Is a registered agent address public record? Yes, and it covers one line of the filing.

Yes, in eight of the nine states in our table. The formation filing, or the periodic report in Colorado, states the registered agent’s name and address, and California’s Secretary of State search lists the agent’s name and address. New York is the exception: the Secretary of State is the default process agent, and a registered agent appears only if you appoint one. Delaware says the certificate information and a copy are maintained as a public record (6 Del. C. §18-206(a)(4)). California’s Secretary of State says that when you submit documents for filing you are making a public record, and that third-party websites and search engines pick up the names and addresses in it. Plan on the registered office being readable by anyone.

Some address does, in most states. The registered office is always one. Florida requires the principal office street and mailing address on the articles (§605.0201(2)(b)) and again on every annual report. California’s Statement of Information carries the principal office street address (§17702.09(a)(3)). Wyoming’s annual report gives the principal office address (W.S. 17-29-209(a)). Illinois articles state the principal place of business (805 ILCS 180/5-5(a)(1)). New York is the light one: the articles name a county, and the Secretary of State’s instructions say not to include a street address. New York does ask for a post office address where the state mails any process, and that one is on the articles.

Handle each address job separately. Put a commercial agent’s office on the registered office line. Use a business address you can lawfully use for the principal office where the state asks for one. Give a business address wherever the filing asks for a manager or member address (California says “business or residence,” Illinois says “business address”). Let someone other than you sign as organizer where the state allows it (New York and Arizona both say an organizer need not be a member). California’s Secretary of State says that if you are concerned about a residential street address, private companies provide office space, street and mailing addresses for a fee, and that a P.O. Box may be given as a mailing address. We did not verify an equivalent statement for the other states.

Not by itself. The agent covers one line. Whether names appear depends on the state’s formation and report rules. Texas requires each initial manager’s name and address, or each initial member’s if there are no managers (§3.010). Illinois requires the names and business addresses of all managers and any member with manager authority (805 ILCS 180/5-5(a)(5)). Arizona requires each manager and each member with 20 percent or more, or every member in a member-managed LLC (A.R.S. §29-3201(B)(4)). California’s Statement of Information lists managers, or members if there is no manager. Delaware’s statute requires neither, and Wyoming’s statute for the articles lists only the name and the registered office.

Form SS-4 goes to the IRS, not to a Secretary of State, so it is not part of the state formation record. The California Secretary of State says employer identification numbers are not issued by or disclosed to it. The wrinkle is Florida: the annual report asks for the company’s FEIN (§605.0212(1)(d)), and the statute makes filed annual reports part of the official record. We did not check whether Sunbiz shows that field on its results screen. The SS-4 address lines are a separate question, covered on the EIN note.

No. Texas requires the registered office to be a street address where process can be personally served on the registered agent, and says it may not be solely a mailbox or telephone answering service (Bus. Orgs. Code §5.201). Wyoming’s Secretary of State FAQ says virtual addresses and mail forwarding locations do not qualify. A mailbox can be a fine mailing address for the principal office or the IRS. It cannot be the line a commercial agent’s office belongs on.

Sometimes the next filing can replace it, but the old record may not disappear. California’s Secretary of State says personal information that is required by statute cannot be removed, and that an LLC can file a new complete Statement of Information that supersedes the old one, after which the earlier statement can be purged by statute. Texas allows a restated certificate of formation to omit the earlier manager and member names and addresses (§3.0611). We did not verify whether other states keep earlier images visible, and third-party sites may have copied the old data already. Fix it at the source before formation if you can.