How Do You Serve an LLC in California?

To serve an LLC in California, you must deliver the summons and complaint to the individual named as its agent for service of process. Corporations Code section 17701.16 controls and also opens every method in Chapter 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure. When that agent has resigned or cannot be found at the filed address, a court order allows service on the California Secretary of State.

On-Call Legal has served legal documents across California since 1999, covering all 58 counties, nationwide work, and 36 courthouse locations in Los Angeles County. Our process serving team handles agent delivery, substituted service at the agent’s office, and the Sacramento counter delivery. Schedule a consultation today before the 60-day proof deadline closes.

This article explains who you can serve at a California LLC, how to find the agent, the four delivery methods, the Secretary of State fallback, proof, deadlines, and the 2027 changes.

What Proper Service on a California LLC Requires

Service on a limited liability company follows the California Code of Civil Procedure and the California Corporations Code, where Corporations Code section 17701.16(a) applies to limited liability companies and foreign limited liability companies alongside Chapter 4.

Section 17701.13 makes a registered agent a condition of doing business here. The agent must be a California resident with a street address or a corporate agent in good standing with a Corporations Code section 1505 certificate, and the LLC cannot name itself.

Courts and the Judicial Council treat CCP 416.10 as the section governing entity service, and the text supports that. Substituted service under 415.20(a) reaches only persons specified in CCP 416.10, 416.20, 416.30, 416.40, or 416.50, which leaves 416.10 as the only door once the others fall away. Subdivision (d) is the exception worth knowing, because it routes the Secretary of State option through Corporations Code sections 1701, 1702, 2110, and 2111; for an LLC, the counterpart to section 1702 is Corporations Code section 17701.16(c).

CCP 416.40 does not fit either. It covers an unincorporated association, and section 18035(a) defines that as a group of two or more persons, so a single-member LLC falls outside it, while section 17701.04 makes the company a statutory entity under the Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act.

Dill v. Berquist Construction Co. (1994) 24 Cal.App.4th 1426 holds that a corporation can only be served through an individual who represents it, and the same reasoning applies by analogy to an LLC or a partnership. Service of process varies by document, while subpoenas follow different rules.

Who You Can Legally Serve at a California LLC

Fewer people can accept papers for an LLC than litigants expect, so settling who can accept service saves a second trip.

The Agent for Service of Process Named in the State Filing

Delivery to an individual designated as an agent is valid personal service under section 17701.16(b)(1), or, where the agent is a corporation, anyone on its latest Corporations Code section 1505 certificate. No new agent or address counts until an amended section 17701.14 statement is filed.

Officers and Authorized Persons You Can Serve Instead

Because 17701.16(a) imports Chapter 4, CCP 416.10(b) adds the officers from president through general manager plus anyone authorized to receive service of process.

Why Managers and Members Are Not a Safe Default

No statute lets you serve a manager or member of an active LLC, though one often qualifies as general manager under CCP 416.10(b). Section 17707.07(b) reaches a manager, member, officer, or person having charge of assets once the LLC dissolves.

The table pairs each person you might serve with the authorizing provision.

How to Find an LLC’s Agent for Service of Process

Every California LLC files its agent information publicly, and the search is free. The registered agent on the most recent filing is who your server needs.

Searching the Secretary of State Business Records

The state portal at bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov searches all California business entities by legal name or entity number. Small variations in the business name break the search, with the usual miss being LLC versus L.L.C. The detail view shows the status as Active, Suspended, FTB Suspended, Dissolved, or Canceled.

What the Statement of Information Shows You

Section 17702.09(a) requires the Statement of Information to include the LLC name and file number, the agent’s name and street address, the principal office and mailing address, and the managers and chief executive officer. Form LLC-12 is available for free download from the filing history.

The first statement is due within 90 days of formation and biennially thereafter. Section 17702.09(c) sets the filing period as the month the original articles of organization were filed plus five preceding months, so a September LLC, for example, files April 1 through September 30.

Why the Filed Address Controls Even After a Company Moves

Sections 17701.14 and 17701.16(b) make the filed address the operative one, so a newer website address carries no weight with a judge. If the filed address has gone stale, skip tracing will produce a current one.

The Four Ways to Deliver Papers to a California LLC

Four delivery methods reach a California LLC under different completion rules. Personal service is complete as soon as it is delivered, and the gap between personal service and substituted service shows up in when the defendant’s 30-day period starts.

Personal Delivery Under Section 415.10

CCP 415.10 allows personal delivery of the summons and complaint to the person served, and service is complete upon delivery. For an LLC, that means the designated agent or a listed officer.

Substituted Service at the Agent’s Office Under Section 415.20(a)

CCP 415.20(a) carries no reasonable-diligence prerequisite against an entity defendant; that phrase appears only in subdivision (b) (CCP 416.60, 416.70, 416.80, and 416.90). Subdivision (a) covers entities under sections 416.10 through 416.50, saying only “in lieu of personal delivery,” so a server can go straight to substituted service without failed attempts.

A copy left in this manner goes to whoever is apparently in charge during regular business hours, never a post office box. Follow-up first-class mail, postage prepaid, to that address completes service on the 10th day after mailing, and CCP 413.20 confirms the section 1013 extension does not stretch it.

Mailing a Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt

CCP 415.30 governs notice and acknowledgment by mail, with two copies of the notice and a prepaid return envelope. Service is complete only when the acknowledgment is executed and returned, so nothing here is self-executing. If the recipient does not return it within 20 days, the recipient owes reasonable expenses for serving another way, and form POS-015 complies with subdivision (e).

Reaching an LLC Located Outside California

CCP 415.40 permits service outside this state by first-class mail requiring a return receipt, completed on the 10th day after mailing. CCP 417.20(a) demands proof of actual delivery by signed return receipt or other evidence. Most states allow something broadly similar, though a tracking screenshot proves nothing.

Publication under CCP 415.50 needs an affidavit of reasonable diligence plus a cause of action or a claim to a property interest. Notice runs weekly for four successive weeks under Government Code section 6064 and completes on the 28th day, while subdivision (e) bars a court from requiring a database search no registered process server can access.

An LLC should rarely need publication service, and the table below aligns each method with its statute and completion date.

Serving the California Secretary of State When the Agent Fails

This route is a last resort that opens only when the agent has resigned without a replacement or cannot be found with reasonable diligence. It requires a court order, an affidavit, a trip to Sacramento, and a $50 fee. The Secretary of State’s service-of-process page covers this for LLCs and foreign corporations.

The Two Triggers That Open This Route

Corporations Code section 17701.16(c) opens on two independent triggers: an agent who resigned and was never replaced, or an agent who cannot, with reasonable diligence, be found at the designated address for personal delivery. Because it is disjunctive, either is enough, and Government Code section 12197(d) lets an agent resign at no fee.

What a Declaration of Diligence Has to Show

The affidavit must satisfy the court that process cannot be served with reasonable diligence on the designated agent under CCP 415.10, subdivision (a) of 415.20, or subdivision (a) of 415.30. Those three are disjunctive, not cumulative, but judges expect you to address each one.

Delivering the Papers to the Sacramento Counter

Once a judge signs the order, assemble one copy of the process per defendant, the signed order, and the $50 fee under Government Code section 12197(c). No Secretary of State form needs to be completed.

Delivery must be made in person at 1500 11th Street, 3rd Floor, Room 390, in Sacramento, since the Secretary of State’s office accepts hand delivery only. Mail is not permitted, and the Los Angeles office cannot accept it, so someone must make the trip. Counter hours run 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding state holidays. Once you submit and pay, service is complete on the 10th day, and subdivision (d) requires the Secretary of State to forward the process to the LLC’s principal office by registered mail, return receipt requested.

Request the certificate under official seal, which is prima facie evidence of service under subdivision (e). No statewide Judicial Council form exists, so counties publish their own, including Sonoma CV-25 and Contra Costa SC-22, with SC-105 for small claims.

Who Is Allowed to Serve the Papers

California laws for process servers set a low bar for service and a higher one for doing it as a business.

The Two Requirements California Actually Imposes

Code of Civil Procedure section 414.10 provides that a summons may be served by any person at least 18 years of age who is not a party to the action; this is the entire test for validity. The claim that only a qualified server may deliver the papers overstates California law.

What County Registration Adds

Business and Professions Code section 22350(a) requires a natural person to register after providing more than 10 services of process in this state in one calendar year for compensation, and any corporation or partnership paid for it must register with no threshold. Section 22350(b) exempts sheriffs, marshals, government employees on duty, an attorney and that attorney’s employees in their cases, court-appointed servers, and licensed private investigators.

Crossing that line means a $100 initial fee under section 22352, a $2,000 bond under section 22353(a), and fingerprints to the DOJ and FBI under section 22351.5. Registration runs for two years, and a violation is a misdemeanor under section 22359.

CCP 413.40 keeps the service valid anyway, since a registration violation does not invalidate service that complies with the chapter. A registered process server obtains statutory access to staffed gated communities under CCP 415.21.

Filing a Proof of Service That Survives Review

CCP 417.30 requires a filed proof unless the defendant has previously appeared. CCP 417.10(a) requires an affidavit showing the time, place, and manner of service; the recipient; the recipient’s capacity; and that the CCP 412.30 notice appeared on the summons.

The Notice on the Summons That Blocks a Default

CCP 412.30 applies to a corporation or an unincorporated association, including a partnership. The served summons must state, in substance, that the recipient is served on behalf of the named entity; without it, no default may be taken against the entity or that person individually. On SUM-100, this is the Notice to the Person Served box. A blank or wrong entry is our most common compliance failure.

Which Statute Box to Check for an LLC

Form POS-010, Proof of Service of Summons, revised January 1, 2007, is required under CCP 417.10, with a separate proof for each party served. Item 6.d offers no box for a limited liability company, listing 416.10 for a corporation, 416.40 for an association or partnership, 415.95 for a business organization of unknown form, and other.

Because the form provides no single correct box, two answers are defensible. Checking 416.10 holds up because CCP 415.20(a) reaches an LLC only through the persons specified there, and checking “other” and writing “Corporations Code section 17701.16” beside it is equally defensible. Skip 415.95, which covers a business organization of unknown form, and 415.95(b) makes it invalid for a corporation with a registered agent listed with the Secretary of State.

Google’s AI Overview currently tells readers to file POS-040 after serving an LLC with a lawsuit, when POS-010 is the form for a summons and complaint. POS-040, Proof of Service Civil, revised January 1, 2020, says in bold not to use it for a summons and complaint, and POS-020 carries the same warning on its face. An incorrect proof of service is an easily preventable problem.

After Secretary of State service, the proof still goes on POS-010, item 5d, for service by other means under CCP 417.10(c), with the signed order and certificate attached. Through December 31, 2026, CCP 417.40 requires proof signed by a registered process server to include the county of registration and the registration number, and from January 1, 2027, the number assigned by the county clerk.

Deadlines That Decide Whether Service Counts

California Rules of Court, Rule 3.110(b) requires service and a filed proof within 60 days of filing the complaint and 30 days for a defendant added by amendment. Rule 3.110(e) requires any extension application, with a declaration, before the service time elapses. Rule 3.110(g) allows 10 days to request entry of default; Rule 3.110(h) allows 45 days after default to obtain the judgment; and Rule 3.110(d) permits one stipulated 15-day extension.

CCP 583.210(a) requires service within three years of commencement, with proof filed within 60 days after that, and CCP 583.250 makes that requirement mandatory except as a statute expressly provides. An LLC served with a summons and complaint has 30 days to respond under CCP 412.20(a)(3).

After substituted service, the 30-day window opens on the 10th day, roughly 40 days from the mailing. In small claims, CCP 116.340 requires service at least 15 days before the hearing, 20 days if the defendant is outside the county, with proof filed at least 5 days before, the filing deadline printed on forms SC-104 and SC-104B. Form SC-104C shows who to serve at an LLC.

Why Service on an LLC Gets Quashed

CCP 418.10(a)(1) lets a defendant move to quash service of summons for lack of jurisdiction, on or before the last day to plead. Filing the motion extends the time to plead until 15 days after notice of entry of a denial, bars default until then, and does not constitute a general appearance.

The defects behind these disputes recur, starting with a blank or incorrect Notice to the Person Served and service addressed only to the company name. A receptionist can receive substituted service but not personal service, and the pattern also includes service outside office hours, a forgotten follow-up mailing, an unsigned 415.30 packet, and out-of-state mail with no return receipt. Improper service usually surfaces in a proof filed late.

CCP 473(b) provides relief for mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect, in no case exceeding six months. CCP 473(d) lets a court set aside a void judgment, and its text sets no six-month limit on that motion. From January 1, 2027, new CCP 473(e) allows a motion to vacate a default judgment void for lack of proper service at any time after entry. A plaintiff who cuts corners may lose that judgment years later, once a bank levy sends the defendant looking.

When Serving an LLC Gets Complicated

Some LLCs are harder to reach than the statute imagines. CCP 413.30, rewritten by SB 85 and effective January 1, 2026, lets the court, on motion, direct that summons be served in any manner reasonably calculated to give actual notice, including electronic mail, after every authorized method fails.

That order is the only route to an initial summons and complaint served by email, since CCP 1010.6 and California Rules of Court, rule 2.251(a) cover only documents servable by mail.

The Agent Resigned and Was Never Replaced

A resignation costs the agent nothing under Government Code section 12197(d), so agents drop clients over unpaid fees and the LLC sits on the register with no agent. That gap alone triggers 17701.16(c) and the Secretary of State route.

The Franchise Tax Board Suspended the LLC

A suspended LLC can still be served because a Franchise Tax Board suspension under Revenue and Taxation Code section 23301 strips the entity’s capacity to prosecute or defend an action but not its capacity to be sued or served. Grell v. Laci Le Beau Corp. (1999) 73 Cal.App.4th 1300 confirms that a suspended corporation can still be sued and served, Reed v. Norman (1957) 48 Cal.2d 338 confirms that it cannot prosecute or defend, and a served LLC cannot answer until it revives under section 23305a.

The LLC Has Dissolved or Canceled

Section 17707.07(b) allows service on a manager, member, officer, or person having charge of the assets, and if none can be found, on any agent who can be served at dissolution. Subdivision (a)(2) extinguishes a claim against a member unless a proceeding is commenced before the earlier of the limitations period or four years after dissolution.

The Foreign LLC That Never Registered in California

A registered foreign limited liability company names a California agent under 17701.13(b) and is served like a domestic company. Section 17708.07(d) deems an unregistered foreign LLC transacting intrastate business here to have appointed the Secretary of State as its agent. Sections 17708.07(a) and (b) bar it from suing here while preserving its right to defend.

Serving a Corporate Agent Such as CT Corporation

Where an LLC uses a commercial registered agent service, 17701.16(b)(2) and Corporations Code section 1505 control, so you serve any person named in that agent’s latest 1505 certificate. Section 17701.13(c) keeps that office address off the LLC’s own filing, so the CT Corporation or CSC address comes from the agent’s 1505 certificate. The Secretary of State says its business search shows the agent’s name and address, and 17701.16(b)(2) makes delivery at that office valid service.

What Changes for California Process Servers on January 1, 2027

AB 747, the SPARE Act, was chaptered on October 10, 2025, as Chapter 563 of the 2025 statutes and becomes operative January 1, 2027, rather than 2026. Two of its changes reach LLC service, while the headline change does not. That headline change requires three attempts on three different days at three different times, and new CCP 415.20(b)(2) applies only to persons served under CCP 416.60, 416.70, 416.80, and 416.90.

The follow-up mailing does change, and that one sits in subdivision (a), so it reaches entities. The 2027 version of CCP 415.20(a) requires first-class mail, Priority Mail with tracking, or Certified Mail with return receipt requested, postage prepaid.

The photograph requirement also applies to an LLC, because new CCP 417.10(a)(1) covers service under sections 415.10, 415.20, or 415.45. That proof must include photographs of each effected or attempted service site, stamped automatically with date, time, and GPS coordinates, plus a 417.10(a)(2)(B) photograph of the door or entrance at a place of business.

New CCP 473.2 lets an improperly served party move to set aside a default, shifting the burden to the party who obtained it to prove lawful service by a preponderance. Amended Business and Professions Code section 22355(a) requires a public county clerk register, and amended CCP 417.40 now reaches anyone required to be a registered process server.

What Serving an LLC Costs and How Long It Takes

Private companies, not statute, set pricing, so these are typical ranges, not legal requirements. The only fixed number is the $50 Secretary of State fee under Government Code section 12197(c).

Ready to Get Your LLC Served the First Time?

Serving a California LLC comes down to identifying the right natural person and delivering by a method the statute recognizes. The proof must then name that recipient and the capacity in which they were served. Getting it right on the first attempt is far cheaper than litigating a motion to quash six months later.

On-Call Legal has served legal documents across California since 1999, and our experienced legal couriers cover all 58 counties, nationwide work, 36 courthouse locations, and 88 incorporated cities in Los Angeles County. Our process servers are registered and bonded under California Business and Professions Code section 22350, and we are members of NAPPS, CAALA, and ServeNow. Contact us today to serve a summons and complaint on an LLC in California.

Frequently Asked Questions

These answers come from what our clients ask before a service goes out. On-Call Legal has served all 58 counties since 1999, and none of the answers below constitute legal advice.

What Is the Filing Fee for Articles of Organization in California?

Articles of Organization cost $70 under Government Code section 12190(b) and can be filed with the California Secretary of State online, by mail, or in person.

How Much Does a Statement of Information Cost?

A Statement of Information costs $20 under Government Code section 12190(k) every two years after the initial 90-day filing, while an agent change is free under section 12190(l).

Do You Have to Pay the $800 California LLC Fee Every Year?

An LLC owes the $800 annual franchise tax every year, since the first-year exemption has sunset. Revenue and Taxation Code section 17941, amended by SB 180, cuts the first year to $400 for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2027, and before January 1, 2030.

Does an LLC Owe More Than the $800 Franchise Tax?

Revenue and Taxation Code section 17942(a) adds a graduated fee on total California income of $900 from $250,000 to $499,999, $2,500 from $500,000 to $999,999, $6,000 from $1,000,000 to $4,999,999, and $11,790 above $5,000,000.

What Does a DBA Cost in California?

A fictitious business name filing runs roughly $23 to $55, at $23.00 in Orange, $26.00 in Los Angeles, $50.06 in Sacramento, and $54.00 in San Diego. Business and Professions Code section 17910 requires it, and publication must begin within 45 days under section 17917(a).

How Much Does Publishing a DBA Notice Cost?

Newspapers, not the government, set publication pricing. Government Code section 6064 sets the schedule, not the price, and online figures trace back to a vendor.

Can You Serve an LLC by Email in California?

Only a court order under CCP 413.30 showing that every authorized method failed allows service by email, because electronic service under CCP 1010.6 does not reach an initial summons and complaint.

Does a Single-Member LLC Get Served Differently?

No separate rule governs a single-member LLC, and the sole member is often the designated agent, so the two deliveries collapse into one.

Which Proof of Service Form Applies to an LLC?

Form POS-010 is mandatory under CCP 417.10 for each party served, and its Item 6.d has no limited liability company box, so practitioners check 416.10 or write in Corporations Code section 17701.16.

How Do I Confirm an Agent With the Secretary of State?

The entity information line is 1-916-657-5448, and section 17702.09(d) requires a current statement whenever the agent or that address changes, with a $250 penalty under section 17713.09 and Revenue and Taxation Code section 19141 for a delinquent filing.

Legal Disclaimer

This article is informational only and is not legal advice. On-Call Legal is a process-serving and legal-support company rather than a law firm, and reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. Consult a licensed California attorney about the facts of a specific matter.