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January 23, 2011

How to choose a Lawyer for your legal needs

Filed under: Other Guest Bloggers — admin @ 8:41 am

Choosing a lawyer in this day and age is very tough as more people start to put up their portfolios and work experiences online. If you are looking for a lawyer to pursue a legal case, it is imperative that you go through a series of different checks before making your decision. Law is a very sensitive field and one that requires the attorney to have hands- on experience of handling a case. In this article, I will guide you through some important things you need to keep in mind when hiring a lawyer.

Ways to choose a lawyer:

1. Check his/her experience
Experience is the first requirement of this field. Don’t choose a minor to fight your case. Keep in mind that people who have hands-on experience of dealing cases in courts know it all. A newbie will not be able to navigate your case the way you would want it to. If you are hiring Bergman Legal lawyers, you can easily consult the company to check the experience of the attorney. Once you are satisfied with the working experience of the lawyer in the category you are looking for, make your decision.

2. Check social media profile
Most people have active social media profiles through which they contact their customers. In this day and age, with social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube; you can easily confirm the veracity of the services of a
prospective lawyer. Read customer reviews and precisely look for bad comments to check what went wrong. Some attorneys even have personalized websites dedicated to them through which you can register for their services conveniently.

3. Approachability is must
Don’t confirm an online deal without meeting your attorney. Keep in mind that the nature of some cases is so intense that frequent meetings need to be positioned between the
client and the lawyer. Don’t confirm the deal unless you haven’t met the attorney in person. Meeting him/her will also give you an idea about professionalism and work. Hire an attorney who lives close to your house or at least within the same city. If you hire a remotely located person, chances are very high that you both might engage in a verbal spat near future.

4. Ask for the fees payment mode
Everything that you discuss with the attorney must be written down. Nothing should be verbal. Especially the fees payment criteria should be written down so that there is absolute clarity between the two parties. Hire the person whose fees is in adherence to your budget. Hiring a highly paid attorney is going to get you in trouble if the money is
not paid on time. Also, confirm the payment mode in time. Ask the other person for installments if you can't pay the full fees in one go.

5. Conduct a background check
This is the most important thing that you need to do when choosing an attorney for your case. If you are hiring somebody through a registered firm, you will easily be able to get every detail of the person out on the paper. However, if you are randomly hiring a person online or after the first meeting, you will need to conduct a background check. This can be done easily. Just contact some of the previous clients who worked with the attorney.

Conclusion:
Lastly, when you are sure about a person’s ability to handle your case, just stick to our decision. Treat him/her well and speak your truth to that person.

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January 22, 2011

Definition of Oath

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , — admin @ 10:22 am

This article deals with Oaths in general as well as how Oaths are significant in the Notary Profession.

What is an Oath?
An Oath is a solemn and formal statement of fact or promise that is worded in a sacred or official way. An Oath is a formalized vow normally taken before others in a formal situation.

Types of Oaths
It is common for people to take an Oath or swear under Oath when becoming a public official which would be called being sworn into office. People also take Oaths when they get married or when they are sworn into court as a defendant, plaintiff, Attorney, witness or juror. People take an Oath of citizenship when becoming a citizen. Those in the medical profession take a hippocratic Oath. But, zookeepers do not need to take a rhinocratic Oath contrary to popular belief.

Hand Gestures
It is common in the United States for people to raise their right hand with their palm facing forward at the beginning of an Oath proceeding. Different parts of the world might have different hand gestures or no hand gestures.

Some People Refuse Oaths
Some Christians refuse to swear under Oath as they always tell the truth (or claim to.) They seem to not understand that the purpose of the Oath is not to prove to themselves that they are telling the truth, but to impress upon others that they are — while the others might not have the same opinion as to the integrity of the affiant. The Notary profession now allows for Affirmations instead of Oaths for those religious people who don’t believe in oaths.

Affirmations
An Affirmation is a formal statement that currently carries the same and identical weight and meaning as an Oath. A Notary Public can swear someone in using an Affirmation instead of an Oath merely by substituting verbiage. Instead of saying, “Do you solemnly swear that this document is true and correct?” you could say, “Do you solemnly affirm that this document is true and correct?”

Affiant
An affiant is the person who swears under Oath typically in a written statement called an Affidavit.

Affidavit
An Affidavit is a written document, often a legal document where the Affiant swears before a Notary Public as to the truthfulness of the document.

Jurat
A Jurat is an official Notary act where the affiant swears under Oath to the truthfulness of a written statement or document. Some Jurats have handwritten statements written by the signer who is also the affiant. Others are drafted up by an Attorney, government or professional agency.

Notarial Oath
Jurats are not the only Notary act that can have an Oath. Notaries use Oaths in many aspects of their work. Notaries take an Oath of Office to get sworn into duty when their commission begins. Notaries routinely swear in Credible Witnesses who are used to identify a signer who doesn’t have identification. Notaries swear in Subscribing Witnesses as well who witness people signing a document. There are also just plain Oaths that Notaries administer. The Oath might not be written or recorded. If Notary administers an Oath, they should indicate in their journal that they gave an Oath regarding a particular subject and have the Oath taker (affiant) sign the journal in that corresponding entry.

Acknowledgments with Oaths
Acknowledged signatures normally do not have Oaths, but they could have an accompanying Oath. Acknowledgments allow the signer to sign before they see the Notary Public. However, the Oath would have to be taken in the presence of a Notary Public.

Oaths in Mortgage Loan Signings
Mortgage loan signings normally contain several affidavits such as the Signature Affidavit which requires a sworn Oath. So, if you perform Loan Signings, be prepared to be an expert at the art of Oath giving.

Question
If Physicians take a Hippocratic Oath, what type of profession would take a Rhinocratic Oath?

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Subscribing witnesses explained
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16707

How good is your technical knowledge? Should you learn more?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16683

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January 21, 2011

Big Bang Theory: Notarizing a discovery about string theory

Filed under: Sit-Coms — Tags: , — admin @ 11:06 am

RAJ: We have to get our latest discovery notarized.

SHELDON: How can you notarize a discovery?

LEONARD: Well, perhaps we should patent it at least. To be on the safe side.

RAJ: Yeah, there are people out there who steal inventions all the time.

SHELDON: Our’s hasn’t even been thoroughly tested. And it is so complicated that even we don’t understand it. So, how is a patent thief supposed to understand it?

RAJ: I was so paranoid I didn’t think that part over. But, our “lost electron syndrome” discovery is so critical, maybe to be safe.

PENNY: Oh, I’m sure your electron will show up somewhere. They always do.

SHELDON: Penny, I don’t know if you realize how important our discovery is. We’ve been reading for decades about how Newtonian Physics has been questioned, and how matter can really be created and destroyed. However, very few physicists have actually seen actual matter disappear, especially under the circumstances that we did. We added emotion to our physics experiment. We played happy music and started dancing around the room all joyfully. And an electron disappeared. I counted them — I know.

PENNY: You counted electrons? I should try that!

RAJ: Yeah, I think she should. It’s a good idea. I do that sometimes when I’m bored, or want to practice my powers of observation. I’m calling the Notary… (ring ring)

NOTARY: Arnie’s Notary, Arnie speaking, may I help you?

RAJ: Hello Arnie. You see, we have this discovery we need notarized. How do we exactly get this done?

NOTARY: You need a statement and an ID. The statement is up to you. It must be written up, and include the name of the signer in it if you require an Acknowledged signature. Or you can do a sworn Oath with a Jurat statement. It’s up to you.

RAJ: Either way. I’ll type one up now.

(10 minutes later)

RAJ: Hello Mr. Arnie. Yes, I typed up the document about the discovery. I would like us all to sign it, so I included all of our three names in the text of the document and also in the signature area. And, yes, we all have ID’s, although we seem to be missing an electron.

NOTARY: Oh, no wonder. The funniest thing happened to me yesterday. After a busy day of notarizing, I was watching TV, and you’d never believe what happened?

RAJ: So tell me?

NOTARY: An electron just showed up out of nowhere.

RAJ: Nowhere? An electron. Hold on. Let me get Sheldon. He says he was watching TV and an electron appeared out of nowhere.

SHELDON: Well, do you think it was our electron?

RAJ: How can you tell one electron from another?

NOTARY: Well, I asked the electron for identication just like I do with everyone else. But, it just whizzed around. To me they all look the same.

LEON: Fascinating. That might be our electron.

RAJ: Maybe we should put up a flyer in the halls saying, “Lost electron. Reward if found.”

NOTARY: Before you do that, I’ll be down at your lab to notarize your statement. $30 travel fee and $10 per signature. Cash only! Pay the travel fee up front just in case your ID’s are missing just like your marble.. I mean your electrons.

SHELDON: Oh, one more thing. We’ll have to put you in a bio-hazard suit before entering the lab.

NOTARY: My fee schedule specifically mentions that I charge $5 extra for each time I put on a bio-hazard outfit, but removal is at no cost as a courtesy to the client.

SHELDON: Deal.

PENNY: Oh, this is so exciting. Can I put on a bio-hazard suit too?

LEON: I don’t think they come in matching colors.

PENNY: Then never mind.

.

You might also like:

Big Bang Theory: Feeling in control Notarizing
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=15150

The Middle: Sue calls a Notary about an Occupancy Affidavit
http://blog.123notary.com/?tag=the-middle

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January 20, 2011

The debate over what goes at the top of your notes section.

Filed under: Your Notes Section — admin @ 8:56 am

We have so many different types of notes sections out there, it is hard to know what is best. Some people emphasize their certifications, title companies they are on the approved list for, or types of loans they know how to sign. All of this is good information, but how do you win the game as far as creating a winning notes section. I compared high placed listings and also compared stats for Notaries in the same geographical areas and learned something. So, we have some answers!

As a general rule, what I found to be true is that my semicolon system of punchy sales points is the best way to format the top of your notes section if you want to get clicked on. Just put your most salient features at the top like this:

“Fluent Spanish; 123notary & Notary2Pro Certified; Apostilles; Last Minute Okay; Experienced with REO, Reverse, Construction, Investment Loans, Buyer & Sellers, Debt Consolidations…”

Notice how concise my points were. They have to fit in a small space because the top of your notes shows up on the search results page, and a goot top of your notes section will entice lots of clicks! here are some other points about what info could go near the top of your notes.

Adjectives & Fluffy Information
Telling the world what a great person you are and making lists of adjectives such as reliable, responsible, experienced, professional doesn’t get you anywhere. That is NOT information — it is unverifiable fluff. Being friendly, or people oriented are better self-descriptions as not all people claim to be friendly. Having a background profession such as customer service or elder-care can help you verify how patient and caring and good with people you really are. Prove it — don’t claim it! Rambling in your notes section about how you go everywhere and do any type of signing once again is not information. Stick to specifics and helpful information.

Any Type of Signing
I compared a metro where there were many types of notes sections. The one that says they do “any type of signing” did the worst. Tell us a list of at least six types of financial packages you know how to sign, i.e. Refinances, Purchases, REO, Reverse Mortgages, Helocs, Construction, Time-Shares, etc.

Lists of types of loans
In one particular metro I compared the top eight notes sections. The one who had a long and specific list of types of loans signed got the most clicks. The one who mentioned how many years they were a signing agent and then listed specifics was the next best.

Unrelated Experience
We had a guy who was a fireman. He mentioned this at the top of his notes section. That is better than leaving it blank, but his click average was far down the list.

Taking Paypal and Credit Cards
Here is something unusual to add to your notes section. I like it. But, the stats found this listing to be average in terms of clicks.

Full-Time
In another area where we compared notes, a Notary claiming to be full-time did above average.

Radius
A Notary listing who mentioned his radius did much better in terms of clicks than other Notaries right above or below him on the list. Radius is a specific piece of information that people can put their finger on.

Approved List
If you are on a white glove list or approved list of a Title company, that is a very good piece of information to add. We compared a few approved Notaries who mentioned it at the top of their notes who did substantially better than the others in similar positions in the same area.

Guarantee
We have very few Notaries making guarantees. However, the one who I analyzed who does have a money-back guarantee does better than the others in his area.

Repeating your Name or Hours
People can see your name and your 24 hour icon already and don’t need to see it again in your notes. You are taking up space at the top of your notes section where you could write something else. Dont’ waste space. Put your selling spots up top.

Certifications & E&O
It is good to mention this in your notes section, but not at the top of your notes section unless you can make it concise.

Prompt & Courteous
These adjectives do not get you clicks. Anyone can claim to be prompt and courteous. Let your work prove it, but let your notes inform people about something more substantial.

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Safe notarizing is like safe sex. Don’t have unprotected notarizations!

Filed under: Best Practices — admin @ 1:04 am

Can you imagine that Florida’s FAQ page forbids Notaries from requiring a journal thumbprint? The thumbprint is the one piece of evidence that can nail an identity thief and is the most compelling evidence to prove that the Notary is not in cahutz with the ring of identity thieves as well. You are protecting yourself as well as society. So, why would Florida want you to endanger everybody?

India does not require people to have seatbelts, but if you don’t use a seatbelt in India, you might end up going through a windshield onto the other side of the highway and end up with a skull fracture. The fact that India doesn’t require seatbelts doesn’t make it any more safe to go without using one.

A thumbprint is to notarizing what an airbag & seatbelt is to safe driving.
Proper identification practices like making sure the name on the document is provable based on the name on the identification document is just like wearing a seatbelt. For the most part, you don’t get into accidents. You will probably not be in a serious accident in your entire life. But, it is possible that you or a family member will be in a bad accident, and if you aren’t wearing your seat belt at that exact instant when the accident happens, you could end up dead. Not taking a journal thumbprint is like not having an airbag. If you notarize 10,000 people without incident and then customer 10,001 happens to be an identity thief, it is the thumbprint that will help the authorities catch him. If you don’t keep a thumbprint, you could end up named as a suspect in a law suit, be a witness in a long law suit and you don’t get paid for sitting in court, etc.

Heterosexual AIDS is rare in the USA, but exists.
When you have intercourse, if you sleep around, some people have diseases. You cannot know who is having an outbreak or who has a disease. People who are smart, either abstain from sleeping with people who they don’t have a serious relationship with, or use protection. It is rare in America that you would have the misfortune of having intercourse with someone hetersexual who is not an introvenous drug user who has AIDS, but it could happen in the heterosexual community. You might sleep with 10,000 heterosexuals and feel safe because nothing bad happened so far. But, with person 10,001, that person might have AIDS and give it to you. This is why you should keep a thumbprint, otherwise you might get the notarial equivalent of AIDS which is being a witness or suspect in a lengthy and expensive law suit regarding identity theft.

15% of full-time Notaries will end up in court
Identity theft is rampant, but as a full-time Notary, you only have a roughly 15% of ever appearing before a judge or being part of any serious investigation — and that is during your career and not during any particular career. Although I have met a few Notaries who have appeared before judges twice or been investigated three times. Maybe that is their karma.

Don’t have unprotected notarizations.
What you have to understand is that when you notarize someone, you are not just notarizing them. You are notarizing them, and anyone they’ve been notarized by, and anyone they’ve been notarized by has notarized, and so on and so on. If any of them are an identity thief, you could end up with AITS (the notarial equivalent of AIDS) which is acquired identity theft syndrome. The proper use of thumbprints reduces the risk of AITS to almost zero. So, use a thumbprint and be safe. Don’t have unprotected notarizations!

Safe notarizing! Because certain things weren’t meant to be shared!
.

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13 ways to get sued as a Notary
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19614

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January 18, 2011

What Do Personal Injury Lawyers Do for Their Clients?

Filed under: Other Guest Bloggers — Tags: — admin @ 10:20 pm

What Do Personal Injury Lawyers Do for Their Clients?

There is a large list of issues that require the assistance of law. So many that one lawyer can’t master how to deal in each of them. That’s how the concept of different lawyers for different types of cases came into being. One of the most widely seen issues in the United States is personal injury. So the need for personal injury lawyers was inevitable. Personal injury lawyers help people get their due right from the opposite party or insurance company when they face an accident. However, there is a lot more to the job then what a common man sees. Here I’ve shared all necessary actions taken by a personal injury lawyers for their clients.

Educates You About Your Rights
They always start with educating you about the rights you have in the matter under discussion. They are lawyers who have spent years practicing this field of law. As most clients don’t understand the depth of the situation, lawyers start by explaining how the law works. You will learn about your rights reserved by the law and your responsibilities. Once you understand the situation, you would know better if you are at right or wrong and if you should pursue that case. This education helps you make an informed decision.

Investigates the Case
Not many people know but good lawyers have to investigate the case to fully understand it. For this purpose, many lawyers visit the place of accident and discuss the incident with witnesses to form a theory on how the accident took place. Many law firms hire professionals like former police officers to investigate the case for them.

Calculates the Damages
Most people that don’t have a lot of experience of personal injury cases calculate the cost of only immediate damages. Professional personal injury lawyers have a better sense of assessment in this case due to their experience. They will calculate things like the time you had to take off from your office due to injuries, incident’s mental impact on you, harassing phone calls from bill collectors in addition to the vehicle repair and other costs. They will get you enough reimbursement that you won’t feel if the accident impacted your life in any way.

Deals with Oppositions
There is a possibility that your insurance company may pay you the due right without any issues. On the other hand, you may have to fight more than one parties in the court who might be asking you to pay for all the damages. According to lawyers at Davis Law Group, Seattle personal injury attorneys, you won’t really need a lawyer in the first case; however, things get complicated when more than one parties are involved.

Fights the Case in Court
No man without a law background can fight a case in the court against a professional lawyer. They have a lot more than just knowledge of the law. Their practice allows them to understand the situation, your mentality, and answer to every question before you tell it. You will see them using tricks to get you to say things that would weaken your case. It is said that things can get very ugly in the courtroom – they said the truth. Lawyers might even attack your personal life to make you lose temper. To beat this experience, you need another professional of the same caliber.

Please also see:
Olympia Injury Lawyers

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January 13, 2011

The journals with check boxes? What does Jeremy say?

Filed under: Journals — admin @ 11:27 pm

Don’t use it!
Any time you check a box rather than writing something in by hand, you are risking making a mistake. You are dealing with legal documents here. Being a Notary is not the same as working for the circus. The consequences for a mistake could end you up in court.

Additionally, many document names have variations. If you check the box for an Errors and Omissions document where the real name is Errors and Omissions Compliance Agreement, you did not reference the correct document.

The more serious problem with check boxes is that many Notaries feel that the laws affecting proper journal filling procedure suddently change the minute you use the check box journal. Many Notaries feel you no longer have to obey the one document per entry law or principle. Not true! The principle is still the same. The signer or borrower has to sign for each journal entry and for each document in a separate journal entry — no exceptions and don’t cry about how much longer it will take you. You are Notaries, not clowns!

My suggestion is to use the regular NNA soft cover Official Journal of Notarial Acts. It is good for any type of Notary act, has room for a thumbprint, notes about the signer, room for credible witnesses, etc. It was all I ever needed and I went through about six dozen in my career.

I first saw a real journal with check boxes recently when Carmen showed me hers. She fills hers out by hand instead of checking boxes by the way (which is correct). However, the journal doesn’t mention that many choices of documents (only about 18) so if yours is a variation on a name of a document or not on the list you still need to write it by hand. The check boxes only encourage bad bookkeeping. So, no more check boxes. We don’t like it. It is not professional, safe or a good practice!

.

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Notary Public 101 – Journals
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19511

Do Notary Journals need to be kept under lock and key?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=2461

What are Jeremy’s favorite blog entries?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18837

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January 12, 2011

Why keep a journal? Don’t wait until you get a call from the FBI.

Filed under: Journals — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 11:31 pm

I have the worst time talking to Notaries in NJ, NY and Florida. They have the worst attitude. The minute ask them a journal quesiton the answer is usually — my state doesn’t require me to keep a journal. I have heard this so many times I just want to throw them off my site just for saying that. I am so upset, that I have decided to have formal standards on 123notary for what we require in our jurisdiction online. Journals will be one of the requirements.

When you are:
Investigated for fraud that you notarized
In court or
Need to look up a former transaction for some reason

Your journal is your only recourse. If you don’t keep a journal, you will not be able to answer to investigators. A journal thumbprint is sometimes the only way the FBI can catch an identity thief. If you don’t keep one because your state doesn’t require it, then you are empowering identity thiefs. Florida’s FAQ page states that they don’t want Notaries to require a thumbprint. That is like asking parents not to require their children to wear a seatbelt. When your child comes home with a fractured jaw, you will change the way you look at this “requirement.”

I was investigated three times.

#1. An investigator suspected an elderly couple of being ripped off. I told him I found the transaction in my journal and had a thumbprint. He said, “Investigation over.” I was off the hook because I kept good records.

#2 A routine inquiry with a journal entry copied and sent to the inuirer.

#3. Someone copied my seal using a xerox machine and pretended to be me. I looked in my journal and found the exact day when the crime was committed. I did a few other jobs that day, but not the job in question. The handwriting on the acknowledgment didn’t match mine either and they did not do the cross outs or use an embosser. Having a journal saved my neck. How can you not keep one?

Another story was that a shady guy wanted to be notarized by me. I told him that I required a thumbprint. The guy protested but I stood my ground. He declined and found another Notary. I detered a potential fraud from happening and it was easy. NNA sells thumbprinters for about $16. Buy a few. It is your best protection.

NNA teaches proper journal filling technique. Learn from them. They teach Notary knowledge better than anyone else.

.

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What entities might want to see your journal?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20902

Notary Public 101 – Journals
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19511

How many journal entries if you have 2 signers each signing 3 documents.
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19391

Notary Public 101 – Identification
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19507

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Notary Jail

Filed under: Best Humorous Posts,Humorous Posts,Popular on Facebook (very) — Tags: — admin @ 12:00 pm

WARDEN: Welcome to Notary Jail — Don’t drop the embosser!
It’s time for mug shots. Turn to the right and say “scilicit” — that’s a notary term. You would know that if you read your Notary handbook. And by the way, selling your notary seal on eBay, was it really worth it?

NOTARY: Hey, I got paid $800 for it. I was in a pinch and needed the money.

WARDEN: Well you won’t have to worry about being behind on rent here!

I think that I am the first person to come up with this concept. Notary jail. Where Notaries go when they’ve been bad. But, most Notaries have been bad, they just didn’t get caught because their secretary of state’s don’t bother to enforce a single law. What is the point of having laws if you don’t enforce them?

Oath Omissions
If you forget to administer an Oath you should be sent to Notary jail and get booked. The first thing they will do is thumbprint you in their journal. Then, they will ask you if you take journal thumbprints. If you say, “My state doesn’t require that.” Then they will put you in solitary confinement. After all, an innocent person could be scammed out of everything they own and the culprit could run free simply because you didn’t take a thumbprint.

ID-ing
If you didn’t ID someone correctly, then a cell in the insane ward would be in order. Since you let John Smith sign as John W Smith, you will also not mind being around five people who are sure that they are Abraham Lincoln.

Loose Certificates
And then there are the people who don’t fill in certificates properly or send loose certificates in the mail. Tisk tisk. The staff at Notary jail will goof on your jail paperwork if you do that and you’ll be in for a long time.

Jail Food?
Oh, and the food at Notary jail? Embossed flat bread sandwiches. You get that nice raised seal embossed pattern on every bite. Then they have a breakfast cereal called frosted mini-seals. Oh, and one more thing. They have soap shaped like a Notary seal. But, don’t drop the soap (or don’t drop the seal.)

Entertainment at Notary jail involves watching television documentaries on the notary profession and NNA how to materials. When they run out of sleeping pills, they have written Notary materials for you to study. The yard outside is shaped like a giant notary seal. You get an hour of outside time per day.

Notary Questions
And if they ask Notary questions in Notary jail, don’t talk back to the guards like you normally do to Jeremy. Just answer questions the way they were asked and you might get time off for good behavior.

Conclusion
In real life, the Notaries who end up in jail are those who committed fraud involving real property. Trying to steal someone’s property and put it in someone else’s name using your Notary commission is the worst crime you can commit.

Then there are the cases where fraud happens that is not the Notary’s fault. Perhaps if the Notary had been more careful filling out the certificates or journal entries it would be easier to prove what happened. But, in such cases, the notary ends up in court, not jail.

If you do end up in Notary jail, you might bump into a few of your Mortgage Broker clients. On the other hand, they have their own jail — Mortgage Jail.

.

Can a Notary go to jail for Notary fraud?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21353

Putting jails and hospitals into your notes section
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19266

Go to jail but DO collect $100
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=15361

Find a notary who goes to Twin Towers Jail and other Los Angeles Prisons
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21349

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Notary Respect

Filed under: Ken Edelstein — Tags: , — admin @ 1:30 am

Notary Respect
“When you arrive at the building, please use the service entrance.” That was the closing sentence from a client for an assignment in a midtown Manhattan office building. I called, and made it quite clear that was not the way I would proceed. “I do not use the back door; I am a commissioned office of the State Department of the State of New York on official business. I do not use the messenger or pizza delivery entrance. If you will kindly confirm to me that a pass will be waiting for me in the main lobby, I will be able to confirm your appointment”.

The above was yesterday. The client did assure me that a building security pass, at the normal entrance would be waiting for me. It was. Even though I carried a large bag with my fingerprinting supplies, I was directed to the elevator without incident. The assignment also included notarization; though both require my standing as a notary to establish ID.

This evening I had a title company call with a refinance. The location was nearby and they readily agreed to my fee. The assignment was for the next day, a Saturday. “The borrower has an early flight and would like you on location at 6AM.” Gulp, that will cost you an additional $50 as it would require me to wake at 5AM. “Why – $50 more, it’s not that you are likely to have some other conflicting appointment scheduled.” My only reply, censoring what I wanted to say was “Thank You for calling, find someone else”. Clearly my loss of sleep had no value to them, but it certainly does to me.

Chances are you are polite and respectful to callers and clients. However, not all callers are respectful to us. I found the position taken by the 6AM job caller disrespectful. To me that warrants an abrupt, but polite – end to the conversation. Sometimes our clients can be a bit unreasonable. At the door I heard large dogs growling and snarling. I like dogs, and usually have no concern about them. But, at this location they seemed very aggressive, not the “I like you” kind, that want some attention. I asked that the dogs be placed in a different room prior to entering. “My dogs are always free, enter or not; it’s your choice.” Away I went.

Do you have dignity? It’s rather a shock to me to have to ask the question. Of course you do, but do you demand respect both for yourself and your office as a notary? I have been asked, on a signing to literally “sit in the corner till you are required”. I’m not furniture. “He’s “just” the notary”, superfluous condescending word “just”. More accurately: He is the Notary. Even if you have a low self image, project the status and honor (yes honor) of your profession and office.

I’m not talking about being pompous and acting superior. Folks at the signing table are not expected to stand when you enter the room. You are an integral and necessary part of our legal system. A document can become evidence in court – because of your certification. We are the front line troops defending against and eliminating much fraud. There is a long and honorable history behind our roles as notaries. Our impartiality and objectivity define us.

Respect, just like trust; has to be earned. One way we earn trust is being sworn under oath to uphold our state’s laws. Respect is a bit more difficult to earn. Snide and demeaning comments as: “just a notary” must be immediately and politely voiced objections. When you dress, act, and practice your profession honorably; the respect you deserve will generally be forthcoming.

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