Posted by 101livescan on 8/28/09 7:02pm
Msg #302196
Saga of Notary Renewal~
Just talked with Tracy at NR, she just received my commission and authorization to manufacture two seals. The envelope was mailed on August 17, it took 11 days to get to Des Moines from Santa Barbara!
Just a word of caution to any one who may think the mail shouldn't take longer than 3-5 days, well you never know. And the next time I renew I'll be sending it overnight and not relying on USPS.
I should have it back by Tuesday at the latest, the day my Notary Commission expires. You know what I'll be doing! standing in line at the county recorders office
YAHOO!
| Reply by MW/VA on 8/28/09 7:19pm
Msg #302197
Sorry you've had such an ordeal with this. Doesn't NR accept the commission to be faxed?
I don't ever remember mailing my commission to anyone, and I don't think I would ever do that.
I've order stamps from NR online & received them the next day. I must be missing something here.
| Reply by 101livescan on 8/28/09 7:31pm
Msg #302198
I'm pretty sure NR or any other bond issuer/notary stamp manufacturer must see the original Commission. Once they have the form provided by the SOS, I believe they stamp the seal onto the form and send it back to the SOS, so that the SOS knows seals were actually made up and provided to the notary seeking renewal.
Well, I could write a handbook now about the intricacies of successful and timely renewal of your commission these days with the CA SOS. This entire ordeal has had me completely stressing out over possibly not renewing my notary commission on schedule, looks like it will turn out okay after all...by the skin of my teeth! It has been a very challenging month. August was slower than July, then having someone copy my profile on several boards word for word! I have certainly had to be on my toes this month minding matters that I should not have to be thinking about.
The biggest issue I believe is that the CA SOS does not have the infrastructure and esp. with all the budget cuts, hence, less manpower in the office, to handle background checking with FBI in addition to the DOJ and the volume of notaries renewing their commissions.
I think I'll make it just under the wire! Thanks to Tracy and Harry!
| Reply by MW/VA on 8/28/09 7:34pm
Msg #302203
Wow. I have never heard of such a thing. I guess it might be one of those CA requirements.
| Reply by JanetK_CA on 8/29/09 1:40am
Msg #302232
It's definitely a CA requirement. In fact, it's not really even the commission that's the issue. They have to have an original "Certificate of Authorization" (with a gold embossed seal on official SOS stationery) which has the commission number and all the other details needed on the stamp before they can make one for a CA notary. In fact, if a CA notary wants to order another one for any reason, we have to send a written request to the SOS to get another original Certificate of Authorization to take to or send to the pre-approved maker of the seal. (Their unique ID number also goes on every notary stamp they make.)
| Reply by CopperheadVA on 8/29/09 7:12am
Msg #302238
This is a CA-specific requirement. Other states may have a similar requirement, but here in VA I can order as many stamps as I want from any company I want, and I do not have to send a copy of my commission when ordering.
| Reply by Linda_H/FL on 8/29/09 8:41am
Msg #302246
Re: Saga of Notary Renewal~Hey Cheryl
"Well, I could write a handbook now about the intricacies of successful and timely renewal of your commission these days with the CA SOS"
Why not?? YOU might as well do it before somebody else does!!!
| Reply by 101livescan on 8/28/09 7:31pm
Msg #302199
I'm pretty sure NR or any other bond issuer/notary stamp manufacturer must see the original Commission. Once they have the form provided by the SOS, I believe they stamp the seal onto the form and send it back to the SOS, so that the SOS knows seals were actually made up and provided to the notary seeking renewal.
Well, I could write a handbook now about the intricacies of successful and timely renewal of your commission these days with the CA SOS. This entire ordeal has had me completely stressing out over possibly not renewing my notary commission on schedule, looks like it will turn out okay after all...by the skin of my teeth! It has been a very challenging month. August was slower than July, then having someone copy my profile on several boards word for word! I have certainly had to be on my toes this month minding matters that I should not have to be thinking about.
The biggest issue I believe is that the CA SOS does not have the infrastructure and esp. with all the budget cuts, hence, less manpower in the office, to handle background checking with FBI in addition to the DOJ and the volume of notaries renewing their commissions.
I think I'll make it just under the wire! Thanks to Tracy and Harry!
| Reply by 101livescan on 8/28/09 7:31pm
Msg #302200
I'm pretty sure NR or any other bond issuer/notary stamp manufacturer must see the original Commission. Once they have the form provided by the SOS, I believe they stamp the seal onto the form and send it back to the SOS, so that the SOS knows seals were actually made up and provided to the notary seeking renewal.
Well, I could write a handbook now about the intricacies of successful and timely renewal of your commission these days with the CA SOS. This entire ordeal has had me completely stressing out over possibly not renewing my notary commission on schedule, looks like it will turn out okay after all...by the skin of my teeth! It has been a very challenging month. August was slower than July, then having someone copy my profile on several boards word for word! I have certainly had to be on my toes this month minding matters that I should not have to be thinking about.
The biggest issue I believe is that the CA SOS does not have the infrastructure and esp. with all the budget cuts, hence, less manpower in the office, to handle background checking with FBI in addition to the DOJ and the volume of notaries renewing their commissions.
I think I'll make it just under the wire! Thanks to Tracy and Harry!
| Reply by 101livescan on 8/28/09 7:33pm
Msg #302201
sorry for multiple messages, something must be going on
with my laptop keyboard. Think it's time to open a bottle of merlot and get away from this thing for the weekend.
Here's to you NR. Thanks for all your help today!
| Reply by Joan Bergstrom on 8/28/09 11:33pm
Msg #302216
CA Renewals
Only authorized seal manufactures are authorized to make our Calif seals (notrot is authorized) and we have to mail over our original authorization letter.
If a notary doesn't get to the county clerk in the 30 day period determined on the letter he/she gets from the Sec of State he/she has to submit a new application and with that
comes a $75-$80 charge to have fingerprints taken again. Yuck!
It looks like we will be down to approx. 200,000 notaries in CA at the end of 2009.
This means that we will have almost 85,000 less notaries in CA at the end of 2009 than we had at the end of 2007.
I can tell this figure is probably pretty close because of the notary classes I teach in CA.
Time will tell!
| Reply by 101livescan on 8/29/09 9:03am
Msg #302253
Re: CA Renewals
I can certainly understand why the notary renewal numbers might fall off in CA. The process is a nightmare:
Passport photos get lost and if your info isn't written on the back of the photo, it will never ever again be matched/paired with the application and certification of completion of 6 hours CE required.
If you fail to write in both addresses for business and residential, and write "same as above", SOS will return it.
If an applicant fails to give enough information about a past infraction (mis/felony), the application gets returned by the SOS.
If your application, certificate and passport become lost in the SOS maze, you will have to resubmit all over again. Your test dates are good for a year, but your fingerprint results are only good for six months.
When you call the SOS, be prepared to wait for at least 10 minutes on the phone to reach a real live person.
The folks at SOS are completely overwhelmed with the workload, and there was not forethought or process in place to monitor FBI background checks, they take longer than the DOJ. There was also no process in place for handling passport photos.
How many renewing notaries would think to write their name, addy and tele@ on the back of their photo in case the photo became separated from the application.
Can you imagine trying to manage 200,000 renewing notaries' applications with a skeleton crew. They also have furlough. Fewer hands on deck to process, well, albeit a dwindling number of renewing/new notaries, means the workload is staggering, and of course things are going to fall between the cracks.
The ladies at the SOS are great, I met quite a few angels in my dilemma and trying to find out what had happened to my renewal, which in previous years has never met a snag. This is my 10th renewal of my commission. Yep been a notary since I was a kitten.
Joan, tell your students to write their names, addy's, phone number and the date of the class/test on the back of their photos. This is a common snag at the SOS, I learned.
All this was a good lesson on followup, followup, followup. I'm glad that the Shoemaker's are here to help me get my bond by Monday, they are sending it out this morning overnight.
Folks, that is just great service! A rarity these days with so many cut backs and fewer hands to get work done on every level of government.
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