Cancelling a registered agent company
Cancelling a registered agent without a replacement in NY
By Sandeep ArnejaUpdated
The short answer
A New York LLC can revoke its registered agent and name no one in its place.
New York makes a registered agent optional: "In addition to the designation of the secretary of state," an LLC "may designate a registered agent" (LLC Law §302(a) (opens in a new tab)). A filing that only revokes the registered agent therefore leaves the LLC compliant with New York's registered-agent rule; the Secretary of State has been its agent for service of process since formation (§301(a), (b)).
Remove Registered Agent, a document filing service for New York LLCs, prepares that Certificate of Change from the LLC's live record: the revoke statement with no new agent named and, where the service of process address is still the agent company's, the address statement. The LLC signs it, and Remove Registered Agent files it electronically.
Remove Registered Agent files electronically through its operator's service company account with the Department of State: the certificate goes into the Department's system when it is submitted, dated that day, with nothing to print, mail or scan. Of the 12 Certificates of Change our operator emailed to the Department of State from June 15 to July 1, 2026, 11 were dated the day they were sent or the next business day; a mailed one is dated no earlier than the day the mail reaches the Department. If the State asks for a correction, Remove Registered Agent makes the correction and resubmits the certificate at no charge. The Certificate of Change accepted by the State, or your full $100 back.
Our operator's own filings show what each route has meant in practice. Of the 100 Certificates of Change our operator filed from January 12 to October 29, 2026, the 29 uploaded through eCorp's E-Submission, the route every certificate an LLC signs takes, had a median of under 1 day from filing to the State's response, and the 23 sent by mail a median of 7.2 days from mailing. These are past records, not a promise.
Cancelling can still leave the agent company on the State's record. Ending the contract with a registered agent company changes nothing on the State's record, and revoking the agent leaves the LLC's service of process address where it was. That is the post office address to which the Secretary of State mails a copy of any process against the LLC served on it; process is the papers served to start or carry on a legal action, such as a summons. The table below shows what the record lists in each case.
Is an LLC out of compliance with no registered agent in New York?
Key fact
No text in LLC Law §211-A, §302 or form DOS-1359-f ties revoking an agent to naming a new one.
| Question | What New York's text says |
|---|---|
| Can a Certificate of Change revoke the agent on its own? | Under §211-A(a) (opens in a new tab), an LLC may amend its articles of organization to "make, revoke or change the designation of a registered agent", and "Any one or more such changes may be accomplished by filing a certificate of change". |
| Must a New York LLC have a registered agent? | Not under §302(a), which says an LLC "may designate a registered agent upon whom process against the limited liability company may be served". |
| Who is the LLC's agent for service of process? | The Secretary of State, since formation. Under §301(b) (opens in a new tab), no LLC may be formed "unless its articles of organization or application for authority designates the secretary of state as such agent". |
| Does revoking the agent mean naming another? | No. The revoke statement has no blank for a name: it reads "The limited liability company hereby revokes the designation of its registered agent." (DOS-1359-f (opens in a new tab)) |
| After an agent resigns, must the LLC name a new one? | After a resignation, §302(e) says "A certificate designating a new registered agent may be delivered to the department of state by the limited liability company within the thirty days or thereafter." |
- LLC Law §301
The Secretary of State
The LLC's agent for service of process, named in its articles of organization
What the law says
Under §301(b), no LLC may be formed "unless its articles of organization or application for authority designates the secretary of state as such agent".After a certificate that only revokes the agent
The Secretary of State has been the agent for service of process of every New York LLC since its formation (LLC Law §301(a), (b)). - LLC Law §302
A registered agent
An additional person or company "upon whom process against the limited liability company may be served" (LLC Law §302(a))
What the law says
An LLC "may designate" one "In addition to the designation of the secretary of state" (LLC Law §302(a)).After a certificate that only revokes the agent
"REGISTERED AGENT REVOKED" on DOS Public Inquiry. Revoking the agent designates no one new.
The State does not name a new agent when one is removed: the cancelling guide explains why.
Other duties stand apart from the agent, such as the statement of address an LLC files biennially under LLC Law §301(e)(1).
Related guide: New York's rule on registered agents
What the State's record shows after you cancel a registered agent
Ending an agent company's contract does not take the company off the State's record: that takes a filing.
The table follows the two lines of a New York LLC's State record that can name an agent company, in four situations. The quoted record text comes from live records we read on October 23 and 26, 2026.
| Situation | Registered agent on the State's record | Service of process address |
|---|---|---|
| If the LLC ends its contract with the agent company and files nothing | Unchanged until a filing changes it | Unchanged: under §301(c), it "shall continue until the filing of a certificate or other instrument under this chapter directing the mailing to a different post office address" |
| If the agent company resigns, by its own filing | The designation ends thirty days after the resignation is filed (§302(e)). On all 40 records we read on October 26, 2026 whose agent alone had resigned in 2026, the entry read "Registered Agent resigned". | Unchanged by the resignation: on 16 of those 40 records, it still named an agent company |
| If the LLC files a Certificate of Change that only revokes the agent | Shows "Registered Agent Revoked", with a blank agent address, on all 14 records we read whose agent a Certificate of Change had revoked | Unchanged, as §301(c) provides |
| If the same certificate also replaces the address | Shows "Registered Agent Revoked" | Replaced as a whole: the address "is changed to read in its entirety as follows" (DOS-1359-f), and the new one is public on the State's record |
Revoking the registered agent also leaves the email address for notice of electronic service of process as it is: under LLC Law §301(c), that email address "shall continue until the filing of a certificate or other instrument under this chapter changing or deleting such email address." On a Certificate of Change, the email changes only if one of its email statements is completed (DOS-1359-f). The public DOS record shows the status of electronic service of process (e-service), "Permitted" or "Not Permitted", but never the email address itself. Where it shows "Permitted", the same certificate can also change or delete the e-service email address, as the LLC chooses.
DOS Public Inquiry
Live State recordYour LLC's name
- Registered Agent Name and AddressRevoked
- Name: REGISTERED AGENT REVOKEDAddress: Blank
- Service of Process on the Secretary of State as Agent
- The address on file, until a filing changes it
- Electronic Service of Process on the Secretary of State as agent:
- "Permitted" or "Not Permitted", never the email address itself
- Filing history
- REGISTERED AGENT_REVOKE AUTHORITY OF REGISTERED AGENT
All 14 records we read on October 23, 2026 whose agent a Certificate of Change had revoked showed the registered agent entry and the filing history this way.
Related guide: Does removing a registered agent change your service of process address?
When the agent resigned or the service already ended
A contract that has ended can leave the agent company's name on the State's record.
After a registered agent service ends, a New York LLC's State record can still name the agent company, and its service of process address can still be that company's address. One Certificate of Change can take the agent company off a New York LLC's State record and, where needed, replace the LLC's service of process address.
A registered agent may resign by its own filing: LLC Law §302(d) says "The registered agent of a limited liability company may resign as such agent", and under §302(e) the designation ends "thirty days after the filing with the department of state of the certificate of resignation." Whether an agent company files a resignation is its own choice, and a resignation leaves the service of process address where it was unless another filing changes it.
Related guide: What happens when your registered agent resigns in New York
Your contract with the agent company is a separate step
The State's record and the agent company's contract are separate: a filing changes one, the contract's terms govern the other.
Cancelling a registered agent company's yearly contract does not change a New York LLC's State record: the State keeps listing the agent, and the LLC's service of process address, until a filing changes them. Remove Registered Agent files the Certificate of Change that takes the agent company off a New York LLC's State record and, where needed, replaces the LLC's service of process address with one the LLC chooses. With the State's filing receipt in hand, the LLC can then cancel or not renew its contract with the agent company, as that contract allows.
Two separate steps
Step 1
Your New York record
With: The New York Department of State
One Certificate of Change can take the agent company off the record and, where needed, replace the service of process address. The LLC signs it, and Remove Registered Agent files it.
The State's filing receipt confirms the filingStep 2
Your contract with the agent company
With: The agent company
The LLC cancels or does not renew the contract, under that company's own terms.
Cancelling the contract alone does not change the State's record
Registered agent companies set their own terms for leaving, and the texts differ: some companies' published pages ask for a new agent before they cancel, and some allow cancelling in an online portal with no State filing. Our guide on how to cancel a registered agent service in New York quotes what agent companies' published terms ask when you leave, dated and linked, and its FAQ covers the proof some companies ask for.
Whether a company accepts the filed record is between the LLC and that company.
Related guide: Can you be your own registered agent in New York?
Related page: Removing a New York LLC's registered agent: the options compared
Charges after cancelling a registered agent service
An agent company's bill follows its contract with the LLC, not the State's record.
The State's record lists the registered agent and the LLC's service of process address; it shows nothing about what the LLC pays an agent company. A Certificate of Change changes the State's record only: none of its statements is about an agent company's contract or bill.
Many LLCs pay an agent company under a yearly contract. Of the 40,678 active New York LLCs formed from October 23, 2025 to October 22, 2026 that name a registered agent company, 28,000 name one of four agent companies whose published registered agent price is a yearly one (by our count of New York DOS open data, October 23, 2026).
Each of the six registered agent companies whose published price we read on October 29, 2026 lists it as a yearly one (one of them from an archived copy); our cancelling guide's table quotes their published terms, dated and linked. The published terms of those six each describe a renewal that can be charged automatically unless the service is cancelled before it.
When a renewal falls due, how and by when a cancel request must reach the company, and whether any refund applies are addressed under each company's published terms, where it publishes them. Whether the agent company's billing ends depends on its own terms.
Related guide: Do you have to pay a registered agent every year in NY?
Revoking the agent with no replacement, filed for you
The State's side of leaving is one certificate, and Remove Registered Agent prepares and files it.
An LLC can fill in and file that Certificate of Change itself, by email or mail. For an owner filing it by hand, it comes to at least 10 hours of work, with everything right the first time; our operator timed it. Most of those hours go to steps a quick estimate leaves out: reading the LLC Law to choose the statements, checking with the agent company, calling the Department of State and waiting for its answer, and checking everything again before mailing. In our operator's experience, one small mistake on the form brings a correction letter and a resubmission. The DOS-1359-f guide lists where the hours go.
Remove Registered Agent files electronically through its operator's service company account with the Department of State: the certificate goes into the Department's system when it is submitted, dated that day, with nothing to print, mail or scan. Of the 12 Certificates of Change our operator emailed to the Department of State from June 15 to July 1, 2026, 11 were dated the day they were sent or the next business day; a mailed one is dated no earlier than the day the mail reaches the Department. Remove Registered Agent applies LLC Law §211-A (opens in a new tab), §302 (opens in a new tab) and §301 (opens in a new tab) to your LLC's live record: which statements it calls for, and whether the address must be replaced. If the State asks for a correction, Remove Registered Agent makes the correction and resubmits the certificate at no charge.
The Certificate of Change accepted by the State, or your full $100 back.Remove Registered Agent reads the LLC's live record and prepares the certificate the record calls for: the revoke statement with no new agent named and, where the service of process address is still the agent company's, the address statement with the address the LLC chooses. A member, manager or authorized person of the LLC signs it, and Remove Registered Agent files it, checks the record afterwards and sends the State's filing receipt and what changed.
Remove Registered Agent files each signed certificate electronically through the E-Submission upload of eCorp, the Department of State's online filing system, under its operator's service company account; filers without a service company account email or mail the Certificate of Change.
Our operator's own filings show what each route has meant in practice. Of the 100 Certificates of Change our operator filed from January 12 to October 29, 2026, the 29 uploaded through eCorp's E-Submission, the route every certificate an LLC signs takes, had a median of under 1 day from filing to the State's response, and the 23 sent by mail a median of 7.2 days from mailing. These are past records, not a promise.
As of October 30, 2026, our operator has filed 100 New York Certificates of Change since January 2026, all accepted by the State: the same filing a New York LLC uses to revoke its registered agent. The Our work page lists every one: the day filed, how it was filed, the day the State responded and the days between.
Have this certificate filed for your LLC
Remove Registered Agent files a New York LLC's Certificate of Change for $100 all in, including the $30 State filing fee.
The Certificate of Change accepted by the State, or your full $100 back. How the guarantee works
What one certificate would change on your LLC's record
Remove Registered Agent reads your LLC's live State record for free, before anything is filed.
You enter your LLC's name or DOS ID in our record check. It shows the registered agent the State lists for your LLC, if any, and its service of process address, where the Secretary of State mails a copy of any process against the LLC that is served on the Secretary of State, then says what one Certificate of Change would change and what it costs.
Remove Registered Agent, a document filing service for New York LLCs, is operated by Sandeep Arneja LLC. It is not a law firm, and this page is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
- New York Limited Liability Company Law §211-A (opens in a new tab), §301 (opens in a new tab), §301-A (opens in a new tab), §302 (opens in a new tab) and §303 (opens in a new tab), on the New York State Senate's site.
- Form DOS-1359-f, from the Department of State's Certificate of Change page (opens in a new tab).
- The State's live records of 14 LLCs whose agent a Certificate of Change had revoked, read October 23, 2026, and of 40 LLCs whose agent alone had resigned in 2026, read October 26, 2026.
- New York open data: Active Corporations (opens in a new tab) (n9v6-gdp6), counted October 23, 2026.
- The agent companies' published terms and prices, linked and dated in the table of our cancelling guide.
- Our operator's Certificates of Change, each listed on Our work.
Questions
What happens if I cancel my registered agent without a replacement in New York?
Cancelling a registered agent company's yearly contract does not change a New York LLC's State record: the State keeps listing the agent, and the LLC's service of process address, until a filing changes them. After a Certificate of Change that revokes the agent is filed, no other agent is named in its place. On all 14 records we read on October 23, 2026 whose agent a Certificate of Change had revoked, the State's live record showed "Registered Agent Revoked" under "Registered Agent Name and Address", with a blank agent address, and the filing history listed "REGISTERED AGENT_REVOKE AUTHORITY OF REGISTERED AGENT". Revoking a New York LLC's registered agent does not move its service of process address: the Secretary of State keeps mailing a copy of any process against the LLC to the address on file until a filing changes it. New York law does not require an LLC to have a registered agent: an LLC "may designate" one "In addition to the designation of the secretary of state" (LLC Law §302(a)). Remove Registered Agent files that one Certificate of Change, revoking the agent and, where needed, replacing the service of process address with one the LLC chooses.
Can cancelling my registered agent put my New York LLC out of compliance?
New York makes a registered agent optional: "In addition to the designation of the secretary of state," an LLC "may designate a registered agent" (LLC Law §302(a)). A filing that only revokes the registered agent therefore leaves the LLC compliant with New York's registered-agent rule; the Secretary of State has been its agent for service of process since formation (§301(a), (b)). Other duties stand apart from the agent, such as the statement of address an LLC files biennially under LLC Law §301(e)(1).
Can I cancel my registered agent before appointing a new one?
A Certificate of Change can revoke a New York LLC's registered agent without naming another: the revoke statement on form DOS-1359-f has no blank for a name, and an LLC "may designate a registered agent" (LLC Law §302(a)). The agent company's own terms set when it treats the service as cancelled, and the texts differ: some companies' published pages ask for a new agent first, and some allow cancelling in an online portal with no State filing. Whether a company accepts the filed record is between the LLC and that company. Remove Registered Agent prepares that certificate from the LLC's live record and files it electronically after the LLC signs.
Will cancelling my registered agent leave loose ends?
After a registered agent service ends, two entries on a New York LLC's State record can still point to the agent company: the registered agent, and the service of process address, where the Secretary of State mails a copy of any process against the LLC. Both stay on the State's record as they are until a filing changes them. One Certificate of Change can revoke the registered agent, replace that address and, where the record shows electronic service of process (e-service) "Permitted", change or delete the e-service email address. Whether the agent company's billing ends depends on its own terms. Remove Registered Agent prepares that one certificate from the LLC's live record and files it electronically through eCorp's E-Submission upload; the LLC signs it.
Will I still be charged after I cancel my registered agent?
An agent company's bill follows its contract with the LLC, not the State's record. A Certificate of Change changes the State's record only. Whether and when the agent company's billing ends, including its renewal date and any deadline it sets before a charge date, is addressed under each company's published terms, where it publishes them. The State's record lists the registered agent and the LLC's service of process address; it shows nothing about what the LLC pays an agent company.
Do registered agent services renew automatically?
Each of the six registered agent companies whose published price we read on October 29, 2026 lists it as a yearly one (one of them from an archived copy). The published terms of those six each describe a renewal that can be charged automatically unless the service is cancelled before it. Whether and when the agent company's billing ends, including its renewal date and any deadline it sets before a charge date, is addressed under each company's published terms, where it publishes them. A Certificate of Change changes the State's record only.
Is it safe to cancel my registered agent service in New York?
For an LLC that is not suspended, when process is personally delivered to the Secretary of State, service on the LLC is complete at that point, and the Secretary of State then promptly sends a copy by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the post office address on file for that purpose (LLC Law §303(a)(1)). For an LLC suspended under §301-A, service through the Secretary of State follows LLC Law §301-A(e)(2). A registered agent is optional and serves "In addition to the designation of the secretary of state" (§302(a)). Revoking a New York LLC's registered agent does not move its service of process address: the Secretary of State keeps mailing a copy of any process against the LLC to the address on file until a filing changes it. One Certificate of Change, form DOS-1359-f, can revoke the registered agent and replace the service of process address on the same filing. Remove Registered Agent prepares that certificate from the LLC's live record and files it electronically after the LLC signs.
What should I check on my bill after cancelling my registered agent?
An agent company's bill follows its contract with the LLC, not the State's record. When a renewal falls due, how and by when a cancel request must reach the company, and whether any refund applies are addressed under each company's published terms, where it publishes them; the State's record shows none of them. Remove Registered Agent files the Certificate of Change that takes the agent company off the LLC's State record and sends the State's filing receipt; whether a company accepts it is between the LLC and that company.
We fill in and file the Certificate of Change for you
Remove Registered Agent files a New York LLC's Certificate of Change for $100 all in, including the $30 State filing fee.
The Certificate of Change accepted by the State, or your full $100 back. How the guarantee works
5.0 out of 5 from 337 Google reviews Read the reviews
Check my record