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December 21, 2016

DOJ — and the risks of unsupervised notaries public.

On Feb 9, 2012, the Department of Justice released some settlement terms for some of America’s largest lenders regarding the mandate of proper training and supervision of notaries. In October, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released their Examination Manual which included requirements for the proper and correct execution of notarized documents.

There are risks to hiring uneducated and unsupervised notaries. Many do not know how to give Oaths, or properly fill out Acknowledgment or Jurat Certificates. Companies are exposed to losses should their notaries make serious mistakes. If you hire notaries, you should make sure you find a way to test them on basic notary procedures and inspect the forms that they fill out. Additionally, you should ask them all about what types of identification is acceptable and how to fill in journal entries. More than half of commissioned notary publics really don’t know what they are doing.

February 9, 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice released settlement terms for some of the nation’s largest financial institutions; including the mandate of proper training and supervision of notaries public. October 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released their Examination Manual which includes requirements for proper execution of notarized documents.

For years, educators and advocates of notaries public have warned employers of the risks associated with uneducated and unsupervised notaries public. Employers of notaries public can no longer ignore the risk to which these vital employees expose our institutions and companies. This live audio conference outlines the critical protections your company should put in place to protect your reputation and financial assets, above any statutory or regulatory responsibility to do so. In addition to the relevant settlement released in February 2012, precedent setting case law demonstrates the need for employers of notaries public to take a closer look at their notary education standards, management program, and disciplinary actions to protect their company and business transactions from losses that result from unrelated or from their own uneducated notaries public. Considering that the majority of the commissioning agencies of notaries public do not require any education of your notary-employees; your company is exposed to losses as a result of their errant processes.

After completing this live audio conference, you will understand basic notarial responsibilities, identify specific actions of notary-employees that expose your company to risk, and be able to implement a management and supervisory program that includes basic notarial education and performance expectations for all notary-employees.

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1 Comment »

  1. Maybe I am not very astute. The CFPB wants to make rules for notaries and how we do our jobs. They are correct that many notaries have not been properly trained. Yes we are commissioned by the State. The individual states set the rules for the notaries they commission. Further this article implies that Financial institutions and companies should supervise the notaries working for them. As a notary I do not work for them. I am contracted via a Title company or signing company. Sometimes a financial institution or company may hire me to perform a loan signing, yet I am not an employee of theirs I am an independent contractor.

    Talk like this just enbolds the NNA to control us further. The CFPB and DOJ have no authority over notaries. Yes they can through the courts impose fines or lose of commission if we violate the notary laws of the state we are commissioned in. AS the last sentence states “for all notary-employees.” So if they want to push this agenda down to us independent contractors they will that mean we have become notary-emplyees of theirs and are entitled to all other employement rights such as workmans comp, Social Security and FICA taxes and possible health insurance?

    Comment by Daniel Stephens — January 27, 2017 @ 12:41 am

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