Independent profile — not affiliated with Northwest Registered Agent
Northwest Registered Agent
Northwest Registered Agent, LLC is a Spokane, Washington company that acts as the registered agent for businesses and forms LLCs for a fee. It charges a flat $125 a year for registered agent service and markets itself on privacy ("Privacy by Default") and on not selling customer data.
It is a real, long-running business: its website copyright line starts at 1998, BBB has kept a file on it since 2009 and, as of September 27, 2026, rates it A (not accredited) with 39 complaints in three years, while Trustpilot shows a 4.1 score from 300 reviews with 29% one-star. USAComplaints has no complaints about it yet. The complaints published on BBB describe unexpected charges and renewals, slow or misdirected refunds, add-on services (mail scanning, free hosting, annual-report filing) that did not work the way the customer expected, and difficulty reaching staff.
Complaint Themes
Independent Sources
Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.
Contacts
- Official website: https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/
- Main phone (company contact page and BBB): 509-768-2249 1 complaint mentions this number
- Contact form ("Connect with a Real Corporate Guide"): https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/contact-us
Locations
| Type | Address |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 522 W. Riverside Ave., Suite N Spokane WA 99201 |
| Branch office | 30 N Gould St, Ste N Sheridan WY 82801 |
What to do about an unexpected Northwest Registered Agent charge or a cancellation problem
First, log into your Northwest Registered Agent client account and check which services are on auto-pay. Corporate Guide Services, call forwarding, mail forwarding and Virtual Office all require monthly automatic payments by design, and as of November 1, 2024 the annual Compliance Service was added too (auto-pay terms). If you never opted out, a recurring charge may be expected under the terms you agreed to, not necessarily an error. The same terms say all cancellations must be handled through your online account, and auto-pay services (other than Corporate Guide) must be cancelled at least one business day before the next charge date to avoid paying for the next month or year (auto-pay terms).
Refund rules, from the same terms page: the company bars refunds on charges more than 90 days old and says state filing fees are never refundable; it does not promise that every charge inside 90 days is refundable (auto-pay terms). Raise a disputed charge quickly, because after 90 days the terms rule refunds out.
If the dispute is about mail scanning: Registered Agent Service includes 5 free scans a year for non-legal mail such as bank statements or IRS letters; a 6th scan in the same year costs $15 to view. State and legal mail is scanned free with no limit (mail forwarding page). Reviews that mention "$15 per piece of mail" appear to describe this over-limit fee.
- Call 509-768-2249 or use the contact form first (contact page).
- If that stalls, file with BBB against case file 1296-64196830. In the BBB threads we read, several ended with a refund — for example an $89 cancellation refunded four days later — while a $303 refund sent to a closed bank account led to months of tracing and is listed by BBB as "Answered", not "Resolved" (BBB profile). That's an observed pattern, not a promise for your case.
- Treat a chargeback as a last resort, after the company and BBB.
If you intend to make a legal claim, the Terms of Service (updated August 2026) require you first to send a written, signed notice by certified mail to Notice of Dispute, Legal Department, Northwest Registered Agent, 522 W Riverside Ave Ste N, Spokane, WA 99201, and then to negotiate in good faith for 60 days (terms of service). Also before you escalate: the company's terms let it choose individual arbitration (AAA) for a dispute; otherwise disputes go to a federal or state court in Spokane County, WA — and either way you waive class actions and, if arbitration is chosen, a jury trial (terms of service). That doesn't stop you disputing a charge or filing a BBB complaint — it mainly affects lawsuits.
Annual reports and Compliance Service
The Auto-Pay terms say every customer who buys registered agent service is automatically enrolled in Compliance Services: it appears on the first invoice, is not billed at that point, and is then included in annual auto-pay charges (auto-pay terms). The company's annual-report page prices that filing service at $100 plus state fees, says the card on file is charged when it files the report, about 90 days before the state deadline, and says the service is separate from registered agent service and can be cancelled (annual report page). If you see an unexpected annual charge, this is the first thing to check.
Two more terms worth knowing: scanned mail can be ordered as a physical copy for 50 days, after which the company says it shreds it (mail forwarding FAQ); and any claim under the Terms of Service must be brought within one year after it arises (terms of service).
What complaints about Northwest Registered Agent describe
As of September 27, 2026, Northwest Registered Agent has 39 BBB complaints filed in the last three years (10 closed in the last 12 months), against a BBB customer-review average of 4.31 out of 96 reviews (BBB profile). The patterns complainants describe are allegations, not confirmed findings:
- Card charges appearing with no matching invoice in the client account, resolved by refund after a BBB complaint (August 2026).
- An LLC filed with the customer's home address as the public "principal address" because the customer's state doesn't allow a virtual address there — the customer says this wasn't explained beforehand (August 2026).
- A "free website hosting" offer that requires transferring the domain to the company, which one customer says caused email downtime before the company refunded (May 2026).
- A compliance service the customer says didn't cover a report already due, leading to delinquency; the company issued a courtesy refund and said its explanation "wasn't as clear as it should've been" (April 2026).
- A $303 refund sent to a closed bank account, followed by months of tracing; the company says the bank issued a check, and BBB lists the complaint as "Answered" rather than "Resolved" (March–May 2026).
In the threads we read, the company's replies are individual and apologetic, and several ended in a refund or credit; across the whole BBB file the statuses are a mix of "Answered" and "Resolved", so this is an observation about specific cases, not a guarantee for any other customer (BBB profile). By contrast, USAComplaints itself has zero complaints filed against Northwest Registered Agent as of this page's last check.
Separately, the Washington Attorney General's public consumer-complaint dataset lists 11 complaints filed against Northwest Registered Agent between August 2019 and September 2026 (10 closed, 1 opened September 15, 2026). A complaint to the Attorney General is a consumer submission, not an enforcement action or a finding of wrongdoing (data.wa.gov, checked September 27, 2026).
Is Northwest Registered Agent Legitimate?
Northwest Registered Agent, LLC is a real, long-operating company registered in Spokane, Washington, though its own history is told through three different dates. The company's website footer copyright range begins at 1998; BBB's file instead lists "Business Started" September 1, 2006, and "Business Incorporated" December 11, 2008 (BBB profile). These don't reconcile cleanly — they may reflect an earlier predecessor business versus the current LLC — so we're stating all three rather than picking one.
The company describes itself as family-owned, debt-free and privately held, contrasting itself with competitors "owned by institutional investors" (about page).
Third-party ratings, checked September 27, 2026: BBB gives it an A rating (the business is not BBB Accredited), a rating BBB itself attributes to "39 complaint(s) filed against business," alongside a 4.31-out-of-5 customer-review average from 96 reviews (BBB profile). Trustpilot shows a 4.1 TrustScore from 300 reviews, but the breakdown is polarized: 63% five-star against 29% one-star (Trustpilot).
Examples of federal cases found in public records: Lee v. Northwest Registered Agent, a pro-se bankruptcy adversary proceeding, ended when the court granted the company's motion to dismiss on January 29, 2025 (the proceeding was closed on March 14, 2025); the public docket does not give the court's reasons, so it is neither a finding for nor against the company (PacerMonitor). A separate 2011 trademark lawsuit, Deer Creek Corporate Services v. Northwest Registered Agent, was a dispute between two registered-agent competitors; the CourtListener docket record shows it terminated on April 22, 2013, with no disposition in the free public record. In Phillips v. The Life Property Management Services (N.D. Ga. 1:20-cv-00812), a tenant suing over a towed car named Northwest as a defendant because it was a property company's registered agent; the court dismissed the case for defective service and failure to state a claim on March 23, 2021, and the Eleventh Circuit affirmed on November 22, 2021 — nothing in it concerns Northwest's own conduct. No FTC, Washington Attorney General or state bar action naming the company was found in the live public sources checked on September 27, 2026; that is a search-level check, not a complete sweep of every regulator.
"Privacy by Default®" is a trademark the company uses for its own service (about page). The facts available to us don't spell out its technical mechanics, so we won't guess beyond that — it's the company's own branded name for its approach, not an independently verified privacy standard.
Northwest Registered Agent overview
A registered agent is the person or company a business legally designates to receive official state and legal mail on its behalf, so the business itself doesn't have to put its own address on the public record. Northwest Registered Agent, based at 522 W. Riverside Ave. in Spokane, Washington, sells this service for $125 per year — a price the company says "we haven't raised... in 20 years," with no per-document charges, or $100/year per state if you need coverage in five or more states (registered agent pricing page).
The registered-agent plan bundles a free domain name, a free open-source website, and a free phone line, per the company's own pricing page (registered agent pricing page). The company also sells LLC formation starting at $39 plus state fees (LLC formation page), and mail forwarding starting at $20/month, with virtual-office add-ons from $29/month (mail forwarding page).
On the federal Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) filing requirement, the company runs its own BOI-reporting page and states its position openly, calling the BOI report an "unnecessary, redundant burden" (BOI reporting page) — that's the company's stated opinion, not a claim about what the law requires.
Court & Public Records
| Case | Authority | Dates | Type | Outcome | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lee v. Northwest Registered Agent (adversary proceeding) Docket 3:24-ap-90089 | U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of California | Dismissed | Dismissed An adversary proceeding filed on November 6, 2024 inside a personal bankruptcy case by the debtor against Northwest Registered Agent (served at its Sheridan, Wyoming address), seeking injunctive and declaratory relief. The court granted the company's motion to dismiss and entered an Order Dismissing Adversary Proceeding on January 29, 2025; the proceeding was closed on March 14, 2025. The order dismissed the case; the court's reasons are not in the free public record, so the dismissal should not be read as a ruling for or against the underlying allegations. | Source | |
| Phillips v. The Life Property Management Services, LLC et al. Docket 1:20-cv-00812-SDG | U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia (affirmed, 11th Cir. No. 21-11350) | Dismissed | Dismissed A pro se tenant sued a property-management company, a towing company, county officers and others under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 after his car was towed, and named Northwest Registered Agent, LLC (and its listed CEO) as defendants because Northwest was the property company's registered agent. On March 23, 2021 the district court dismissed the action for defective service and failure to state a claim; the Eleventh Circuit affirmed on November 22, 2021, noting the plaintiff had attempted service only by mail. The case concerns the tenant's dispute with the property and towing companies, not any conduct by Northwest. | Source |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was I charged by Northwest Registered Agent?
Some services bill automatically. Corporate Guide Services, call forwarding, mail forwarding and Virtual Office require monthly auto-pay by design, and since November 1, 2024 the annual Compliance Service was added to auto-pay too (auto-pay terms). For other auto-pay services you can opt out in your client account and be invoiced instead; those four services cannot be switched to invoicing. Registered agent purchases also come with automatic enrollment in Compliance Services, billed later on annual auto-pay. If a saved payment method fails, the terms say the company may suspend your account until you pay or cancel. Check your account first before assuming it's a mistake.
Can I get a refund from Northwest Registered Agent?
The company's Auto-Pay terms say no refunds are given for charges more than 90 days old and that state filing fees are never refundable; they do not guarantee a refund within 90 days either — refunds inside that period are at the company's discretion or under service-specific rules (auto-pay terms). Separately, its BBB profile lists a refund policy of "If client isn't happy, we will refund," and BBB responses describe refunds taking 8 to 12 business days to appear. In practice: ask quickly, in writing, and escalate to BBB if you get no response.
Does Northwest Registered Agent charge $15 per piece of mail?
Registered Agent Service includes 5 free mail scans a year for non-legal mail like bank statements or IRS letters. A 6th and later scan in the same year costs $15 to view. All state and legal mail is scanned into your account free, with no limit (mail forwarding page). Reviews that mention "$15 per piece of mail" appear to describe this over-limit fee.
Who owns Northwest Registered Agent?
The company describes itself on its own site as family-owned, debt-free, and privately held, with no institutional investors (about page). It doesn't name individual owners on its site. BBB's business-management listing names Tom Glover as Officer.
Has Northwest Registered Agent been sued?
Examples found in federal court records: Lee v. Northwest Registered Agent, a bankruptcy adversary proceeding filed by a pro-se debtor, was dismissed by the court on the company's motion in January 2025 (PacerMonitor). A 2011 trademark lawsuit from a competitor, Deer Creek Corporate Services, was terminated in April 2013 per CourtListener, with no public record of the outcome. A third case, Phillips v. The Life Property Management Services (N.D. Ga., 2020–2021), named Northwest only as another company's registered agent and was dismissed for defective service and failure to state a claim, affirmed on appeal. No FTC or Washington Attorney General enforcement action naming the company was found in the live public sources checked on September 27, 2026; the Washington AG's public dataset does list 11 consumer complaints (2019–2026), which are submissions, not findings.
How do I cancel Northwest Registered Agent services?
Through your online client account only — the Auto-Pay terms say "All cancellations must be handled through your online account." Cancel an auto-pay service at least one business day before its next charge date, or you pay for the next month (or the next year for annual services). Registered agent service renews at $125 a year; mail forwarding, call forwarding, Virtual Office and Corporate Guide services bill monthly. State filing fees already paid are not refundable, and other refunds are only available within 90 days. Source: Auto-Pay Billing Terms (updated April 2026).