RI registered agent
Rhode Island. $7 a year. Shallow end.
The rule is at the bottom of this page. We start with the bill, because that is the part that gets wet first. Every Rhode Island company names an agent with a real address in the state. We have the address. We keep a bowl at it.
The bill to climb back out
The climb-out fee
... whether domestic or foreign, a penalty in the amount of fifty dollars ($50.00) for each year or part of a year that has elapsed since the issuance of ...
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-1602(b)(1); § 7-1.2-1312(a); § 7-16-43(a)(2) (LLC)
The summons, and where it goes instead
Where the papers go instead
Whenever a corporation fails to appoint or maintain a registered agent in this state, or whenever its registered agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the registered office, then the secretary of state is an agent of the corporation upon whom any process, notice, or demand may be served. ...
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-503(b); § 7-16-11(e) (LLC)
How Rhode Island drains a company like yours
The state's own remedies for an agent that is furniture. Quoted. We added nothing, which is our specialty.
Drained by the state
(4) The corporation has failed for thirty (30) days to appoint and maintain a registered agent in this state as required by this chapter; ...
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-1310(a)(4)-(5)
Out-of-state companies: authority pulled
The certificate of authority of a foreign corporation to transact business in this state may be revoked by the secretary of state ... when: ... (2) The corporation fails to appoint and maintain a registered agent in this state as required by this chapter; ...
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-1414(a)(2)-(3)
Drained by the state
(4) The limited liability company has failed for thirty (30) days to appoint and maintain a resident agent in this state as required by this chapter; ...
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-41(a)(4)-(5)
The penalty
... agent for that corporation without the registered agent's authority, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, may be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by ...
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-501(b)
The Rhode Island annual report. Also skippable.
Rhode Island sends a bill every year to keep your company listed. Here is the bill. Not paying it is a saving of the exact kind we are.
Yearly report, LLC
$50 each year. Every year.
For filing an annual report, a fee of fifty dollars ($50.00)
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-65(13)
Yearly report, corporation
$50 each year. Every year.
An annual report, fifty dollars ($50.00)
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-1602
Do we do that
We are the bowl. The bowl does not do things.
The rule, at the bottom where we left it
What the state asks
The Rhode Island code, word for word:
... or (iii) A foreign corporation ... authorized to transact business in this state, in each case, having a business office identical with the office of such registered agent which generally is open during normal business hours to accept service of process ...
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-501(a); § 7-16-11(a) (LLC)
The quoted text was captured by incFACTS on 2026-08-01 and checked against the code on 2026-08-10. Laws move. Puddles do not.