Posted by Carlos/CA on 5/4/11 4:00pm
Msg #382132

Sample Forms

Does anyone know of a website where I can download sample loan forms, POA, Homestead, etc.? Thanks in advance.

Reply by Bob_Chicago on 5/4/11 5:03pm
Msg #382140

Do a search here for postings by PAW. Click on his

profile and link to his website.
Lots of good info and forms there,
For a man his age, Paul is still pretty sharp

Reply by davidK/CA on 5/4/11 5:04pm
Msg #382141

Just remember that it is illegal for you to supply any forms to the signor as in CA it is considered UPL (unlicensed Practice of Law).

Reply by Bob_Chicago on 5/4/11 5:08pm
Msg #382143

(unlicensed Practice of Law). Actually believe that you mean

Unauthorized in lieu of unlicensed

Reply by davidK/CA on 5/4/11 5:22pm
Msg #382144

Re: (unlicensed Practice of Law). Actually believe that you mean

Either way, in CA you simply can't provide forms.

BTW, Google shows references for both "Unlicensed" and "Unlawful". Perhaps it depends on how the State Bar Association defines the term in a particular state.

Reply by rengel/CA on 5/5/11 11:24am
Msg #382207

In CA

you CAN provide the form they request, you just can't tell them which form they need. If they ask for an acknowledgment, you can provide an acknowledgment form.

My .02

Reply by JAM/CA on 5/4/11 8:25pm
Msg #382160

Re: (unlicensed Practice of Law). Actually believe that you mean

Try this link also. Not completely up to date, but gives you some idea of a loan package.

http://www.ppdocs.com/Products/Samples.aspx

Reply by Roger_OH on 5/4/11 5:31pm
Msg #382145

Gee, then what about all those preprinted forms that XYZ has for sale, including to CA notaries?

Reply by FlaNotary2 on 5/4/11 9:10pm
Msg #382171

Who told you it is UPL to sell forms?

These so-called "independent paralegal services" sell blank legal forms all the time. Unless California has a specific law prohibiting this - or if the SOS has made a determination - selling blank legal forms or transcribing a client's answers to certain questions is not UPL. At least not in Florida.

Case law has established what a non-lawyer can provide as legal services (Fla. Bar v. We the People Forms & Serv. Ctr. of Sarasota, Inc., 883 So. 2d 1280). There is nothing prohibiting a non-lawyer notary from selling blank legal forms, from typing in legal forms completed by a client, from selling general printed legal information, or from selling their own notarial services. What a notary can not do is advise a client as to what type of notarization is necessary, make changes to documents prepared by clients, or explain documents to clients.

Reply by David Kruss on 5/4/11 9:37pm
Msg #382174

Re: Who told you it is UPL to sell forms?

California Notary Public Handbook, 2010:

Acts Constituting the Practice of Law

California notaries public are prohibited from performing any duties that may be construed
as the practice of law. Among the acts which constitute the practice of law are the preparation,
drafting, or selection or determination of the kind of any legal document, or giving advice in
relation to any legal documents or matters. If asked to perform such tasks, a California notary
public should decline and refer the requester to an attorney.

Reply by FlaNotary2 on 5/4/11 10:22pm
Msg #382177

That quote does NOT say it is illegal to sell blank legal

forms. It says you can not select a form for the customer, nor can you give advice in filling it out. But there is nothing that prohibits you from selling pre-printed legal forms. In fact, considering you are in California where there are so many Hispanic immigrants, you might want to consider having a stock of various legal forms on hand to sell to customers who might expect a notary to provide the document form. Just because you can't select the appropriate form or help someone fill it out, doesn't mean you can't sell it to those who request it.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 5/4/11 11:39pm
Msg #382179

Plus, many forms are sold at our handy-dandy Hall's

Office Supply, locally owned. I've zoomed to the curb, run in and to a smiling face said my howdy-do's, asked simply: "POA?"

She sings out "93&4." Card on the counter, she does the swipe while I dash to the cabinet, pull the bingo from 94, grab the card, squiggle an SF on the invoice, said my grateful thank-yous and scurried out to merge, like a little fish, into the Highway 101 stream headed South.

HisHughness put it something like this in a recent post discussing the legality of documents: It's the completed document that must comport with the definition of a Legal Document - with all of the elements the document and its Notarization fully executed. There are legal forms companies all over the WebberNets, because the products generated and sold commercially, are ~forms~ not ~legal documents.~ (My understanding of his point.)

UPL is a heavy complaint, and in my very humble opinion, copying/selling/furnishing blank forms that suit the para-legal work-a-day needs of the general public are in no way "Practicing Law."

Respectfully submitted.

Reply by Carlos/CA on 5/11/11 10:41am
Msg #382852

I didn't want the forms to give to clients. I just wanted to familiarize myself with the different forms I will encounter in my signing assignments. Thanks all for your input. Appreciate it!