Today's question comes from Florida and it basically says, “Thank you so much for all of this information. I am wanting to start my LLC as a sole proprietor in Florida. It will be an online business. I rent my home, so I do not want to use this address for the business or RA.” I think they mean registered agent. “Can I use a PO box requesting a street address with a suite number for both of my addresses? I'm naming myself as my own registered agent. Is a street address PO box legal, or do I have to get a virtual office? Thank you.” That is a great question. So let me just go through this again. So basically they don't want to use their home as the business office or the office or the address for the registered agent address.
There are a couple requirements in Florida if you are trying to be a registered agent for yourself, and basically you can be an individual or a Florida business, the business cannot be its own registered agent. So if you form an LLC, then you personally would need to be the registered agent. If you had a separate corporate entity, that could be the registered agent, but the business itself cannot be the registered agent. And then the address you provide must be a street address. It can't be a post office box. The way a lot of people get around this rule is they go to the post office and get the street address of the post office. It's almost like an apartment number.
Related Resource: Here is a link to our registered agent services.
So many post offices will allow you to include the street address with an apartment number, and it makes it look like it's actually a physical location or a street address when in fact it is a post office box. That's one way to do it. Another way to do it is you can rent some sort of mailing box from one of these strip centers that have different services, different places where you can rent a post office box there and give a street address for that. Or you can go and rent a virtual office, obviously in a facility, a shared office space of some sort where you can use that as well.
Typically you can use a PO box if you want to for the business. I don't think that's a problem, but you cannot use the post office box for the registered agent address, if that makes sense.
I know a lot of you have been reaching out to me to try and figure out how you can talk to me or how you can consult with me, or you've got questions about forming your LLC. And so, unfortunately I do have to charge for my time to speak with you on the phone. I'm more than happy to do that. If you want to schedule a call with me, here is the link.
So I think that's it for today. Have a great day. Take care!
