Registered Agents Inc. (RAI) is the commercial registered agent behind a large share of Wyoming's business filings. For a PE firm, family office, or hedge fund running 50 to 250+ entities, the question is whether RAI's service model holds up at portfolio scale.
Claims about registered agent addresses should be evaluated against verifiable reporting and primary records, and Wyoming legislators spent two sessions arguing over registered agent duties.
The sources reviewed for this article did not identify a public enforcement action or sanction against RAI itself. They did produce a due diligence record that SEC-registered advisers and their counsel now have to weigh against their own vendor management obligations.
Who Registered Agents Inc is
Based on the reporting compiled for this article, RAI's corporate footprint is documented mostly by journalists and the Wyoming Secretary of State rather than by the company itself.
Ownership, leadership, and affiliates
Dan Keen founded RAI in 2008. Wired reported that on July 29, 2015, RAI's Wyoming incorporation documents replaced Keen as registered agent with "Bill Havre," a name Wired described as an alleged fake persona, and that RAI uses pseudonyms to sign customers' incorporation documents. RAI called that reporting outdated and inaccurate. Wired did not identify a current named owner or CEO.
The company's broader operations provide context for its registered agent business, including RAI's June 2023 acquisition of Epik, a domain registrar and web host. RAI reports that its footprint includes a worldwide headquarters at 30 N Gould St, STE R, Sheridan, WY 82801, branch offices in Sacramento, Austin, Springfield, and Tampa, and offices across U.S. jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.
Scale in Wyoming
The Buffalo Bulletin reported on April 15, 2026 that the Gould Street address represents close to 300,000 of Wyoming's 830,000 LLCs. Wyoming law sets requirements for commercial registered agents and registered offices. Any counterparty screen that keys on that address will return hundreds of thousands of unrelated entities alongside yours.
How RAI's service model fits a portfolio
RAI's public materials describe a retail registered agent offering and a Wholesale Program, but they do not identify the institutional compliance features portfolio teams rely on.
Retail terms and the wholesale program
RAI's registered agent service should be evaluated against Wyoming's registered agent requirements and the provider's current published terms. Payments run through a separate company, Corporate Filings LLC; RAI's November 2025 payment disclosure states RAI does not directly collect, process, or store payment information.
The Wholesale Program provides access to a dedicated corporate consultant and a public API, and it is marketed to CPA and law firm resellers rather than to fund managers or corporate legal departments. RAI's public wholesale materials do not publish API documentation, endpoints, or named integrations.
Capabilities RAI does not document
The Model Registered Agents Act is a non-binding model framework, not Wyoming's own enacted statute. It defines the agent's core duty as receiving and forwarding to the represented entity, at the address most recently supplied by the entity, any process, notice, or demand served on the agent. Wyoming's own operative duties for registered agents and entities are set out separately under W.S. 17-28-107. At portfolio scale, that duty runs per entity, and the public materials reviewed for this article did not disclose:
Multi-entity dashboard views, entity-level filtering, or role-based access controls
A timestamped audit trail of document receipt and forwarding
Consolidated invoicing broken down by entity, or payment segregation by entity
Reminder lead times or per-entity configuration for annual report notices
None of these gaps are unique to RAI, but they are the features a diligence team would normally ask any registered agent vendor to document before onboarding a large portfolio.
Courts have treated internal forwarding failures after service as fact-specific, focusing on whether service was valid and whether the mishandling amounts to excusable neglect. In Keserovic and M1 Transport, LLC v. SET Transport, LLC (Ind. Ct. App. 2015), the Indiana Court of Appeals held that a communication breakdown between a registered agent and a defendant did not, by itself, establish mistake, surprise, excusable neglect, or another basis for relief from judgment.
On the payment side, the SEC's 2014 action against Lincolnshire Management arose from a private equity adviser that integrated two portfolio companies owned by different funds, with distinct investor sets, and then misallocated shared expenses between them instead of keeping each fund's costs separate. Commingled vendor payments across fund entities create the same kind of audit and compliance exposure.
Public scrutiny and third-party risk
Between December 2023 and April 2026, Reuters, Wired, ICIJ, Wyoming newspapers, and the Wyoming Secretary of State put RAI's Sheridan address at the center of fraud reporting, and none of that reporting documented a sanction against RAI itself.
The record, dated
Reuters reported on December 12, 2023 that LLCs behind global hacks were represented by RAI. RAI responded that commercial registered agents are not policing agencies. In May 2024, Wired reported that Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray dissolved three RAI-registered companies the FBI tied to North Korean Ministry of Defence fraud. Wired also reported on June 5, 2024 that Gray's office had proposed ways of preventing fraud and abuse of corporate filings by commercial registered agents.
The subsequent reporting, audit, and legislative developments were:
ICIJ's investigation found shell companies at the Sheridan address had collected millions in fraudulent COVID relief funds. RAI spokesperson Dan Mahoney said RAI's presence on those records has been misconstrued as a controlling interest in, or extensive relationship with, those entities.
The Wyoming SOS reported conducting 49 in-person compliance reviews connected to the address in 2025. The source material available for this article does not specify whether that count refers to audits of individual entities, site visits, or formal examinations under W.S. 17-28-108, so the exact scope needs confirmation before this figure runs again.
Wyoming enacted Senate File 56 as Enrolled Act No. 49, signed by Governor Mark Gordon on February 28, 2025, effective July 1, 2025. It added providing false or fraudulent information to a registered agent, as determined by the Secretary of State during or after an examination under W.S. 17-28-108 or after notification from the registered agent, as a new ground for administrative dissolution, revocation, or forfeiture. That is narrower than a general power to dissolve a business on an agent's say-so: the finding has to come from an SOS examination or the agent's own notification, and it adds to existing dissolution grounds rather than creating a freestanding one.
Senate File 82, which would have required agents to retain owner names and addresses, was tabled by a House committee in early 2026 and did not advance during that session.
These developments add to the information that advisers and counsel can weigh during vendor due diligence.
Why this reaches your vendor file
NIST's Cybersecurity Supply Chain Risk Management framework lists ownership, key leadership, and foreign legal obligations among its due diligence categories for third-party vendors, and the SEC's examinations staff has previously flagged vendor management as a cybersecurity risk area. A registered agent whose leadership is unconfirmed answers those categories poorly for an SEC-registered adviser.
FinCEN's final rule, effective August 14, 2026, permanently exempts U.S.-formed companies and U.S. persons from beneficial ownership information reporting under the Corporate Transparency Act, and FinCEN has announced it will delete previously reported U.S.-person data. Foreign entities registered to do business in the U.S. remain subject to BOI reporting for their non-U.S.-person owners.
For a domestic Wyoming LLC, FinCEN's BOI system is no longer a required ownership-verification source; counsel should rely on state filings, formation records, KYC materials, and other appropriate sources instead.
What an agent lapse costs and what a switch costs
For the Delaware corporations, LLCs, and foreign limited partnerships discussed below, an agent resignation starts a statutory clock that differs by entity type and by whether a successor is named at the same time. Wyoming entities face their own notice requirements and cure periods. Filing fees to appoint or change a registered agent vary by state and filing type.
Delaware and Wyoming consequences
Delaware's registered agent resignation rules run on a 30-day timeline. Under 8 Del. C. § 136(a), a corporation's registered agent may resign without naming a successor by filing a certificate with the Secretary of State, effective 30 days after filing; under § 136(c), if the corporation has not obtained a successor within that period, its certificate of incorporation is subject to forfeiture as set out in that subsection.
For LLCs, 6 Del. C. § 18-104(d) authorizes a parallel resignation-without-successor filing on the same 30-day timeline; it also expressly extends to LLCs whose certificate of formation has already been cancelled under § 18-1108 for failure to maintain a registered agent. Section 18-104(d) governs the agent's own resignation; the cancellation consequence for failing to maintain a registered agent arises under the separate LLC cancellation provisions, including § 18-1108, rather than from § 18-104(d) directly. Foreign limited partnerships follow a parallel structure under § 17-104, with cancellation traced to § 17-1110.
An LLC that lets its certificate lapse owes a $200 certificate-of-revival fee under § 18-1105(a)(3), plus any annual tax, penalties, and interest that accrued while it was cancelled. The equivalent corporate revival fee could not be confirmed against an official Division of Corporations source for this article and should be verified against the current fee schedule before publication. A corporation whose charter remains forfeited also owes the franchise taxes and penalties that accrued while the certificate was forfeited, inoperative, void, or expired, under Delaware's renewal and revival provisions; a fixed multiplier is sometimes attached to long-forfeited charters, but the current text of § 312 needs to be confirmed before this article states one as a rule.
Wyoming law requires a resigning registered agent to notify each affected entity at least 30 days before filing a resignation statement with the Secretary of State, under W.S. 17-28-103. The statute governs the resignation procedure itself; the specific claim that service of process then shifts to the Secretary of State needs confirmation against W.S. 17-28-104 (service on a business entity) before it runs in this article.
For corporations, Wyoming law allows the SOS to move toward administrative dissolution if an entity fails to report a registered agent change within a required window, with written notice and a cure period before dissolution takes effect; the exact reporting window and cure period need subsection-level confirmation before this article states them as fixed numbers. A dissolved Wyoming LLC can apply for reinstatement, though the length of that window needs confirmation against the current LLC statute before it is stated here.
Wyoming's current reinstatement forms show separate reinstatement fees, penalties, and agent-related filing fees rather than one flat figure. For an LLC reinstating after losing its registered agent, the form lists a $100 reinstatement fee, a $250 penalty, and the standard $5 fee to appoint a new registered agent. For a limited partnership in the same situation, the form lists a $100 reinstatement fee, a $100 penalty, and the same $5 agent-appointment fee.
Change-of-agent filings by state
Official fee schedules for five common portfolio states show what a switch costs per entity and whether the incoming agent can file in bulk.
State | Form | Fee | Agent-initiated bulk option |
|---|---|---|---|
Delaware | Certificate to change registered agent and/or registered office | $50 (LLC, LP, for-profit corporation); $5 (exempt corporation) | Blanket Certificate: $169 plus $2 per entity in a different municipality, corporations only |
Wyoming | Statement of change (requires new agent's written consent) | $5 per entity | None found. Filed by mail only; typical processing up to 15 business days |
Texas | Form 401 | $15 (for-profit); $5 (nonprofit) | Form 408: $15 per entity, $750 cap for for-profit filers, under Texas BOC § 5.203 |
New York | Certificate of Change | $30; filed by mail only | None found |
California | Statement of Information | No separate fee for an agent-only change; entity-specific filing rules still apply | None found |
Texas is the only surveyed state with a codified agent-initiated multi-entity change, authorized under Texas BOC § 5.203 and confirmed by the Texas SOS FAQ; confirm current Form 408 availability immediately before publication, since forms and procedures can change. Wyoming law allows an entity to change its registered agent by filing a statement of change with the Secretary of State.
Both Delaware's resignation-without-successor timeline and Wyoming's notice requirements start running as soon as a registered agent files its resignation, so a portfolio team needs the replacement agent's appointment filed before the departing agent's resignation and notice periods run out. The exact timeline differs depending on whether a successor is named in the same filing and by entity type, so confirm the applicable procedure for each entity before relying on a single sequence.
Consolidate portfolio registered agent coverage with Discern
You have now weighed a provider whose portfolio tooling is undocumented and whose Sheridan address sits in multiple investigative files. Discern audits entities before onboarding and remediates historical standing issues, so entities you inherit through an acquisition start clean, and its registered agent coverage runs across all 51 jurisdictions with change-of-agent filings included at no charge.
For PE firms and fund managers, that coverage extends to a multi-entity payment system with segregated fund management by entity, annual report filing, and foreign registration handled from a single platform, so compliance visibility does not depend on reconciling invoices and notices across a dozen separate vendor relationships.
This article provides general compliance information and does not constitute legal advice. Consult qualified legal counsel for guidance specific to your situation.
Frequently asked questions
These questions summarize the main operational considerations for evaluating or replacing a registered agent across a multi-entity portfolio.
What should a multi-entity business evaluate in a registered agent?
Evaluate whether the provider documents multi-entity dashboard views, entity-level filtering, role-based access controls, timestamped records of document receipt and forwarding, consolidated invoicing by entity, payment segregation, and configurable annual report reminders. These features help your team audit registered agent performance across a large portfolio.
Has the reporting about RAI produced an enforcement action against the company?
The sources reviewed for this article did not identify a public enforcement action or sanction against RAI itself. They did connect companies using RAI's Sheridan address to cybercrime, North Korea-linked fraud, and fraudulent COVID relief claims, creating information that advisers and counsel can consider during vendor due diligence.
What can happen when a registered agent resigns?
For the Delaware entity types discussed above, resignation starts a statutory clock that can lead to corporate charter forfeiture, LLC certificate cancellation, or cancellation of a foreign limited partnership's registration if no successor is designated, though the exact trigger differs by entity type. Wyoming applies its own registered agent resignation procedure, with notice to affected entities, and corporations may face administrative dissolution if they fail to notify the Secretary of State in time after their registered agent resigns. Consult qualified counsel and current official sources for the rule that applies to a specific entity.
How much does changing a registered agent cost?
Among the surveyed states, ordinary per-entity filing fees range from $0 to $50; excluding California's no-separate-fee Statement of Information change, the paid range is $5 to $50. Separate bulk procedures are available in some circumstances. Fees, forms, and filing methods can change, so confirm each amount and procedure against the current Secretary of State schedule before planning a portfolio migration.
Which records make registered agent service easier to audit?
A timestamped record of when legal documents were received and forwarded provides a clear delivery history. Entity-level indexing, instant notifications, searchable document storage, and invoicing separated by entity also help legal, finance, and compliance teams reconcile activity across a portfolio.
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