Maryland LLC Business Address question

[PTKen]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland

Hello. I want to form a single owner LLC which will be an online business (no physical presence). I will work from my laptop where ever I am, often from home. On the Maryland form for Articles of Organization, I will use a registered agent service for the Company and Address of the registered agent, I will name my business name, but what do I put for item (3) “The address of the Limited Liability Company in Maryland is…”? I prefer to keep my home address out of this, but if I don’t use that then what other address can I use? Can I leave that item blank?

Thank you.

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland

Hello. I want to form a single owner LLC which will be an online business (no physical presence). I will work from my laptop where ever I am, often from home. On the Maryland form for Articles of Organization, I will use a registered agent service for the Company and Address of the registered agent, I will name my business name, but what do I put for item (3) “The address of the Limited Liability Company in Maryland is…”? I prefer to keep my home address out of this, but if I don’t use that then what other address can I use? Can I leave that item blank?

Thank you.

See, here's the rub. The government likes to be able to reach out and touch you if the need arises.

 

[adjusterjack]

I suspect that you will have to use your home address.

Confirmation of that is not easily found on the MD government website so you will have to call the regulatory agency and ask.

The government wants to be able to find you if necessary.

Just like you put your home address on your tax returns.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland

Hello. I want to form a single owner LLC which will be an online business (no physical presence). I will work from my laptop where ever I am, often from home. On the Maryland form for Articles of Organization, I will use a registered agent service for the Company and Address of the registered agent, I will name my business name, but what do I put for item (3) “The address of the Limited Liability Company in Maryland is…”? I prefer to keep my home address out of this, but if I don’t use that then what other address can I use? Can I leave that item blank?

Thank you.

Here is a link that tells you how to form a limited liability company in the state of Maryland: https://www.peoples-law.org/forming-limited-liability-company-llc-state-maryland

Look at "Legal Requirements and Paperwork" (click on links to the laws).

You cannot leave out the address for your LLC.

 

[FlyingRon]

Your option other than using your home or physical business address, is to contract with some other business to be your registered agent in MD. There are companies that specialize in this. Google "maryland registered agent."

Frankly, I've used my home address for my Virginia LLC for a long time. It's never been an issue. I get a little junk mail, but less than I get that's not business related. Oddly, it's the data for the Business Telephone Line I have that causes me more grief than the LLC filigns.

 

[quincy]

Your option other than using your home or physical business address, is to contract with some other business to be your registered agent in MD. There are companies that specialize in this. Google "maryland registered agent."

Frankly, I've used my home address for my Virginia LLC for a long time. It's never been an issue. I get a little junk mail, but less than I get that's not business related. Oddly, it's the data for the Business Telephone Line I have that causes me more grief than the LLC filigns.

The main thing is that there must be a physical address in Maryland for both the LLC and the registered agent (no post office box).

 

[adjusterjack]

(no post office box).

And no "mail box" services that look like physical street locations. They got wise to that decades ago.

 

[PTKen]

Thank you for the replies. I understand that the gvt. needs to contact me, but isn't that what the registered agent service is for?

Is the entire Articles of Organization public record, or just the registered agent?

I have two concerns about using my home address for the LLC business address. 1) There are a lot of hackers and criminals online that I would like to prevent from seeing my home address. I'd be fine if it was an actual business address, but I just don't want to put my family at risk for some crazy person or someone with bad intentions to so easily find where we live. 2) Is there a problem listing my home as the business address in terms of keeping personal assets separate from the LLC (for liability protection reasons)?

 

[Zigner]

Thank you for the replies. I understand that the gvt. needs to contact me, but isn't that what the registered agent service is for?

No, a registered agent is the physical person who can receive service of legal documents on behalf of the entity.

 

[PTKen]

No, a registered agent is the physical person who can receive service of legal documents on behalf of the entity.

Okay, thanks. I thought that was essentially the same thing. It's only for being served by the court. I read somewhere that the registered agent would also receive tax documents, etc, so maybe that was a poor resource.

 

[PTKen]

It's been suggested to me that I could use a UPS store box for the business address. Is that the same as using a P.O. Box? Do I need to put a physical address? Another reason for resisting this is that, being it is an online business, my home is not actually where I will conduct business. I will certainly do some work from home, but I will also be doing it wherever I find an internet connection. No particular physical location.

I'm not trying to sidestep any laws, just looking for personal privacy for the online business and I want to get it right.

Thanks.

 

[FlyingRon]

The address must be something that is open during normal business hours and staffed by someone who will accept service. You'll have to ask the UPS Store personnel if they want to play registered agent for you.

As stated, you can't use a PO box, a PMB (which is what the UPS store is), Rural Route. You must give a physical location that someone can get to during normal business hours to serve the legal papers.

Use your home address or purchase the services of one of the registered agent companies.
You've been told the answer. Stop weaseling.

 

[quincy]

It's been suggested to me that I could use a UPS store box for the business address. Is that the same as using a P.O. Box? Do I need to put a physical address? Another reason for resisting this is that, being it is an online business, my home is not actually where I will conduct business. I will certainly do some work from home, but I will also be doing it wherever I find an internet connection. No particular physical location.

I'm not trying to sidestep any laws, just looking for personal privacy for the online business and I want to get it right.

Thanks.

You can look into the possibility of filing your LLC through a professional registered agent, so only your company name appears along with your registered agent's name and address. The registered agent will have your name and home address. But you will want to make use of the contact numbers in the link I provided earlier to see if Maryland accepts a registered agent's address for your business address.


Actually, you can get most of your questions on setting up your LLC answered by using the contact numbers in the link I provided earlier.

Most states will not accept as your physical business address a UPS store or USPS office address, by the way, because you do not do business there. They do.

Although I can understand that you might be wary of using your home address for your business address, most home-based businesses do just that without an issue. You just need to keep your LLC business separate from your personal business, as you would for any home-based business.

 

[PTKen]

The address must be something that is open during normal business hours and staffed by someone who will accept service. You'll have to ask the UPS Store personnel if they want to play registered agent for you.

As stated, you can't use a PO box, a PMB (which is what the UPS store is), Rural Route. You must give a physical location that someone can get to during normal business hours to serve the legal papers.

Use your home address or purchase the services of one of the registered agent companies.
You've been told the answer. Stop weaseling.

Excuse me, but I am not trying to weasel out of anything. You misread the posts. I have already stated in my original post that I plan to use a registered agent service, which is for the purpose that you describe. My questions are about the listing of the business address and whether I have to use my home address for that.

 

[PTKen]

You can look into the possibility of filing your LLC through a professional registered agent, so only your company name appears along with your registered agent's name and address. The registered agent will have your name and home address. But you will want to make use of the contact numbers in the link I provided earlier to see if Maryland accepts a registered agent's address for your business address.


Actually, you can get most of your questions on setting up your LLC answered by using the contact numbers in the link I provided earlier.

Most states will not accept as your physical business address a UPS store or USPS office address, by the way, because you do not do business there. They do.

Although I can understand that you might be wary of using your home address for your business address, most home-based businesses do just that without an issue. You just need to keep your LLC business separate from your personal business, as you would for any home-based business.

I do plan to call the contact numbers you provided as soon as I have a chance. I appreciate the help. I suspected as much about the UPS store but I wanted to try and verify this. I also understand that many home businesses use the home address and I will probably end up doing that. Because this business will be on the internet, I just want to explore any possible alternatives for keeping the address private. Thanks again for your help.