Posted by Uno on 6/14/11 6:23pm
Msg #386208

Utah Notary Laws-No Escrow License required at loan closings

Some title companies have been contacted regarding a change in Utah notary laws. They were told traveling notaries are not legal unless they have an Escrow license. This is not true. I just talked to Justin Lee at the Lieutenant Governors Office in Utah regarding this requirement. He invited anyone with questions to call his office. (801) 538-1041. This is an issue that comes up in his office on an on going basis. He is aware of the concerns regarding notary closings, but said as a Notary commissioned by the State of Utah the notary still has the right to witness the signatures and notarize loan documents. That is the purpose of being commissioned by the State. Utah Notaries are not designated to any specific Utah licensed escrow agency, and work independently. If a Notary works with an escrow agency or a bank, that is acceptable, but the commission is assigned to the notary as an individual, not the title agency, bank or other financial institution.

Utah does not issue a Title Producers License for notaries, because they do not produce HUDS or answer specific questions regarding the HUDS. Those questions are referred back to the loan officer or title agency and it's escrow officers.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 6/14/11 7:38pm
Msg #386212

Hope Gina of Ocean Pacific sees this and calls this guy..

She lost a client because of this false information...maybe she can rectify that now..

Reply by Susan Fischer on 6/14/11 7:44pm
Msg #386214

Yes, Linda, that was a rotten deal. How does this mis-

information get so "believed?"

Great post from Utah!

Reply by GOLDGIRL/CA on 6/15/11 1:11am
Msg #386240

I still don't understand what's going. Of course, the lt. gov. is correct in saying that notaries still have the right to witness signatures and notarize loan documents. How else would Utah ever get a loan closed? But no SOS is concerned about real estate law. So other state agencies or the legislature may impose additional regulations, saying, for example, that notaries involved in loan documents must also have TPLs, escrow licensing, whatever.... isn't this the case in MD?

So what do the new laws/regulations really say? And who's contacting TCs about these changes and what are they saying?

Reply by Uno on 6/15/11 3:54am
Msg #386244

There is a notary company in Utah that wants to monopolize the business. She sent an email to top notaries in Utah and said she will pay them to work for her. She also sent emails to TCs and told them they need TLPs for closings. The TCs asked the Utah Insurance Department for support. On May 26, 2011 the UID backed down and said notaries DO NOT NEED to be a Utah licensed escrow officer in order to close a loan. This is after the Lieutenant Governor's Office got involved. This happened a couple of years ago. Same notary company trying to monopolize Utah closings...didn't work-again!!! Utah notaries, make sure your signing companies are aware of what's going on.

Reply by CapCityAgent on 6/15/11 8:00am
Msg #386257

Re: Utah Notary Laws-No Escrow License required at loan clos

As a TIPIC as required by the state of Maryland, in Maryland we are required to have a Title Producer License (TPL) due to the fact that we are dealing with an Insurance doucment aka Title Insurance doc. I will have to research the actual law to provide more specifics. As we TIPICs say in Maryland, "It is not cheap to be a TIPIC in the state of Maryland!" Once training and credentials have been recieved, it is estimated that we will have dished out close to $1,000 just to do signings in Maryland!