Papers go to a person the law names.
Serving a company means delivering the papers to someone who can receive them on its behalf. A campus may have many employees on site, but a summons for the company goes to one of the people the statutes list for that kind of entity, such as its agent for service of process.
Which list applies depends on how the company is organized. A company headquartered in California may be incorporated in another state and registered here as a foreign corporation. The name on a building or a product may not be the legal name of the entity in your papers, so check the entity and its type on the Secretary of State record.
For LLCs, section 17701.16 says its methods are in addition to the Code of Civil Procedure’s chapter on serving a summons.
| Entity | Who may receive the papers | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Corporation formed in California | The designated agent, an officer the section lists (such as the president, a vice president, the secretary or the chief financial officer), a general manager, or a person the corporation authorized to receive service | Code Civ. Proc. § 416.10 |
| Corporation formed in another state and registered in California | The agent named in its California filings, any officer or its general manager in California, or a person named in its corporate agent’s latest § 1505 certificate | Code Civ. Proc. § 416.10; Corp. Code §§ 2105, 2110 |
| LLC, California or registered foreign | The individual designated as agent or, if the agent is a corporation, a person named in that agent’s latest § 1505 certificate, at the agent’s office | Corp. Code § 17701.16 |
Look up the current agent on bizfile Online.
The Secretary of State’s Business Search on bizfile Online shows the most current filings of record for a corporation or LLC, including the name and address of its agent for service of process. Search for the exact legal name in your papers and note the entity number shown with the record.
The agent is named in the entity’s Statement of Information. A California corporation files one within 90 days after its articles are filed and every year after that (Corp. Code § 1502). A registered foreign corporation follows the same timing from its statement and designation (§ 2117), and an LLC files every two years (§ 17702.09). To change its agent or the agent’s address, a corporation files a new statement, which replaces the earlier one. Search again shortly before the papers go out.
When the agent is a registered corporate agent, the statement gives only the agent’s name, with no address (§§ 1502(b), 2117(b), 17702.09). The Secretary of State says a registered corporate agent’s address is available on Business Search, so look the corporate agent up by name as a second step.
The agent’s address may be far from the campus.
The agent must be an individual who lives in California or a corporation that has filed a certificate under Corporations Code section 1505 (§§ 1502(b), 2117(b), 17701.13(c)). Those sections don’t require the agent to be at the company’s headquarters, so the address of record may be elsewhere in California, outside the Bay Area.
A section 1505 certificate lists the corporate agent’s offices in California and, for each office, the employees authorized to receive process. Delivery to one of those employees at the office where they work counts as delivery to the agent, so service through a corporate agent is made at that agent’s office (§ 1505).
A reception or security desk at a campus is not automatically someone authorized to accept service. The server asks for the agent, a listed officer or a person the company has authorized. The proof of service states the name of the person who received the papers and, where it applies, their title or the capacity in which they were served (Code Civ. Proc. § 417.10(a)). If no one in those roles comes to accept the papers, the agent at its address of record is still available.
Leaving the papers at an office, then mailing them.
Instead of handing the summons to the agent or a listed officer, Code of Civil Procedure section 415.20(a) allows it to be left during usual office hours in that person’s office, with the person apparently in charge, and a copy then mailed by first-class mail to the person at the place where it was left. Service this way is complete on the 10th day after mailing.
The version of section 415.20 operative January 1, 2027 (AB 747) keeps this route and lets the mailing go by first-class mail, Priority Mail with tracking, or Certified Mail with return receipt requested. Its new three-attempt standard for reasonable diligence sits in subdivision (b), which covers individuals and the others served under sections 416.60 to 416.90. Subdivision (a), which covers corporations and the other organizations in sections 416.10 to 416.50, doesn’t contain it.
If the agent can’t be found, a court can order service on the Secretary of State.
For a California corporation, section 1702 applies when the agent has resigned and not been replaced, can’t be found with reasonable diligence at the address of record, or was never designated. If an affidavit shows the court that the papers can’t be served with reasonable diligence on the agent, or on the corporation through the people listed in section 416.10, the court may order them delivered by hand to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State then forwards them by registered mail to the corporation’s principal office. The order may come from a court of another state or a federal court where the case was filed (§ 1702(d)).
A registered foreign corporation consented, when it registered, to service on the Secretary of State if its agent is no longer authorized or can’t be found at the address given (§ 2105). Section 2111 sets out the court order for that case, and section 17701.16 does the same for LLCs. Under each section, service is complete on the 10th day after the papers are delivered to the Secretary of State.
The Secretary of State says the papers, the court order and the $50 fee must be hand delivered at its Sacramento office during business hours. It doesn’t accept them by mail.
| Entity | What is delivered by hand | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| California corporation | One copy of the process for each defendant, with a copy of the order | Corp. Code § 1702 |
| Registered foreign corporation | Two copies of the process and two copies of the order | Corp. Code § 2111 |
| LLC, California or registered foreign | One copy of the process for each defendant, with a copy of the order | Corp. Code § 17701.16(c) |
Who receives a subpoena for a company.
A deposition subpoena is served by personal delivery. When the deponent is an organization, the subpoena goes to an officer, a director, the custodian of records, or an agent or employee the organization has authorized to accept service of a subpoena (Code Civ. Proc. § 2020.220(b)). Personal service binds a deponent who is a California resident when served (§ 2020.220(c)).
A subpoena for business records only is directed to the custodian of records or another person qualified to certify them. It sets production no earlier than 20 days after it is issued or 15 days after it is served, whichever is later (§ 2020.410(c)). When the records are a consumer’s personal records, the subpoena served on the custodian must come with proof that the consumer was served notice, or with the consumer’s written authorization (§ 2020.410(d)).
Witness fees, the notice to consumers and employees, and the Judicial Council forms are covered in the subpoena guide.
Federal law limits what an online service may disclose.
If the company provides an electronic communication service or a remote computing service to the public, the federal Stored Communications Act governs what it discloses. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2702(a), such a provider may not knowingly divulge the contents of communications it holds in electronic storage or maintains for its customers. It also may not knowingly divulge records or other information about a subscriber or customer, other than contents, to a governmental entity.
Subsection (b) lists the exceptions for contents, among them disclosure to an addressee or intended recipient and disclosure with the lawful consent of the sender or an addressee or intended recipient. Subsection (c) lists the exceptions for non-content records, including disclosure with the customer’s or subscriber’s lawful consent and, under paragraph (6), disclosure to any person other than a governmental entity. Both subsections say what a provider may disclose; neither requires it to.
What a subpoena can obtain from an online service, and whether consent or another route is needed, is a question to settle with your attorney before the subpoena is prepared.
What to send with the request.
Hard-to-serve cases are Affid’s specialty, and our team has served major Bay Area technology companies. Affid serves the papers you provide and works statewide, so the papers can be served at the agent’s address wherever it is in California. Who must be served and how is your or your attorney’s decision.
Affid, a registered and bonded California process server, logs the GPS location, a photo and the time of each attempt. From January 1, 2027, the proof of personal or substituted service of a summons must include a photo of the site of each attempt with a stamp recording the date, time and GPS or equivalent coordinates (Code Civ. Proc. § 417.10).
- The entity’s exact legal name as shown on the Secretary of State record
- The entity number, if you know it
- The agent for service of process and its address from bizfile Online, or the corporate agent’s name
- The papers to serve: the summons and complaint, or the issued subpoena with anything that must go with it
- Any deadline, including a hearing, deposition or production date
Official sources.
Follow the instructions for your case and check the relevant court’s current requirements. These links provide the official information referenced in this guide; Affid is not affiliated with the courts.
This guide summarizes California statutes on serving corporations and LLCs, the Secretary of State’s guidance and 18 U.S.C. § 2702, checked November 4, 2026. It is not legal advice. It names no company and lists no agent or address, because those records change. Check the Secretary of State’s record before you send papers, and ask an attorney about your case.
