Don’t get it twisted, ya’ll. When you submit papers to the Secretary of State without following his meticulous guidelines, you will be turned away. It will cost you extra money and time. And you will be on the receiving end of some first-class Secretary of State email smugness (his favorite part of the job).There are a few things you can do to prevent this from happening, the first of which is; always trust your Accurate Serve process server’s advice (On matters of the Secretary of State, exercise, nutrition and best MC’s in the game).
And in order to get to the solution, let’s look at the process so we can all be on the same page and we never have to talk about this again (dear God please let this be the last time).
So let’s get to it:
If a registered agent is unable to be found, the Secretary of State can be served (in lieu of the M.I.A. agent). Simple, right? We all know where the Secretary of State is holed up. We can scoot on over and drop off papers and bounce.
Wrong.
There’s a process.
First things, first. The summons has to list the specific statute and chapter that determines the Secretary of State as Registered Agent. This explanation can also be given in the form of a cover letter.
If the entity named in the summons on the “command” line is active on business, proof (in the form of a non-serve affidavit) must be provided that the primary registered agent was attempted first. If the entity is no longer active, proof of first attempt is not needed.
Finally, a check for $8.75 must be included.
If ANY of these guidelines is not followed, the documents are refused and we have to charge you a second time for service (Sorry? Maybe listen next time?)
Look, we get that doing extra work sucks. But you’re doing yourself a disservice when you ignore our wisdom. Follow our lead to save time and money and make Secretary of State Detzner proud. Or at least deny him the (oddly real) pleasure of turning your papers away.
