I just wanted to update on my previous post. Please forgive the length.
I want to thank all of you for bringing “Georgia is an Attorney Only state” to my attention. Its nice to know that you have my back. I’m a just disappointed in myself. It seemed to be a great opportunity to make some extra money for my family. I did read the Georgia Notary Handbook. I remember seeing the information Attorney Only State. When I contacted the National Notary Association about becoming a member the service representative advised me that “I should take the Notary Essentials Training and for the only other training that is recommended by the State of Georgia is the NSA 1-Year Certification Package with Training”. He explained that this has the loan signing agent training. Well, for whatever reason my brain said great this is going to give me the training that I’m looking for and have the confidence in processing the loan signings. I was under the assumption that I was going to be working with attorneys at their office or on location with the attorney and clients. But when I started getting SS contacting me for signings it just seemed as though they would not contact me if I could not process these types of assignments.
I’m old enough to know better than to just accept that the other person, on the other end of the phone or email knows my states rules/laws. My opinion is the TC and SS should know that an NSA cannot process loan signings. They are taking advantage of the new NSAs and getting cheap labor. This is bad business.
The certification package/training is very misleading. I believe they use this same training for every state. The training tells you that you need to know the different documents so that if the client asks you questions you can direct them. It also states that if you are not an attorney you cannot give any legal advice. Then you advise the borrower to call their contact person at the TC and then wait until the client understands and they are comfortable with continuing the signing. Or if the borrower is not comfortable and they decide to no longer continue with the signing then you pick up the (both) whole loan package do not leave it with the borrower. You will be advised how to destroy the paperwork. If the borrower gets everything answered and they are happy with the loan you may get reassigned to complete the signing with whole new loan package.
I guess what I’m saying is that the way this was presented to me by the NNA that if I take this course then it will give me the training necessary to process the closings and an attorney is basically a phone call away. I’m very upset with myself for being so ignorant and completely forgetting that I read that Georgia is an Attorney only state. I could face misdemeanor charges and possibly some financial restitution. I would never knowingly put my family in this type of situation. I have E & O Insurance but I would prefer to not use it for such stupidity. Also, I’m sure pleading ignorance is not a very good defense. Even though Ignorance has been used successfully as a legal defense for some politicians in the recent past. LOL…
I’m so happy that I reached out and asked for your help. You all have been so kind to share your knowledge and catching this mistake that put me in a very bad position. I can only hope that other NSAs in Georgia in this same position are reading this and educating themselves as well. I’m a member of NR so I will be reading the forum even more now. This is a huge benefit for all NSAs.
I’m not sure if I want to contact the county that I live in and my commission has been issued through for fear of telling on myself. But I really need to follow through with this and have a few clarifications so that I do not make any more mistakes. My first call is going to be to the county, and see where that leads me. As Linda H/FL suggested that I contact the Georgia Bar Association thanks for your suggestion.
Thanks again for your kind words of encouragement and I will update the forum. I’m also taking suggestions that have been made in the forum and will use them. I apologize for this lengthy post, I’m a true southerner and can be long winded. However, I don’t apologize for my southern heritage. You should be happy that you are not hearing this and are fortunate enough to just read it without the accent. LOL…
Happy Sunday!
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