entity to update the principal office address and registered agent information". Indiana asks for the agent and "the street address of the entity's principal office". Michigan's annual statement is shorter still, "containing the name of its resident agent and the address of its registered office in this state." So the exposure an owner faces depends heavily on the state. The guide to registered agent vs business address explains what each address field is for.^{6, 7, 8}

Which states put owners' or managers' names on the record?

Most of the states cited in this guide ask for at least one manager or member by name on the recurring report, and some, such as Florida and Illinois, ask for every manager with an address.

No registered agent can stand in for those names, which makes them the hard limit on privacy for an LLC. The states in this guide's data fall into rough groups.

Every manager, and members in some cases. Texas says "Domestic limited liability companies must enter all managers and, if the company is member-managed, list all members." Florida, as above, wants the name, address and title of each manager or managing member. Illinois asks for "The name and business address of all of the managers and any member having the authority of a manager." Nevada's annual list asks for "Names and addresses of managers or managing members", and Nevada collects the same at formation through its Initial List of Managers or Members.^{5, 9, 10, 11}

Members or owners. Kansas asks for the "Name and address of each member who owns 5% or more of capital". New Jersey's report wants the "names and addresses of business partners (members)", while the District of Columbia's report is where an LLC updates its "beneficial owner information". Alaska's initial report exists "to add the ownership and/or officers of the entity".^{12, 13, 14, 15}

At least one governing person. Utah says "at least one Manager, Member or other Governing Person will need to be provided in the annual report". Wisconsin's form reads "If management is vested in managers, provide the name of at least one manager." Washington's instructions say "List the current individuals/businesses responsible for governing the business." Arkansas asks whether the company is member- or manager-managed and wants their names.^{16, 17, 18}

In some states the address asked for next to those names is a business address. New Hampshire's statute wants "The names and business addresses of its managers or, if there are no managers, at least one member". Tennessee's report asks for the "Name and Business Address of Principal Officers, Governors, Directors, Managers, or General Partners." North Carolina's statute asks for "The names, titles, and business addresses of the limited liability company's principal company officials." Illinois uses the same wording. These sources don't say whether those states accept or refuse a home address in that line; they only frame it around where the person does business. Where the wording just says "address", ask the state what it accepts.^{19, 20, 21}

A manager-managed LLC can sometimes limit the list to the managers. Texas asks for members only when the company is member-managed, and New Hampshire asks for a member only when there are no managers. Whether that helps depends on who the managers are; if the owner is also the sole manager, the owner's name is on the form either way.

What does a commercial registered agent replace?

It replaces the agent's name and the registered office address, which then show the service's name and its in-state street address.

Every registered agent lists its own address in that field, so this is how the role works for any provider, not a feature of one.

Without a service, the owner is often the agent, and the registered office is wherever the owner can be found. Some statutes say outright that a residence qualifies. Michigan lets an individual serve "whose business office or residence is identical with the registered office" (MCL 450.4207). New Hampshire allows "An individual who resides in this state and whose residential or business office is identical with the registered office". Under rules like these, an owner who works from home and acts as their own agent can list that home as the registered office, and it then appears in the agent field.^{22, 23}

A mail drop is not a workaround either: Wisconsin's statute says "The registered office must be an actual physical location with a street address and not solely a post office box, mailbox service, or telephone answering service." (Wis. Stat. § 183.0115), and Oregon requires a physical street address where process may be personally served (ORS 63.111). A home-based owner who wants their home out of the agent field needs a person or business with a qualifying office of its own. The registered agent address rules guide covers P.O. boxes, mail drops and virtual offices in depth, and can I be my own registered agent covers the trade-offs of serving yourself.^{24, 25}

What the agent does not replace is everything in the two sections above: the principal office, the mailing address, and the managers or members. Iowa's LLC code, which sets its agent rule in Iowa Code § 489.115, lists "The name and street and mailing addresses in this state of the limited liability company's registered agent" as one of the items a certificate of organization must state.²⁶

Can you use a provider's address as your business address?

Not automatically. Some providers bar using the agent address as your business location, and others sell a separate business address product for the principal office or mailing address lines.

Read the agent terms before you write the agent's address anywhere else. LegalZoom's terms say "You may not list the Registered Address in your company's public media". Tailor Brands' terms say "You must not designate or otherwise refer to the Registered Address as your business location in any public materials." Northwest's published facts describe the reverse arrangement for its own customers: "A free business address (RA address, 5 mail pieces/yr) comes with RA service".^{27, 28, 29}

Several providers list a separate business address or mail product, and two don't publish a standalone price.

• Northwest Registered Agent lists Mail Forwarding $20/month (24 select states).²⁹
• Bizee (formerly Incfile) lists $29/month; 1 month free with Bizee LLC formation.³⁰
• Swyft Filings lists $29/mo; Standard 1 month free; Premium 3 months free.³¹
• Harbor Compliance lists $350/year per company, per location (limited time offer).³²
• For doola, the published fact is US business address included in Starter.³³
• For Tailor Brands, the published fact is Virtual Address product offered; price not published.³⁴

Before buying one, check two things against your state. First, whether the product's address is in a state you can use: Northwest's mail forwarding lists select states only. Second, whether your state's form allows a non-residential address in the line you plan to fill. Florida, for instance, asks for principal and mailing addresses, so a mailing address alone may leave the principal office line to fill.

The table below shows each provider's published mail scanning, forwarding and business address terms, listed by our score. The best registered agents for privacy list explains which facts place a provider there.

Steps to keep a home address off new filings

The order follows the forms: decide each field before you file, then keep the reports consistent.

1. Choose an agent with its own qualifying office in the state, either a commercial service or a person with an office there. The state pages list each state's rule.
2. Decide what goes in the principal office line. If the company has no office, check whether the state's form requires a street address there and whether a business address product meets it.
3. Choose a mailing address if the form asks for one. This is the line where a paid mailing address does the most good.
4. Look at who must be named. If your state asks for every member, no address product changes that. If it asks for managers, decide who the managers are before you file.
5. Read your agent's terms on using its address. If they bar it as your business location, do not put it in the principal office or mailing lines.
6. Carry the same choices into every report. Massachusetts says "The report shall contain all of the information included in its certificate of organization". Mississippi's report starts from the existing record: "The annual report will be pre-populated with the information already in the system." If your home went into the first filing, it stays on the current record until you file a change.^{35, 36}

Changing an existing record takes the state's change or amendment filing, or the next report where the state allows updates on it; the how to change a registered agent guide covers the agent part, and the annual reports explained guide covers the report.

State pages with the rules behind these examples

The examples above come from these states' filings. Each state page has the full agent rules, and the compliance pages cover what the recurring report asks for.

• Texas registered agent rules and staying compliant in Texas
• Florida registered agent rules and staying compliant in Florida
• California registered agent rules and California compliance
• Nevada registered agent rules and Nevada compliance
• Kansas registered agent rules
• Illinois registered agent rules
• Colorado registered agent rules
• Michigan registered agent rules
• Wisconsin registered agent rules

Related guides

• What a registered agent is, the role and who may serve
• Registered agent mail forwarding, for what happens to ordinary mail
• Registered agent cost, for what the agent and add-ons renew at
• Registered agents for non-residents and the glossary of filing terms