State forms · Michigan · Form CSCL/CD-700 (Rev. 07/25)
Michigan Form CSCL/CD-700: the LLC Articles of Organization
Form CSCL/CD-700 is the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs' articles of organization for a domestic limited liability company. The Corporations Division issues it, the current revision is dated July 2025, and it is filed under the Michigan Limited Liability Company Act. The articles can be typed into LARA's MiBusiness Registry online, mailed to the Corporations Division's post office box in Lansing, or delivered in person, and the company exists once LARA files them.
Michigan's form is one of the shorter ones. Four articles are required: the name, the purpose, the duration and the resident agent, which is Michigan's term for a registered agent. Members and managers are not listed, the agent does not sign, and the purpose can be the Act's own boilerplate. The filings that need care are professional service companies, which must use Form CSCL/CD-701 instead, and manager-managed companies, which have to say so in an added article or default to management by the members.
Updated November 1, 2026. Facts checked October 2026.
Have the Form CD-700 prepared and filed for you
We fill every field the way MiBusiness Registry expects, check the name first and submit it.
Form Your Michigan LLCForm CD-700 at a Glance
- Form
- Form CSCL/CD-700 (Rev. 07/25)
- Filing portal
- MiBusiness Registry
- Filed with
- Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Corporations Division
- State fee
- $50
- State expedite tiers
- 24-hour, same-day, 2-hour, 1-hour
- Facts checked
- October 2026
The state fee is Michigan's own charge and is the same whether you file the Form CD-700 yourself or we file it for you. Processing figures are what the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) publishes and are not a promise of when a filing is approved; the state's expedite tiers are listed by name, with their amounts in the facts box on the Michigan LLC page.
Below: every field in the order the form asks it, who the filing puts on the public record, whether the registered agent signs, the reasons Michigan returns it, and what the state expects after it is filed.
What Form CD-700 Asks For
- 1.Article I: NameMust contain Limited Liability Company, L.L.C., L.C., LLC or LC and be distinguishable from the names on LARA's records. A name reservation is optional; most filers skip it and let the Division check the name when it reviews the articles.
- 2.Article II: PurposeThe form's own wording, that the company is formed to engage in any activity within the purposes for which a limited liability company may be formed under the Act, is sufficient. A specific purpose can be added but is not required.
- 3.Article III: DurationPerpetual unless a fixed term is entered. Most companies leave the perpetual statement as printed.
- 4.Article IV: Resident agent and registered officeThe name of the resident agent and the street address of the registered office in Michigan, with a mailing address if mail is not delivered to the street address. A member who lives in Michigan can serve. The agent does not sign the articles.
- 5.Article V: Management statement (manager-managed companies)Michigan LLCs are member-managed unless the articles say otherwise. A company that will be run by managers adds an article stating that the business and affairs of the company are to be managed by one or more managers. Nothing is asked about who the managers are.
- 6.Delayed effective date (optional)The articles take effect when LARA files them unless a later date, up to 90 days after receipt, is entered.
- 7.Organizer signaturesSigned by one or more persons organizing the company, with each organizer's name typed beneath the signature. The Act's definition of person includes entities, and a filing service can act as organizer.
- 8.Preparer and return informationThe name and business telephone number of the person who completed the form, and the name and address to which LARA returns the filed document.
Who Is on the Michigan Record
Who appears on the form
Resident agent and organizer(s). Members and managers are not listed.
Does the registered agent sign the Form CD-700?
No agent signature on the form.
From our audit of Michigan's official form and statutes, checked October 2026. Everything entered on a filing becomes public record once the state files it.
Why Michigan Rejects It
- A name that is not distinguishable from a company already on LARA's records, or that lacks one of the accepted endings.
- A registered office that is not a Michigan street address.
- A company that will offer professional services, such as medicine, dentistry, law or the clergy, filed on CD-700 instead of Form CSCL/CD-701.
- An organizer's signature without the typed name beneath it, or no organizer signature at all.
- A delayed effective date more than 90 days after LARA receives the articles.
- A payment that does not clear; the filing fee is not refundable once the articles are reviewed.
A rejection costs days, sometimes a second fee, and in a few states the name you wanted. Our name check and field review happen before the form goes to MiBusiness Registry, which is most of what you pay us for.
After the State Files It
- LARA files the articles and the company appears in its business entity search. The Corporations Division does not publish a standard processing time for online articles.
- Michigan sells faster review in four tiers, 24-hour, same-day (for filings received by 1 p.m. Eastern), 2-hour and 1-hour, for an added fee set by the state. The amounts are in the facts box on the Michigan LLC page.
- Every year the LLC files an Annual Statement with LARA by February 15, starting the February after the year it was formed. A company formed after September 30 skips the first February 15 and files its first statement the year after. Michigan charges no late penalty; a missed statement is filed later, and a company that stays behind files a restoration with the back statements before it is in good standing again.
- Michigan has no newspaper publication requirement for a new LLC, and the operating agreement is not filed with the state.
More on filing in Michigan: Michigan LLC filing through MiBusiness Registry. Filing it yourself on MiBusiness Registry? MiBusiness Registry, step by step.
Once the company is approved, the Annual Statement is Michigan's recurring filing: file the Michigan Annual Statement online, or have it filed for you.
Form CD-700 Questions
Is Form CD-700 the same as articles of organization?+
Yes. CSCL/CD-700 is the form number LARA's Corporations Division gives its Articles of Organization for a domestic limited liability company; CSCL stands for the Corporations, Securities and Commercial Licensing Bureau that houses the division. The professional version, for companies offering licensed services, is CSCL/CD-701, and a company formed in another state registering in Michigan uses a different form again.
Can I file the Michigan articles online with LARA?+
Yes. LARA's MiBusiness Registry at michigan.gov/corpfileonline takes the same articles on screen and by card. Paper is still accepted by mail to the Corporations Division's post office box in Lansing or over the counter. The state's fee is the same whether you file yourself or we prepare and file the articles for you.
Does the resident agent sign Form CD-700?+
No. Article IV names the resident agent and the registered office, and there is no acceptance or signature line for the agent. Michigan still expects the agent to have agreed to serve, so an owner who names a friend or an office should keep that agreement in writing in the company's records. A member with a Michigan street address can be the agent.
When is the first Michigan annual statement due?+
February 15 of the year after the company is formed, unless the company was formed after September 30; then the first statement is due on the second February 15. A company formed in March 2026 files its first Annual Statement by February 15, 2027; one formed in November 2026 files first by February 15, 2028. The statement is filed online with LARA, and we file it for owners who would rather not.
Who appears on the Michigan public record?+
The resident agent, with the registered office address, and the organizer or organizers who sign the articles. Members and managers are not listed on CD-700, so the owners of a Michigan LLC can stay off the formation record entirely when a filing service is the organizer and a registered agent company is the agent.
What is a resident agent?+
Michigan's name for the registered agent: the person or company at the registered office in Michigan who receives legal papers and state notices for the LLC. Article IV of CD-700 names the resident agent and the registered office street address, with a mailing address if mail is not delivered there. An individual who lives in Michigan or a business with a Michigan office can serve, and the agent's address is the one that appears on LARA's public record.
What happens if the Michigan annual statement is missed?+
Michigan charges no late penalty for an LLC's Annual Statement. The missed statement is filed later, and LARA treats a company that has fallen behind as not in good standing until the back statements and a restoration filing are in. Because the first statement is not due until the February after formation, and not at all on the first February 15 for a company formed after September 30, most new companies have more than a year before the first one.
Formation Forms in Nearby States
Every form we cover: state LLC formation forms. Every state and DC: LLC formation by state.
Ready to file your Michigan LLC?
The Form CD-700 prepared and submitted for you.
Service fee guarantee