Originally posted in 2017
Many people become Notaries to make a few extra bucks and don’t realize there are liabilities in this profession. Here are some ways you can get into trouble as a Notary.
1. You name your business a particular name, advertise with that name, but the name is not registered with your county clerk. Someone could sue you for using their business name.
2. You notarize loans in an Attorney state and the local bar association sues you. This has happened to a few Notaries in Massachusetts, and in Georgia the bar association antagonizes Notaries from time to time.
3. You make a mistake on a signing and your E&O doesn’t cover you. E&O is for NOTARY MISTAKES and not for business mistakes you make with loan signing. If a document is not notarized, your E&O will not cover your mistake. For example if you sign the note wrong, that is not a Notary mistake, that is a document signing mistake.
4. You return documents back late and the Lender sues you because the borrower lost their lock.
5. You make a comment to the borrower about their loan, they cancel, and then the Lender blames you and sues.
6. You decline to Notarize someone whose name on the ID does not match or prove the name on the document. One Notary did exacty this and got sued and lost because her communication skills were so bad, but judge could not understand her side of the story.
7. You get in a car accident on the way to a signing and get sued as a result of the accident.
8. You make a mistake in a loan signing and then don’t answer your phone or email for days after. The Lender is pulling his hair out and sues you for his bill with Bosley hair transplants.
9. You don’t follow directions on an assignment. You don’t show the documents in the order the client asked you to. As a result, the client changes their mind about signing the document that will get the client their commission. The client loses $5000 because of you, sues you, and wins.
10. You forget to administer an Oath and your state fines you for malpractice. In California there is a $750 fine for each Oath you forget. Fining and suing are different, but the end is the same — you lose. Or should I say, I swear you will lose!
11. You give legal advice or something that can be construed, misconstrued as legal advice. Then, you get sued for UPL. If you give legal advice to a courier company you could get sued for UPL by UPS.
12. You put the wrong date on the Right to Cancel, the borrower thinks they have an additional day, and find out after the fact that they don’t. Good luck. You would be surprised how many Notaries do not know how to date a Right to Cancel.
13. You misrepresent yourself as an immigration expert and defraud some poor and helpless immigrants. Or you advertise as a Notario. You will be cracked down upon by many state governments for this.
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You might also like:
10 risks to being a Mobile Notary Public
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19459
A Notary gets sued because of a scrambled ID
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19443
You could get sued if you don’t have a business license
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=7100
Help, I’m being sued and E&O won’t help!
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=3570
The FBI is at your door and names you as a suspect!
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20013
Find Notary Services Near Me
http://blog.123notary.com/?tag=notary-services-near-me
14. Send Jeremy a bad check.
Comment by Kenneth Edelstein — November 21, 2017 @ 4:33 pm
I registered my business name with the state when I declared it a LLC. Do I still need to register with the county clerk as well …
Comment by Beth Patterson — January 7, 2018 @ 4:48 pm
No substantive information. Article would benefit from case citations and direct quote from ruling otherwise just fear mongering.
Comment by Angela G. — January 8, 2018 @ 1:14 am
Great article
Comment by Yukita Manuel — June 6, 2018 @ 5:14 pm
Communication is So important!! NEVER assume.
I make it crystal clear when documents will be dropped. So often **sigh**, I have to wait for documents for hours and am asked to rush to drop. I will NOT do so. I am happy to scan the package and drop next day, but I have had my car accident, thank your very much!! The city FINALLY put up 2 four way stop lights at this location bc of the # of accidents there, and the other driver sped across the intersection where I had the right of way and hit ME.
4. You return documents back late and the Lender sues you because the borrower lost their lock.
No excuse for not meeting cutoff when there is plenty of time. My FedEx/UPS cutoff is 6:30PM
Comment by Betty — January 28, 2022 @ 5:24 pm
Thanks for this article. I think we all sometimes take for granted the mistakes that could get us in deep trouble.
Comment by Roseanne Angeloro — February 5, 2022 @ 1:03 pm
Number 14.- don’t give people Ideas on how to sue the notary Public.
Comment by David V Fuentes — September 5, 2023 @ 12:37 am