Questions and Answers from NSA's - Article 23

Covers a wide variety of topics. Make sure you read them all to get all the information.

by  Victoria Ring---Bio

Dear Victoria Rivera:  I have been doing closings for over a year and last week I was in a very bad situation. I accepted an 8:00pm closing from a signing company. I arrived at the Borrower's office building to discover that we would be the only people in a very dark building. When I got into his office the Borrower had three of his brothers in the room. These men were all in their 20's and I am a 37 year old female. The Borrower had an expired driver's license and was not a US citizen. He only had a state firearms picture ID and credit cards. You can only imagine the things that were going through my mind! Out of fear I decided to go through with the closing.

The next morning I contacted the signing company and the mortgage company to let them know about the ID problem so they could decide how they wanted to handle it. I never want to be in a position of not feeling safe. Most of my closings seem to be between 5:00pm - 8:00pm. When receiving an assignment after dark is it wrong to ask the signing company if the borrower is a husband and wife or is it a single man? Do you have any suggestions? Thank you! Rae

Dear Rae:  The ID you accepted during the closing is not an accepted ID in the state of Florida.  If he could not provide to you his green card, state issued ID, or passport, the closing should not have happened because you legally were not able to notarize for him based on Florida Statute.  I have provided you links below to assist you on the notary law in Florida.  If you are hesitant about the marital status of a client and don't want to ask, check the 1004. Marital status is indicated on the application.

For your safety, know the area you are going to especially after dark.  If nothing else, take someone with you or ask that the Borrowers meet in a public place like a restaurant, library.  Trust your own instincts when you are speaking with someone on the phone.  More often than not your instincts are not going to be wrong.

I want to also encourage you to immediately download the Florida Governor's Handbook which is FREE. Click here.

The email education from the Florida Governor's site is also another FREE tool which explains the nuances of the notary law in Florida.  May 2001 gets into what is acceptable ID. Click here.

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Dear Victoria Rivera:  I have read in the newspaper lately that the real estate market is going to take a real hit and a ton of real estate jobs be it title, mortgage, loan officer etc. etc will be heavily affected. Which in turn will affect notaries as well.  Do you have any insight to this?  I know you guys must keep up with this stuff a lot more then the average person because you deal with it on a much bigger scale.  Thanks for you help (Tamara)

Dear Tamara:  I don't think anyone has any more insight than the next at this point but the notary signing business has been around since 1976 and I do not believe it will stop now.  However, the industry does experience slow downs based on the buying trends of the public.  One can only keep a careful eye on their business and if you see an unusual slow down that is consistent then you make sure you have something else to help pick up the slack. Rates cannot continue forever where they have been for the past 5-6 years which stands to reason if you look at the big picture. I would suggest if you haven't done so already to look at some other potential avenues for generating income.

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Dear Victoria:  Does it constitute fraud if a notary notarizes a document without verifying the signatures or identifying the persons present? (Lisa)

Dear Lisa:  The precise answer to your question depends on the laws of your state and if fraud was intended.  If the people present were the same people swearing to the document, no law has been broken.  However, if the people present were purposely committing fraud and the notary allowed that to happen -- all documents are considered to be null and void by default.  Also, if the fraudulent documents were used for legal purproses, civil and criminal charges could be enforced against all parties, including the notary.

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Dear Victoria:  I am employed full time and once in awhile my boss will ask me to notarize something.  Should I charge for this service and is it legal for me to do this? (Harold)

Dear Harold: Unless the document will help to benefit the notary in any way, or if the notary is named in the document, it is a legal act to notarize documents as long as you abide by your state's notarial laws.  As far as charging your employer a fee for notarizing a document, I wouldn't.  The employer is paying you a salary and it would be tacky to ask for additional pay.  Normally, most people offer the notary a tip for their notarization services but if they don't -- consider that you fulfilled your public service duty.

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Dear Victoria:  I need to renew my notary commission. I contacted the Secretary of State and got the forms.  However, the forms want me to have my signature notarized.  Should I notarize it? (Bonnie)

Dear Bonnie: It is illegal for you to notarize your own signature at any time.  You need to have another notary notarize the document. If you do not know a notary in your immediate area, walk into any bank and tell them you need a document notarized.  Or, if you are required to file your renewal at the courthouse, you could hold off signing the document until you file it.  The courthouse always has notaries on site to notarize documents.

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Dear Victoria:  What is meant by an Attorney-in-Fact?  (Suzie)

Dear Suzie: An Attorney-in-Fact is a person (not necessarily an attorney) who has the authority to act or sign on behalf of another person because they have been given a Power of Attorney.  If the Attorney-in-Fact signer does not have the ability to provide verification they hold the Power of Attorney, they are not to sign the document as the Attorney-in-Fact.

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Dear Victoria:  I have been a notary for 11 years and a notary closer for 6 years. Is there any online list service that caters more to the experienced notary?  (Fran)

Dear Fran: Yes Fran.  One good one I recommend is the Notary Public Administrators listerv at http://www.nass.org/NPA/listserv.html