Posted by Pamela on 10/13/06 11:01pm
Msg #152463

CA Notaries: Mortgage Brokers and Identity Theft

As a CA notary/signing agent this article really stood out among
the others:

http://www.mortgagefraudblog.com/index.php/weblog/permalink/california_identity_thieves_arrested1/

Pam

Reply by Stringer_CA on 10/14/06 12:24am
Msg #152467

WOW....Thank you Pam for this information.

Reply by Pamela on 10/14/06 9:15am
Msg #152489

You are Very Welcome!

Pam

Reply by Charles_Ca on 10/14/06 12:36am
Msg #152468

BGCs are no guarantee that a crime won't be committed...

A BGC is a historical document it is no guarantee that a crime will not be comitted in the future. Dealing with money constitutes a moral hazard and the more money the greater the hazard. The article is meaningless in the context of notary Background Checks

Reply by Bob_Chicago on 10/14/06 1:41am
Msg #152471

Maybe not a guaranty, but certainly, a lower risk. There...

is a reason that police have crime victims look at mug
books and not high school year books. A large percentage of
criminals are repeat offenders.
As NSAs, we have aceess to "1003 info, copy of ID, verifiction of
physical description, bank acconunt info, sample signature,
mother's maiden name, credit card info including viewing
security # on back. Not to mention the posibilty of physical
molestation of borrower or family, or casing the place for a
future burglary (dog, alarm system, what possesions are visible, etc)
I believe that requiring a standardinzed CBC of a NSA is perfectly reasonable.
The lender/tc is enabling the NSA to have access to all of this
on belhalf of the lender/tc. They could be deemed responsible for
our wrongful acts if they fail to make any inquiry as to our
past proclivity to commit a crime.
I would imagine that the cable, telephone, gas Cos, etc check out
people before sending them to peoples' homes, and they do not
have access to the intimate details of ther finances.
And no, I do not care if the CBC is done by the DOJ, NNA, CIA, FBI or ASPCA.
I would be happy to pay for a standard, universally recognized CBC,
that will accepted by all in industry , as ooposed to going through the same
drill and expense. with every company that I choose to work for.

Reply by Lee/AR on 10/14/06 7:09am
Msg #152477

Re: Maybe not a guaranty, but certainly, a lower risk. There...

At some point in time, every one of the people listed in that news article would have passed a BGC as it can only show history. Another point is that I don't have to JOIN the DOJ, CIA, FBI or ASPCA in order to have a BGC done!

Reply by Pamela on 10/14/06 9:52am
Msg #152493

Re: Maybe not a guaranty, but certainly, a lower risk. There...

Bob,

I agree 100 percent. Required, extensive background checks
may not be perfect, but it helps to "weed out" those already with
proven criminal histories.

And yes, there should be one standardized method of doing the
clearance, which would be satisfactory to the entire industry.

In my opinion, it should be issued via each state's notarial regulatory board.
For example, in California, the Secretary of State already requires a background
check for each applicant. As a California notary, if there are to be mandated
changes, the Secretary of State should be the one to enact them (not a private
entity such as the NNA).

Pam

Reply by Poppy on 10/14/06 1:40pm
Msg #152525

There are many, many LO's in CA who have not passed a BGC.

A BGC is only required for lic. LO's. A huge number of LO's aren't lic. LO's who work for Finance Lenders (banks) aren't required to have a lic. Some maintain a lic. anyway but MANY don't....

Bob,
I agree with you that a standardized BGC is not a lot to ask, but it by itself will do very little to protect consumers from identy theft or fraud....

Standardized training on Doc handling would make more sense.... Most LO's don't have a clue as to how to handle the Doc's placed in their care. There is very little training industry wide on how to comply with GLB...
We need industry wide standards that everyone handling the docs must comply with, IF the true goal is to protect the consumer and not just to line someone's pocket...

I know be careful what you wish for, but I do believe that industry wide standards are needed! We along with everyone else who comes in contact with the sensitive info included in these docs have a responsibility to safeguard the info in everyway that we can and industrywide standards on proper handling are a good place to start...

Who knows it may even weed out the "in it for the quick buck NSA's" who could care less... Let's face it, if it becomes a little harder to become a NSA we may have a few less flakes and a few more dedicated professionals...

Reply by Pamela on 10/14/06 9:36am
Msg #152491

Re: BGCs are no guarantee that a crime won't be committed...

Charles,

I did not post this article for the purpose of the background checks. It was the thought
as to false identification and the notary's /signing agent's role. That no matter how hard
a notary can try to ensure proper identification, there will always be "professional white collar" criminals (especially in the mortgage and real estate industries) who will try to beat the system. That it may not be the "average Joe", but those at a higher level.
Very important for "newbies" to know; to learn their state's notarial laws handbook inside and out.

Meaning that, there had to be notaries involved in these transactions. Did they work with these brokers and just "notarized" documents as instructed? Were there independent signing agents making the "normal house call"? Or were the brokers themselves doing the actual notarizations?

I was curious too, if the notaries involved in these transactions, had to appear in the
criminal trials as state witnesses?

Pam

Reply by Charles_Ca on 10/14/06 11:45am
Msg #152507

I understand Pamela, recently owever there have been

a lot of remarks made about LO's being subjected to background checks, and they are in California, can't speak for other states but in California I have had to get livescan prints and background checks for my Notary Comission, for my Real Estate licesnse, and for my F&C Insurance License. Since they fall on different expiration dates some will have to be done again at a greater rate than most have to. LO's also have the additional responsibility of making sure that any legal actions are reported to the RE Copmissioner and there are are external reporting requirments imposed on people with RE licenses. The system is as tight as can be in California and yet there are still laws broken. I was merely pointing out that no matter how tightly you screw the cap on there will be people who will break the law. I understand that a history of lawlessness is pretty much a gurantee that there is a problem but a BGC will not guarantee that laws will not be broken. I as you have no problems with a background check and we both in fact have had them. The problem I have is the NNA being designated as the sole source of those checks and especially since the NNA has falsely stated that they are responding to the Requirements of the GLB. To me the whole situation with the NNA is just another example of extreme corporate greed regardless of how that corporation is legally formed.

Reply by LkArrowhd/CA on 10/14/06 12:14pm
Msg #152510

Re: Interesting Pamela however this does not surprise

me in the least after all look at some of the crooks we deal with each and every day, that don't pay the notary all the while offering lame excuses as to why not? Perhaps Ms. Dollar could get jail time for some of them as well.....