Notary division Archives - Notary Blog - Signing Tips, Marketing Tips, General Notary Advice

August 16, 2013

Notary Fines & Notary Penalties (gulp)

Filed under: Legal Issues,Technical & Legal — Tags: california notary, California notary public, Notary, notary commission, Notary division, Notary fine, Notary fines, Notary Penalties, Notary Penalty — admin @ 2:30 am

People going into the notary business should be aware that there is such a thing as Notary Fines, and Notary Penalties are real! I used to be a California Notary Public and read the California Notary Handbook multiple times. There are all types of penalties that could be imposed on a sloppy notary. I could go one by one and list all of the fines and penalties in the handbook, or just write about some more common types of mistakes that notaries make that could end up in a Notary fine. Please remember, that the types of infractions of notary law we are indicating below may or may not end up in a fine in your particular state. However, to be on the safe side, we encourage you to avoid any type of legal infraction whatsoever so you stay out of trouble.

If you move…
If you change your physical address, and don’t notify your state notary division within 30 days, or however many days your state allows (which is often 30 days), you might end up in a little bit of trouble. You might get fined for this type of neglegence. The Secretary of State or Notary Division in your state wants to know where you are living — that is important to them!

If you change your name…
If you change your legal name, you are required to inform your Notary Division in writing in many states. You might be required to get new notary commission, or just get a new notary seal that reflects your new name. A California notary for instance is required to notify the notary division immediately after a name change!

If you overcharge…
If you charge more than your state’s maximum published rates for a notary act, you could get fined for overcharging. It is doubtful that you would get caught, but to be on the safe side, don’t charge more than the amount your state allows for notary acts. You may charge for travel fee in 41 states, but you need to know what the rules are for travel fees too as there are restrictions in a few states. If you are a California Notary there is no limit to what you can charge as a travel fee.

If you put a wrong date on a notary certificate
If you intentionally put a false date on a notary certificate, you might get a lot more than just a simple notary fine or notary penalty. You might be criminally liable, especially if the notary certificate is on a Deed effecting real property. Don’t backdate! It is illegal and can come back to you!

Application misstatement
A California Notary Public could have their notary commission suspended, revoked, or terminated if they made a misstatement in their application. Tell the truth, or you could get in trouble.

We might write some more blog entries in the future about notary fines and notary penalties. But, for now, we just wanted to refresh your memory to the fact that these types of fines do exist, and let you know about a few specific types of cases where you could be fined.

Have a fine day!

You might also like:

Penalties for notary misconduct and fraud
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21315

Fraud and forgery in the notary profession
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=2294

Comments (2)

May 29, 2012

Are webcam notarizations legal in my state?

Filed under: e-Notarization & e-Signings — Tags: california notary, Illegal Notariation, Notarization, Notarizations, Notarizations in California, Notary division — admin @ 12:32 pm

Are webcam notarizations legal in my state

As of 2011 & 2012, webcam notarizations are not legal in any state. The California Secretary of State even went so far as to make an official posting on their California notary division website to specifically state that it is illegal to do webcam notarizations in California and that there was a company who engaged in this illegal notarization practice. This illegal notarization technique was used for signings in New Jersey by the company in question. I have not heard if those individuals doign these webcam notarizations have been arrested or what. We actually advertise them on our website, but post information stating that their webcam notarizations are illegal in California and other states.

As a customer for notary services, it is your responsibility to have some basic idea about notary law, and you need to know what is illegal in this business. Any notary job that lacks personal appearance from the signer is an illegal notarization except for a proof of execution.

If you want to look up your state’s notary laws, each state has a notary division website where you can look up specific notary laws particular to your state. It might be hard to sort through and the legalese is not easy to read, but you can learn a lot in a short amount of time by reading through state notary division websites.

You might also like:

Contact information for state notary divisions

Do you accept credit cards?
http://www.123notary.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3135

Being asked to backdate
http://www.123notary.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3155

e-docs — worth it or not
http://www.123notary.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=632

Accepting verses bidding on a job
http://www.123notary.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2306

Comments (2)

December 2, 2011

Contact information for state notary divisions 2011 & 2012

Filed under: (5) State specific — Tags: Contact information for notary divisions, department of state notary division, Notary division, Notary divisions, Secretary of state notary division, State Notaries List, State notary division, state notary divisions, State Notary Information — admin @ 6:21 am

Contact information for state notary divisions.

We already have a page on 123notary.com with contact information for all notary divisions in all states plus Washington DC. However, we noticed that the information keeps changing, and it is hard to keep up with my webmasters to keep the changes up to date. So, the beauty of blogging is that I can edit information when I want, or create a new list altogether! So, here is my late 2011 list of notary divisions with current web addresses, etc.

Alabama Secretary of State
http://www.sos.state.al.us/adminservices/notarypublic.aspx
334-242-7200
State Capitol Building – Suite S-105
600 Dexter Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36103

Alaska Lieutenant Governor
http://ltgov.alaska.gov/treadwell/notaries.html
907-465-3509
There is no training or testing at this time – however a training course is recommended.
notary@alaska.gov

Arizona Department of State – Office of the Secretary of State
http://azsos.gov/business_Services/notary/
(602) 542-4285
Capitol Executive Tower, 7th Floor
1700 West Washington Street
Phoenix, AZ 85007-2888

Arkansas Secretary of State Notary Public Division
http://www.sos.arkansas.gov/BCS/Pages/notaryPublic.aspx
501-682-1010
State Capitol, RM 256
Little Rock, AR 72201

California Secretary of State Notary Division
http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/notary/
(916) 653-3595
1500 11th Street, 2nd Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814

Colorado Secretary of State
http://www.sos.state.co.us/
303-894-2200 & press 2
Colorado Department of State
1700 Broadway
Denver, CO 80290

Connecticut Secretary of the State
http://www.ct.gov/sots/cwp/view.asp?a=3184&q=392266
860-509-6003
860-509-6002
30 Trinity Street, Hartford, CT 06106

Delaware – State of Delaware Notary Public
http://notary.delaware.gov/
302-739-4111
notary@delaware.gov

District of Columbia: Office of the Secretary
Washington DC Office of Notary Commissions and Authentications
http://os.dc.gov/os/cwp/view,a,1207,q,522462,osNav,%7C31374%7C.asp
(202) 727-3117
441 4th Street, NW
Room 810S
Washington, DC 20001

Florida Department of State Division of Corporations Apostille Certification
http://notaries.dos.state.fl.us/
(850) 488-7146
P.O. Box 6800
Tallahassee, FL 32314-6800

Georgia Secretary of State Notary Public & Document Certification
http://www.sos.ga.gov/administration/notary.htm
(404) 327-6023
1875 Century Boulevard
Suite 100
Atlanta, Georgia 30345

Hawaii Department of the Attorney General: Notaries Public
http://hawaii.gov/ag/notary/
(808) 586-1218
425 Queen Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Hours of Operation: 7:45am to 12:00pm Monday to Friday

Idaho Secretary of State: Notaries, Apostilles and Authentications
http://www.sos.idaho.gov/notary/npindex.htm
(208) 332-2810
dfarnsworth@sos.idaho.gov
Secretary of State
PO Box 83720
450 N 4th Street
Boise ID 83720-0080

Illinois Secretary of State Notary Division
http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/index/notary/home.html
1-800 252-8980
213 State Capitol
Springfield, IL 62756

Indiana Secretary of State Business Services Division: Notary
http://www.in.gov/sos/business/2378.htm
317-232-6581
302 W. Washington Street Room E018
Indianapolis, IN 46204

Iowa Secretary of State
http://www.sos.state.ia.us/notaries/index.html
515-281-8993
sos@sos.state.ia.us
1007 East Grand Avenue
Room 105, State Capitol
Des Moines, IA 50319

Kansas: State of Kansas Office of the Secretary of State
http://www.kssos.org/business/business_notary.html
(785) 296-4564
Kansas Secretary of State
Memorial Hall, 1st Floor
120 SW 10th Avenue
Topeka, KS 66612-1594

Kentucky Secretary of State Administrative Services: Overview of Notaries
http://www.sos.ky.gov/adminservices/notaries/
(502) 564-3490
Office of the Secretary of State
Notary Branch
PO Box 821
700 Capital Avenue, Suite 158
Frankfort, KY 40601

Louisiana Secretary of State: Louisiana Notary Division
http://www.sos.la.gov/tabid/70/Default.aspx
225.922.0507
8585 Archives Ave.
Baton Rouge, LA 70809

Maine Department of the Secretary of State Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions
http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/notary/
207-624-7736
cec.notaries@maine.gov
Burton Cross Building
111 Sewall St., 4th Floor

Maryland Office of the Secretary of State: Maryland Notary Division
http://www.sos.state.md.us/Notary/Notary.aspx
410-974-5521
16 Francis Street,
Annapolis, MD 21401

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division: Notary Public Information
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prenot/notidx.htm
617-725-4016
617-727-2832
pre@sec.state.ma.usSecretary of the Commonwealth
Public Records Division
McCormack Building, Room 1719
One Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108

Michigan Department of State: Notary & Document Certification
http://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,4670,7-127-15049-25634–,00.html
(888) 767-6424
Michigan Department of State,
Lansing, MI 48918

Minnesota Secretary of State Notary Division
http://www.sos.state.mn.us/
651-296-2803
60 Empire Drive, Suite 100
St Paul, MN 55103

Mississippi Secretary of State Business Services: Notary Public
http://www.sos.state.ms.us/busserv/notaries/NotaryFAQs.asp
Sorry, but there was no contact information on their site!

Missouri Secretary of State Business Services: Notary Public
http://www.sos.mo.gov/business/commissions/pubs/notary/
(573) 751-4936
600 West Main Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101

Montana Notary Division
http://sos.mt.gov/notary/Become_Notary.asp
(406) 444-5379
sosnotary@mt.gov
1236 6th Avenue
Helena, MT 59601

Nebraska Secretary of State Business Services: Notary Public
http://www.sos.ne.gov/business/notary/index.html
(402) 471-2558
State Capitol, Room 1301,
Lincoln, NE 68509

New Hampshire Secretary of State Notary Public Division
http://www.sos.nh.gov/notary.html
603-271-3242
State House Room 204,
Concord, NH 03301

New Jersey Secretary of the Treasury: Notary Public
http://www.nj.gov/treasury/revenue/dcr/programs/notary.shtml
Division of Revenue, Notary Public Unit ,
PO Box 452,
Trenton, NJ 08646

New Mexico Secretary of State Notary Division
http://www.sos.state.nm.us/sos-notary.html
505)-827-3600
Secretary of State,
State Capitol North, Suite 300,
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501

New York Department of State
http://www.dos.state.ny.us/licensing/
(518) 474-4429
Department of State, Albany Location:
One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Ave
Albany, NY 12231-0001

North Carolina Notary Division
http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/notary/
919-807-2219
North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State
P.O. Box 29626
Raleigh, North Carolina 27626-0626

North Dakota Notary Division
http://www.nd.gov/sos/notaryserv/
701-328-2900
Secretary of State
State of North Dakota
600 E Boulevard Ave Dept 108, 1st Floor
Bismarck ND 58505-0500

Ohio Notary Division
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/recordsIndexes/Notary.aspx
614-644-4559
Ohio Secretary of State
180 E. Broad St., Suite 103
Columbus, OH 43215

Oklahoma Notary Division
https://www.sos.ok.gov/notary/default.aspx
405-521-2516
Notary Public services
Secretary of State
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd, Room 101
Oklahoma City, OK 73105-4897

Oregon Notary Division
http://www.filinginoregon.com/pages/notary/
503-986-2200
Public Service Building 255 Capitol Street NE Suite 151
Salem, Oregon
Pennsylvania
http://www.dgs.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/notaries/12609
717-787-5280
Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation
Division of Legislation and Notaries
210 North Office Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120

Rhode Island Notary Division
http://sos.ri.gov/business/notary/
401-222-3040
148 West River Street
Providence, RI 02904-2615

South Carolina Notary Division
http://www.scsos.com/notaries
1205 Pendleton Street Suite 525
Columbia, SC 29201

South Dakota Notary Division
http://apps.sd.gov/applications/ST12ODRS/aspx/frmNotaryViewList.aspx
605-773-3537

Tennessee Notary Division
http://www.tn.gov/sos/bus_svc/notary.htm
615-741-3699
Division of Business Services
312 Rosa L. Parks Avenue, Snodgrass Tower, 6th Floor
Nashville, TN 37243

Texas Notary Division
http://www.sos.state.tx.us/statdoc/edinfo.shtml
512-463-5705
Secretary of State, Notary Public Unit, P.O. Box 13375,
Austin, Texas 78711-3375

Utah Notary Division
http://notary.utah.gov/
801-538-1041
Utah State Capitol, Notary Office, Suite 220,
Salt Lake City, UT 84114

Vermont Notary Division
http://vermont-archives.org/notary/
802-828-3287
Secretary’s Office
128 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05633-1101

Virginia Notary Division
http://www.commonwealth.virginia.gov/Notary/notary.cfm?CFID=10410718&CFTOKEN=e9bab8f65217a483-C5004CEA-B189-F028-4D9FC1D229C03EBD
804-692-2536
Jennifer Crown, Notary Director
Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth
P.O. Box 1795
Richmond, Virginia 23218-1795

Washington State Notary Division
http://www.dol.wa.gov/business/notary/nrequirements.html
360-664-1550
405 Black Lake Blvd SW
Olympia, WA 98502

West Virginia Notary Division
http://www.sos.wv.gov/business-licensing/notaries/Pages/default.aspx

Wisconsin Notary Division
http://www.sos.state.wi.us/
608-266-8888, then press 3
The Office of the Secretary of State
P.O. Box 7848
Madison, WI 53707 – 7848

Wyoming Notary Division
http://soswy.state.wy.us/AdminServices/NotariesDuties.aspx
307-777-5335
State Capitol Building
200 West 24th Street
Cheyenne, WY 82002-0020

Comments (0)

January 23, 2011

Notary Family Feud

Filed under: Virtual Comedy Themes — Tags: Deed of Trust, Family Feud, Loan Signing Quiz, Notary division — admin @ 12:38 am

I noticed that when I give my over the phone loan signing quizes, certain answers seem to be more popular than other answers. I have always found it very interesting that particular wrong answers that are blatantly wrong could be so popular. Maybe when I give loan signing quizes, I should test people on which answer was more popular. It might be good if the popular answers used were correct as well.

HOST: For $200, tell me some items you might find in a bathroom next to the sink?

CAROL: Oh, a brush, a hairbrush

SUE: A razor and a note!

FRED: Oooh, ooh, um…. toothpaste, yes… toothpaste.

HOST: Survey says…. toothpaste was the most popular answer with used Twinkie wrappers as #2. Next question….

HOST: For $400, tell me which document is the best document to look for the prepayment penalty?

CAROL: Oh… oh… The Deed of Trust

SUE: The HUD-1 Settlement Statement…. oh… on page 3.

FRED: I know this… oh… The Note, or the TIL

HOST: Survey says… the most popular answer was the Deed of Trust. Carol is the winner… or would be if that was correct in addition to being a popular answer, but that is wrong!

CAROL: What? But, I thought the Deed talked about every aspect of the transaction.

HOST: The actual agreement about the transaction is covered in The Note while the Deed functions as a Security Instrument.

FRED: So I win again?

HOST: Yes, you win. And you can cash in your $600 for a trip to the next NNA Convention, or get a free listing on 123notary.com with Elite Certification. Or a trip to Hawaii where you can enjoy a 5-star hotel, gourmet foods, and a complimentary neck tattoo!

FRED: Yes, can I get Jurat wording on the neck tattoo?

HOST: That is a state specific question for your Secretary of State’s Notary Division!

FRED: Maybe you should make that a question on the next Notary Family Fued… Survey Says…..

SUE: Since I have been a good sport, can I get a free gas card?

HOST: You’ll have to guess correctly on the next question.

SUE: Okay… I got it…