Book Opener

Good FaithAn agency relationship is a fiduciary relationship. Principals oftenentrust their agents with their business, property, money, and sometimeseven their good reputation. This places a duty of good faith on the agent.To have good faith simply means to deal honestly with another partywith no intent to seek advantage or to defraud. Good faith also requiresan agent to notify the principal of all matters pertaining to the agencyrelationship.LoyaltyAgents may not work for others who are competing with their principals,nor may they make deals to their own advantage at the expenseof their principals. The only exception to these rules is when the principalknows and approves of the agent’s role in representing a competingprincipal, or if the principal knows the agent is working to the agent’sadvantage.Service of ProcessWhen an individual, an organization, or a corporation files a civil lawsuit,the defendant is served with a copy of the complaint and a summons. This iscalled service of process.Most states require out-of-state corporations to have an agent for service ofprocess if the corporation does business in that state. It is necessary to completeservice of process by serving an officer of the corporation or the corporation’sagent within in that state.Before being permitted to do business in most states, corporations mustdesignate an agent for service of process. This is usually done through the statesecretary of state’s office. Corporations are generally required to make surethat contact information about their agents is always current.Sometimes a corporation has a registered agent within the state but has notactually done any business in the state. In that case, service of process must becompleted in the corporation’s own state.Conduct Research Contact the office of your state’s secretary of state by phoneor through its Web site. Find out about the requirements for having an agent tocomplete service of process on out-of-state corporations. Then contact a corporationwith headquarters in another state. Find the contact information for thecorporation’s designated agent for service of process.418 Unit 4: Being an Agent and Getting a Job