How long does it take to change a registered agent in Michigan?

A change of resident agent is effective on the date LARA files it, unless the form states a later effective date within 90 days after it is received. For the standard turnaround, check with LARA's Corporations Division. If you need it faster, LARA offers paid expedited service; 24-hour review of a document for an existing entity costs $100 on top of the filing fee, requested with Form CSCL/CD-272. This timeline matters because your new agent can only receive service of process on your LLC's behalf once the change is filed. During the waiting period, your old agent remains the agent of record. You can file the Certificate of Change of Registered Office and/or Change of Resident Agent (Form CSCL/CD 520) online at michigan.gov/corpfileonline or by mail to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Corporations Division.

What is the cost to change a registered agent in Michigan?

Michigan charges a $5 filing fee to change your resident agent, submitted with the Certificate of Change of Registered Office and/or Change of Resident Agent (Form CSCL/CD 520) to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). The fee is nonrefundable. Expedited service is optional and costs extra, and Michigan law also lets LARA charge an additional fee for a document filed by electronic transmission, so check the total shown when you file online. For LLC owners, the state cost is minimal, though you should budget for any agent service fees if using a third-party provider rather than designating yourself. To proceed, download Form CSCL/CD 520 from LARA's limited liability company forms page or file online at michigan.gov/corpfileonline.

Can I be my own registered agent in Michigan?

Yes, you can serve as your own registered agent in Michigan if you maintain a physical street address within the state. A PO Box doesn't qualify. However, this role carries significant legal responsibility: you must be available during standard business hours to personally receive service of process, subpoenas, and other official documents on behalf of your LLC. The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) requires the agent's registered office street address on the Articles of Organization (Form CSCL/CD-700), and Michigan law requires an individual agent to live in Michigan. If you miss receiving critical legal paperwork, your LLC could face default judgments or missed lawsuit deadlines without knowing proceedings were initiated. Many Michigan LLC owners appoint a professional registered agent service instead to ensure documents are reliably received and forwarded. If you choose self-representation, verify LARA's current address requirements at michigan.gov/lara before filing or amending your registration.

Will changing my registered agent affect my LLC's good standing?

No, changing your resident agent won't affect your LLC's good standing status in Michigan. The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) doesn't penalize agent changes when filed properly. However, Michigan law requires every LLC to continuously maintain a resident agent. If your current agent resigns, the resignation takes effect 30 days after the agent files the notice with LARA, or sooner if you appoint a successor, and the law requires the LLC to promptly appoint one. If there is no agent, a person suing the LLC can serve the lawsuit through the state administrator, and you may not learn of it in time. To avoid this, file the Certificate of Change of Registered Office and/or Change of Resident Agent (Form CSCL/CD 520) with LARA before your current agent's resignation takes effect. The fee is $5. Next step: Contact your current agent to find out when it plans to stop serving, then file your change form before that date.

Should I file online or mail my registered agent change in Michigan?

Either works. LARA accepts the Certificate of Change of Registered Office and/or Change of Resident Agent (Form CSCL/CD 520) online at michigan.gov/corpfileonline, by mail to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Corporations Division, or in person. Online filing avoids mail time and lets you file outside business hours. The filing fee is $5 by any method; Michigan law lets LARA charge an extra fee for documents filed by electronic transmission, so check the total shown when you file online. Once filed, your new agent information appears in LARA's business entity search at michigan.gov/corpentitysearch.

How to Change Your Registered Agent in Michigan

Complete guide to updating your LLC's resident agent (Michigan's term for a registered agent) with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Corporations Division, including the required form and fee.

By Edmond Hui · Last updated: October 2026

Affiliate disclosure: We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Get registered agent service from NorthwestRegistered agent service is $125/yr. The included first year applies only when you form a new LLC with them ($39 plus your state's filing fee), so it does not apply to an LLC you already have. Registered agent customers are enrolled by default in annual report filing at $100 plus state fees, charged automatically to your saved payment method and cancellable any time.

Not sure which service is right? Compare formation services →

Step diagram for changing an LLC's registered agent in Michigan, showing the 5 filing steps required by the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Corporations Division. — The 5 steps to change your registered agent in Michigan. Source: Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Corporations Division.

How to File

1
Choose Your New Registered Agent
Select a new agent who is either an individual living in Michigan, or a Michigan corporation or LLC (or one from another state authorized to do business in Michigan). The agent's home or business office must be the registered office, at a Michigan street address rather than a P.O. box.
2
Obtain Written Consent
Get your new agent's agreement to accept the appointment. Michigan's change form has no consent line, so keep the agent's written agreement in your LLC records.
3
Complete the Change of Registered Agent Form
Complete the Certificate of Change of Registered Office and/or Change of Resident Agent (Form CSCL/CD 520). Include your LLC's name, its LARA identification number, the agent and registered office now on file, and the new agent's name and registered office address. It is signed by a manager if the LLC is manager-managed, by a member if it is member-managed, or by an authorized agent of the company.
4
Submit Form and Pay Fee
Submit the form online at michigan.gov/corpfileonline, or mail it with a check or money order payable to the State of Michigan to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Corporations Division. The filing fee is $5.
5
Update Your Records
Once the change is processed, update your internal LLC records and notify banks, vendors, and other parties of your new registered agent information. Keep a copy of the filed form for your records.

Need the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Corporations Division?

Go directly to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Corporations Division website.

File with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Corporations Division →

When Should You Change Your Registered Agent?

Your current registered agent is moving out of Michigan or closing their business
You're unsatisfied with your current agent's service quality or responsiveness
You want to switch from being your own agent to using a professional service
Your registered agent's fees have increased beyond your budget

Hiring a service is optional. You can name yourself or another individual with a street address in Michigan, and the FAQ below gives Michigan's own rule.

Registered agent services for Michigan LLCs, by renewal price

Affiliate disclosure: Northwest Registered Agent, Bizee, ZenBusiness and LegalZoom pay us a commission if you sign up through our link, at no extra cost to you. We list only the registered agent services we have an affiliate relationship with, so this is not a survey of the whole market.

This table is not scored. The four are listed cheapest annual renewal first, and the rows below it say which one fits which situation. The scored ranking, and the formula behind it, is on the formation services review, which orders them on three-year cost, BBB rating and Trustpilot score.

Service	With formation, year 1	Annual renewal	BBB	Trustpilot	Privacy
Northwest Registered Agent	Included with $39 formation	$125/yr	A	4.1/5 (297)	Says it does not sell your information; runs its own servers
Bizee	Free year one (some visitors are being shown shorter free periods, so confirm at checkout)	$149/yr	C (unaccredited)	4.8/5 (26,100+)	No data-sharing commitment
ZenBusiness	$99, not included in any plan	$199/yr	A	4.8/5 (32,500+)	Partial
LegalZoom	Not included, $249 extra	$249/yr	A+	4.6/5 (32,900+)	Partial

Note: Bizee holds a C rating from the BBB and is not accredited. BBB's profile carries a live alert describing a pattern of complaints about unexpected charges, difficulty canceling and filing delays, and Bizee has posted a response to it. We flag this so you can make an informed choice.

Prices are each provider's standard published rates; year-one pricing applies when you form your LLC through the same service. BBB and Trustpilot figures as recorded September 15, 2026, not re-checked since, and both sources update continuously. These are the dates the figures were last written to our dataset, which is the most we can show: they are not verification dates. See how we evaluate these companies in our full formation services review →

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state publishes about filing deadlines, fees, and the consequences of missing them, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you what your own company owes: the date turns on when and where you formed, states change these rules between our reviews, and in several states an entity-level tax falls due in a year when no report does. Confirm your own dates with the filing office named on this page before you rely on one here, because missing a deadline can cost the company its good standing or, in many states, its existence.

Read this guide for another state:

Frequently Asked Questions

: A change of resident agent is effective on the date LARA files it, unless the form states a later effective date within 90 days after it is received. For the standard turnaround, check with LARA's Corporations Division. If you need it faster, LARA offers paid expedited service; 24-hour review of a document for an existing entity costs $100 on top of the filing fee, requested with Form CSCL/CD-272. This timeline matters because your new agent can only receive service of process on your LLC's behalf once the change is filed. During the waiting period, your old agent remains the agent of record. You can file the Certificate of Change of Registered Office and/or Change of Resident Agent (Form CSCL/CD 520) online at michigan.gov/corpfileonline or by mail to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Corporations Division.
: Michigan charges a $5 filing fee to change your resident agent, submitted with the Certificate of Change of Registered Office and/or Change of Resident Agent (Form CSCL/CD 520) to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). The fee is nonrefundable. Expedited service is optional and costs extra, and Michigan law also lets LARA charge an additional fee for a document filed by electronic transmission, so check the total shown when you file online. For LLC owners, the state cost is minimal, though you should budget for any agent service fees if using a third-party provider rather than designating yourself. To proceed, download Form CSCL/CD 520 from LARA's limited liability company forms page or file online at michigan.gov/corpfileonline.
: Yes, you can serve as your own registered agent in Michigan if you maintain a physical street address within the state. A PO Box doesn't qualify. However, this role carries significant legal responsibility: you must be available during standard business hours to personally receive service of process, subpoenas, and other official documents on behalf of your LLC. The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) requires the agent's registered office street address on the Articles of Organization (Form CSCL/CD-700), and Michigan law requires an individual agent to live in Michigan. If you miss receiving critical legal paperwork, your LLC could face default judgments or missed lawsuit deadlines without knowing proceedings were initiated. Many Michigan LLC owners appoint a professional registered agent service instead to ensure documents are reliably received and forwarded. If you choose self-representation, verify LARA's current address requirements at michigan.gov/lara before filing or amending your registration.
: No, changing your resident agent won't affect your LLC's good standing status in Michigan. The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) doesn't penalize agent changes when filed properly. However, Michigan law requires every LLC to continuously maintain a resident agent. If your current agent resigns, the resignation takes effect 30 days after the agent files the notice with LARA, or sooner if you appoint a successor, and the law requires the LLC to promptly appoint one. If there is no agent, a person suing the LLC can serve the lawsuit through the state administrator, and you may not learn of it in time. To avoid this, file the Certificate of Change of Registered Office and/or Change of Resident Agent (Form CSCL/CD 520) with LARA before your current agent's resignation takes effect. The fee is $5. Next step: Contact your current agent to find out when it plans to stop serving, then file your change form before that date.
: Either works. LARA accepts the Certificate of Change of Registered Office and/or Change of Resident Agent (Form CSCL/CD 520) online at michigan.gov/corpfileonline, by mail to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Corporations Division, or in person. Online filing avoids mail time and lets you file outside business hours. The filing fee is $5 by any method; Michigan law lets LARA charge an extra fee for documents filed by electronic transmission, so check the total shown when you file online. Once filed, your new agent information appears in LARA's business entity search at michigan.gov/corpentitysearch.

Sources

8 documents

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Michigan sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so. Where we hold the citation but no stable public link, the citation is printed on its own rather than pointed at a guessed address.

Michigan statute: MCL 450.4207 (registered office and resident agent)
Michigan statute: MCL 450.4208 (resignation of resident agent)
Michigan statute: MCL 450.4209 (change of registered office or resident agent)
Michigan statute: MCL 450.5101 (fees)
LARA: Form CSCL/CD 520, Certificate of Change of Registered Office and/or Change of Resident Agent (Rev. 07/25)
michigan.gov/lara/bureau-list/cscl/corpsMichigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Corporations Division: business entity filings
legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-450-4207Michigan statute: Annual Statement
michigan.gov/lara/bureau-list/cscl/corps/limited-liability-co/filling-requirements-continued/annual-filingsMichigan agency guidance: Annual Statement

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Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.

How we check facts

How to File

Choose Your New Registered Agent

Obtain Written Consent

Complete the Change of Registered Agent Form

Submit Form and Pay Fee

Update Your Records