Comments on: Letter to California Notary Division

By: David V Fuentes

David V Fuentes — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 04:18:27 +0000

I have to say that maybe your article is mostly hyperbole. 98% of notarizations are Acknowledgements. Notary Public are forbidden by law to give legal advise or fill out forms for clients. Most of the loan signings provide instructions. Notary Public does not make legal any documents, the documents are legal by the people who draft them. A Notary Public only verify that the person who is signing the documents is in the presence of the Notary Public and the signer proved it by the Identification provided by the signer or two credible witnesses who affirm or swear that statement. The Oath is already provided by the Secretary of State and it has to be read or state by the Notary Public if the signer prefers an Oath instead of an acknowledgment. Notaries are not responsible for the truthfulness, accuracy or veracity of the document. The notary should never step into the shoes of an attorney or Judge.

By: Gary Williamson

Gary Williamson — Sun, 02 Sep 2018 21:28:39 +0000

Some very good points. Thanks

By: Ouseph Seesan Ed

Ouseph Seesan Ed — Sat, 01 Sep 2018 17:19:16 +0000

Just by reading the information in this post above, many of us can learn many important aspects of correct way of notarizing and things we should keep in mind to be able to perform with the law. The post is very informative and informational.

By: Carol Clow

Carol Clow — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 23:14:14 +0000

You touched on many issues that are a very serious problems, probably in most all of the states. I completely agree with you on the fact of notary training. There is not one Notary out there that can honestly say that a one day course is all the training they need. There is so much to learn and it only comes with time and experience with the way that it is structured right now. And, the way that it is structured right now, there will be many mistakes. I know Notaries can take all these different courses to continue learning, but, the initial learning platform should come from our own state courses and avenues of training before they go on to additional training.

I personally think the training course should be at the least, one week, 40 hours. It’s too easy to become a Notary and that’s why Notaries are now a dime a dozen. Then, after that 40 hour week, the Notary should have to partner up with a Mentor, similar to how an Appraiser has to do it. This phase of the process should be at least 30 days. The only problem there is a local Notary does not like to do that because that Notary will be come their competitor. However, if they have to travel outside the area to be mentored, then so be it. This way they get the real hands on learning experience. You recently spoke to Julie, a friend of mine that I mentored. I did her refi, she was asking me questions, she got her commission and then called me to mentor her, so I did. She did ride alongs with me for about a month and when she started getting calls I would go with her to her signings. She is now my competitor but I was glad to help her because it is not as easy as Newbies think it is before they decided to jump into this career, and I didn’t want to see her fail.

New Appraisers have to partner up/do an apprenticeship with an experienced Appraiser and I think that is what Notaries should have to do to.

Your first paragraph said you was going to touch on fees but I didn’t see anything in the article about fees. That is another huge subject that needs to be addressed with the State. There are so many companies joining SnapDocs and low-balling their fees. There should be a mandated minimum fee that Signing Services should pay us. I know that Title companies are also lowering fees to Signing Services which then reflects back on us. Even is the Title companies pays the Signing Services $200, some Signing Services are wanting to profit and pay us only $75. It’s getting to the point that we are working for a little over minimum wage and we are self employed. That’s not right. I have been in this business for almost 16 years and I have never seen it as bad as I see it now. SnapDocs is there to benefit the Signing Services to see who will take the lowest bid while the Signing Service makes the profit and we put in all the time, supplies, fuel and effort to complete a job assignment. SnapDocs is nothing but a bidding war for the benefit of Signing Services and Title companies. They blast a text out and the lowest bid wins. SAD!!! A lot of time, the lowest bid is usually a Newbie and all us experienced/seasoned Notaries can hope for is mistakes from them. Signing fees need to regulated. Signing Services should get to charge $200 with $125 of that coming to us Signing Agents. Inflation goes up yet our income is declining.

By: BobH

BobH — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 17:37:36 +0000

I agree with nearly everything you state here. You should probably state that his is ‘Chapter ?’ in a continuing series… :-). A few comments and suggested corrections (numbers below refer to your numbered items):

Pretraining-4) I used to be a loan processor prior to becoming a notary and from personal experience, there’s no guarantee that those with settlement, mortgage, etc. backgrounds will be more competent as notaries. Plenty of incompetence in these fields as well and even the good ones may bring biases from being in these industries to the job as a notary (as you infer in your Training #9 paragraph).

Training-2) I further believe that this needs to be actually put in Statute (real law), not just the handbook (which is a summary of law and interpretation). Either that or authorize the Secretary of State (or a State Notary Board) to issue Notary regulations, which would have the full effect and force of law.

Training-8-d) The phrase “…The signer needs to acknowledge that they signed a document in the presence of the Notary…” is incorrect. The signer acknowledges that the signature on the document is his (as you stated before, the signer could have signed the document ’10 years ago’).

By: Roseanne

Roseanne — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 16:39:38 +0000

I agree with the suggestion of better testing and requirements for becoming a notary and a signing agent. I read over and over how people cheat on the exams. It’s disgraceful and mind-boggling that people would try to take on a career fraudulently (in my opinion). And training, screening and preparation is key to keeping higher standards in this industry. Having a Paralegal degree and 3 years of law firm experience for bank attorneys didn’t fully prepare me for becoming a signing agent. How anyone can take a test then just go start a business in this field is unfathomable.

By: Harroll V. Chisom

Harroll V. Chisom — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 16:32:36 +0000

I loved this article. It helped to confirm that I’m doing just about everything correctly and I’m correcting my errors. Also, I rarely used the “additional optional information” section but i’ll Be using it on every appointment from today forward.

Thanks for this info.

Harroll V. Chisom