New Mexico Registered Agent Resignation: A How-To Guide

Notifying the New Mexico LLC

The only entity you’re required to notify when you resign is the Secretary of State. Then, once they process your resignation, they will send a copy to your LLC. That said, it’s often helpful for everyone involved if you inform your company beforehand. This gives them more time to plan for a change of registered agent and facilitate a smooth transition.

Plus, it will help you pass off your duties sooner. Your resignation doesn’t take effect right away. In fact, you remain on file for 30 days after the Secretary of State processes your statement. But if your LLC already has a replacement lined up, that person can step in right away and take over.

Submitting Your Resignation

After you’ve reached out to your LLC, you’re ready to formally resign. If you’re searching the Secretary of State website for an official statement of resignation document, you won’t find one because New Mexico doesn’t have one, so you’ll need to create your own. When drafting a statement of resignation, make sure to include:

• Your name and mailing address
• The LLC name (exactly as it appears on the Secretary of State’s records)
• The state where the LLC was formed
• A statement of your resignation
• Date
• Your signature

That wasn’t so bad. And what’s even better is that there’s no filing fee, so put your checkbook away – you won’t need it. What you will need is a Document Delivery Instruction form, which is required for all New Mexico business submissions to ensure expediency in the filing process. Include the Document Delivery Instructions with two copies of your statement of resignation, and send everything to:

Office of the New Mexico Secretary of State

ATTN: Corporations Bureau

325 Don Gaspar Ave, Suite 300

Santa Fe, NM 87501

Or, if you live in Santa Fe and you’re out running errands, you may hand-deliver them to the 3rd floor of the State Capitol Annex North Building, located at the same address. Faxes, sent to (505) 827-4387, are also allowed.

Typical processing time for the Secretary of State’s office is ten business days. Not fast enough? Submit an Expedite Form and pay $100 for two-day service or $150 for same-day service. As mentioned above, your resignation won’t officially take effect until 30 days after it’s processed unless your LLC brings on a replacement sooner. Just be aware that you may still receive service of process for up to a month after you resign.

Handing off Your Responsibilities

When you put down your registered agent responsibilities, someone else has to pick them up, or your LLC will lose its good standing with the state. Help your LLC keep its momentum by carefully planning your transition.

This starts with finding a successor who’s ready to take over right away. Even a small gap in registered agent coverage can result in severe penalties. After you’re off the books and the LLC is without a registered agent, they have 30 days to appoint a new one before falling into delinquency. If they still haven’t appointed someone 60 days after that, the LLC will be administratively dissolved by the state.

As a reminder, anyone appointed as your replacement must meet New Mexico’s registered agent requirements. They must:

• Be an individual resident of New Mexico or a corporation authorized to do business in the state
• Have a physical New Mexico address (P.O. boxes aren’t allowed)
• Have a mailing address in New Mexico
• Be authorized to conduct business in New Mexico, if a foreign entity.

Some companies opt to appoint one of their individual members as the registered agent and, while this is allowed, it can save a lot of time and stress to use a professional service instead.

We recommend using a registered agent service, which can take over registered agent duties, freeing up more time for the LLC’s managers to focus on running the business.

Finishing Up

You do a lot for your New Mexico LLC. You’re essentially the shield that protects it from fines, the filter that catches important documents, the conductor that keeps it on track with compliance.

Because you play such an important role, it’s crucial that you follow the resignation procedures exactly — and potentially provide a replacement agent for the business. Otherwise, you might find yourself and your LLC in hot water.

Follow this guide and you’ll be totally fine. Soon, you’ll be on to your next project, whether that’s starting a new business in New Mexico or something completely different.

If you need a fresh start and would like to form a brand new LLC, there are plenty of services that can take care of this for you. ZenBusiness and Northwest are two very popular options.