Corporate Filings and Employment Labor Posters and Notices

Opportunistic entities regularly target Georgia businesses by deceptively trying to solicit money for services or notices that can be obtained for free or at a fraction of the cost, specifically:

  1. These entities send letters in which they offer to file corporate registration forms on the business’s behalf with the Secretary of State. While some mailings of this nature may be legitimate, many are deceptive solicitations that use high-pressure tactics designed to trick businesses into paying high prices for services they may not need. These scammers may even try to dupe businesses by disguising the solicitation as a letter from a government agency or as a bill. They typically charge several times the amount a business would pay if it filed the forms itself. Moreover, it is actually very simple to file corporate filings with the Secretary of State, so paying a third party to do so doesn’t really save a lot of time or effort.
  2. These entities send invoices or solicitations for workplace posters they say are required by state or federal law. While the Department of Labor does require that certain notices be posted in the workplace, it provides free electronic copies of all required notices on its website.

To help prevent businesses from being misled by these deceptive solicitations, the Georgia General Assembly passed O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.16, which states that anyone who sends any written solicitation relating to corporate filings, employment or labor posters or notices shall include, in at least 16-point Helvetica font at the top of and at least two inches apart from any other text on such solicitation, the words:

“THIS IS A SOLICITATION. THIS IS NOT A BILL OR OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT AND HAS NOT BEEN SENT BY THE GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE'S OFFICE OR THE GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.”

No text on the solicitation shall be larger than the above required words.

Additionally, the word “SOLICITATION” must appear on the front of the envelope or, if there is no envelope, on the part of the written solicitation that bears the postage stamp or amount. 

Failure to comply with these provisions shall be considered an unfair or deceptive act or practice in violation of the Georgia Fair Business Practices Act and could result in the imposition of significant civil penalties and damages.