Every California corporation, LLC, limited partnership and LLP must designate an agent for service of process, and a large share of the commercial agents that take that job keep their offices in downtown Sacramento, within blocks of the Capitol and the Secretary of State. StrikeServe is based on K Street in the same neighborhood. Upload the summons and complaint, subpoena or other process, give us the entity name, and a California registered process server delivers it to the agent and returns a signed proof of service to your dashboard.
Same-day delivery is routine for downtown Sacramento agents; for agents elsewhere in California we assign the nearest server in our statewide network.
The agent for service of process is the address the public record points to when someone needs to sue, subpoena or notify a business. Companies that offer that service commercially, along with the law firms, lobbyists and corporate-services firms that work alongside them, concentrate where the state's business filings and government are: downtown Sacramento, around the Capitol and the Secretary of State's Business Programs Division at 1500 11th Street. That is why a serve on a corporation with an office in San Diego or an LLC formed by an out-of-state parent often ends up being a delivery on a Sacramento block we walk every day.
The Secretary of State's Business Search shows the current agent for service of process and the address designated for delivery for corporations, LLCs and limited partnerships. LLPs, general partnerships and some other entity types are not in the search and require a records order. Send us the entity name and we pull the record before the serve is assigned.
Summons and complaint, cross-complaint, petition, subpoena for records or appearance, notice of motion, writ, or any other document the entity must receive. Upload the issued documents as PDFs and tell us the entity name and case number; we handle the copies.
A California registered process server delivers to the individual agent or, for a corporate agent, to a person named in the agent's Form 1505 certificate at its office, records who accepted, and completes the proof of service.
Code of Civil Procedure section 416.10 lists the ways a summons may be served on a corporation by delivering a copy of the summons and complaint. Corporations Code section 17701.16 adds the equivalent rules for limited liability companies. The registered agent is the first option on both lists because the agent's address is on the public record and the office exists to accept process.
(a) The person designated as agent for service of process under the Corporations Code; (b) the president, chief executive officer or other head of the corporation, a vice president, a secretary or assistant secretary, a treasurer or assistant treasurer, a controller or chief financial officer, a general manager, or a person the corporation has authorized to receive service; (c) for a bank, a cashier or assistant cashier as well; and (d) any method the Corporations Code otherwise authorizes.
Personal delivery to any individual designated as the LLC's agent or, if the designated agent is a corporation, to any person named in that corporate agent's latest Form 1505 certificate at the corporate agent's office, is valid service on the LLC. A change of agent or agent address is not effective until the amending statement is on file with the Secretary of State, which is why we pull the record the day of the serve.
If the designated agent has resigned and not been replaced, or cannot be found with reasonable diligence at the designated address, Corporations Code section 1702 lets the court order that service be made by hand-delivering the process and the order to the Secretary of State; service is deemed complete on the tenth day after delivery. The Secretary of State accepts these packages only in person at its Sacramento office, 1500 11th Street, 3rd Floor, Room 390, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with a copy of the process, a copy of the court order and the statutory $50 fee. StrikeServe hand-delivers substituted service packages there and returns the receipt.
For a summons, the server completes the Judicial Council Proof of Service of Summons (POS-010), naming the entity served, the agent, the person who accepted delivery, and the date, time and address, and signs it as a California registered process server. For subpoenas, the server completes the proof of service section on the subpoena form. Every serve also carries a GPS-timestamped record of each attempt.
The signed proof is uploaded to your order, usually the same day as the delivery, ready to file with the court. If you want it on file, order court filing in the same order and we file it for you.
Issued summons and complaint, subpoena or other process, plus the entity name and case number.
We check the Secretary of State record for the current agent and designated address before assigning the serve.
Routine, rush or same-day. Downtown Sacramento agents are minutes from our office; elsewhere, the nearest registered server in our network.
Signed POS-010 or subpoena proof uploaded to your dashboard with the GPS attempt record.
Serving a Sacramento agent today? Order Same-Day by noon and a server delivers this afternoon.
Order online in under 3 minutes, or call and we will confirm the agent's address before you commit.