Some of our clients have recently received a letter from a company named "GA Certificate Service" with the name of our clients’ legal entity. The letter requests payment of $72.50 for the procurement of a Certificate of Existence. The letter also contained the Secretary of State's Control Number for the entity, the Business Address, and the type of entity.

This information is probably provided to make the recipient believe that the letter is coming from the Georgia Secretary of State or an official affiliate. This information is easily searchable and available to the public on the Georgia Secretary of State's website under the Business Search section. The sender of the letter is hoping that you overlook the small print on the letter that states "This is not a government agency."

GA Certificate Service is not affiliated with the Georgia Secretary of State. They have found a clever way of duping business owners by sending this letter with a response date and pertinent business information.

Kapadia & Naik believes that the GA Certificate Service searches the records of the Georgia Secretary of State for new business registrations, then sends out a letter requesting payment to each registrant in the hopes that the registrant will think the payment is required and pay it without questioning it.

By paying the $72.50, you get a copy of your Certificate of Existence. You should be aware that the cost of obtaining the Certificate of Existence is only $10.00, and it is not a document that you necessarily need to have unless you are asked for it. Usually, a lender or closing attorney will ask for a Certificate of Existence during a sale, purchase, or a loan for business assets or commercial real estate. It is not worth $72.50 to have GA Certificate Service order a Certificate of Existence for your business entity.

Our recommendations are as follows:

1.          Do not send money to GA Certificate Service,

2.         Ignore the letter should you receive it, and

3.          If you have a large accounting department, make them aware of this GA Certificate Service letter so that they do not pay it off automatically.

If you would like to discuss how we can help you obtain a Certificate of Existence, please call Kapadia & Naik at 770-881-8081.

Check out the video below on how you can obtain your Certificate of Existence in less than 5 minutes and for only $10!