One of the many required pieces of registering with the System for Award Management is a notarized letter. However, this is a relatively recent requirement, and still has some confusion around its purpose, format, and more. Let’s take a look at the answers to some of those questions to clear up any misunderstandings and so you can feel confident in your registration submission.
What is the purpose of this notarized letter?
Paired with the submission of your SAM registration application, the notarized letter you send will identify the Entity Administrator for your business. This is the person who is authorized to make changes to the actual SAM account, like updating addresses, contact information, etc. Once this role is assigned (by your notarized letter), the Entity Administrator can invite other users to become an Entity Administrator, or other users can request this role.
Why is it required for SAM registration?
GSA, the agency that runs SAM, identified a series of security issues within their database back in 2018. While it only affected a small number of contractors, this spurred them to increase security measures across the board for anyone submitting SAM registration or renewal. Their solution to the problem was to require this notarized letter to confirm admin access to a business’ SAM registration information.
Do renewals also need to submit a notarized letter?
While SAM initially required everyone submitting a registration or renewal application to also submit a notarized letter, they changed the rule to only require those who haven’t submitted one before to do this. This means that if you’ve renewed your SAM registration since this requirement was introduced in 2018 and submitted a notarized letter then, you don’t need to worry about it.
Notarized letter requirements
While there isn’t a ton of complicated information that you’ll need for this letter, it is important information. The primary requirements that you’ll need to include in your notarized letter are:
- Business UEI number
- Business legal name
- Business physical address
- Entity Administrator full name
- Entity Administrator phone number
- Entity Administrator email address
- Either self-administration confirmation or third-party agent designation
- Signatory name
- Signatory title
- Signatory email address
There are also requirements around the notary’s seal, which will depend on your state:
| Embossing Seal required | Ink Stamp required | Neither Ink Stamp NOR Embossing Seal required (only recommended) | Either Ink Stamp OR Embossing Seal required |
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The main reasons we see for rejection of submitted notarized letters include:
- Failure to clarify preference of account administration – you need to clearly state that the Entity Administrator is either self-administering or a third-party designation.
- Information doesn’t match application – if pieces of information like contact details or the physical address of the business don’t match what was submitted in your SAM registration, it will be rejected and you’ll need to submit another hard copy notarized letter.
- Missing UEI digits – DUNS numbers have been transitioned to UEI numbers, but you still need to include all 12 digits (including leading and ending zeros) to ensure that all information is accurate.
Get registered & set up for success with FAMR
Remember — the biggest reason that these letters can be rejected are small clerical errors like email addresses not matching what SAM has on file, or forgetting to include zeroes in your UEI number. Unfortunately, the majority of working with the federal government (although often rewarding and profitable) can be like this.
While we can’t fill out your notarized letter for you, we can help take the rest of your SAM registration and renewal processes off your hands. Our team of experts has extensive experience in the federal contracting space, helping hundreds of businesses get the opportunities they deserve. With the billions of dollars that the government sets aside for these contracts each year, don’t you want the best chance to win your piece of that? Contact us today to get started!
