Legal Question in Business Law in Virginia

Re: Corporate Law

Your claim is against the individual (provided your claim arose after the corporation was terminated). The individual is also guilty of a crime if he knowingly held himself out as incorporated while not incorporated. The Commonwealth's Attorney is the one who would prosecute this.

Re: Corporate Law

It is against the law, but the consequences are usually not serious and it is not really enforced. The question you are asking, however, is really about something else. You write that you tried to get them to go to court. There is no obstacle to you going to court against such a corporation, whether they are registered or not, if you are trying to sue them. The most common penalty for failing to register is that the company cannot sue. So if the unregistered company signs a contract, it cannot enforce the contract (until it registers), although the other party in the contract CAN enforce the contract.

It sounds like you are trying to serve the lawsuit on the registered agent, finding that there is none. However, you also have other options as well. You can file a lawsuit by having the officer or owner "served" at his home or business address. So, if you want to sue an unregistered business, the lack of registration and the lack of a registered agent is not a serious problem. It can often be a challenge to get "service" (to get the lawsuit into the defendant's hand or "posted" on the door of their residence), and this takes some special attention. You may want to hire a private process server who will go to greater lengths (such as waiting around for someone) that the Sheriff's Deputy will not do. If you need help, let me know.