Posted by Donna LaBelle on 10/13/13 4:14am
Msg #487913

In regards to backround checks

I sent an email to the SOS requesting a copy of the backround check I had recently paid for and this is the response I received:
Thank you for contacting our office.

The response to your Live Scan fingerprints our office receives from the
California Department of Justice is transmitted electronically and is
not in the form of a report unless you have criminal history in your
background. Therefore, our office does not have a copy of a report that
you may obtain.

One of the requirements to be appointed as a California notary public is
that you pass a background check. Since you were issued a notary public
commission, you did pass the background check. Had you not passed the
background check, you would not have been issued a notary public
commission by our office.

It is not advised to provide someone with all your private information
such as social security number, birth date, and driver's license which
is included in your background check. In addition, your background
check does not provide someone with the status of your notary public
commission. If someone wants to find out the status of your notary
public commission, all active notary public commissions are available on
our website at www.sos.ca.gov/business/notary/notary-online-listing.htm.

If you have additional questions, please let us know.

Sincerely,
Notary Public Section

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 10/13/13 7:21am
Msg #487915

Whic is exactly what I've been saying...

just because your particular state does a BGC for commissioning doesn't mean companies that want to use you are provided a copy of it - in fact, they're not.

The man issue, I think, is that every time we turn around someone ELSE wants ANOTHER one from ANOTHER company - which gets very redundant and costly.

Reply by Christine/OK on 10/13/13 8:17am
Msg #487917

Yes!. n/m

Reply by 101livescan on 10/13/13 8:36am
Msg #487920

Live scan fingerprints required by the CA DOJ prior to this agency issuing a notary commission are good for one year from the date you pass the notary class and exam. Actually fingerprints are good for one year for just about any candidate who is required to submit them to any agency or employer.

Should you obtain your commission and go out there and commit a crime involving an issue of moral turpitude, such as forgery, ID fraud, murder, burglary, robbery, manslaughter, rape, molestation, elder abuse, child abuse, spousal abuse, your commission will automatically be revoked if there is a conviction.

These days, banks and title/escrow companies will require background checks more often than every four years. The NNA was getting them every two years, now banks and escrow/title regulations are requiring them every year, effective January 1, 2014. I can tell you that my live scan fingerprinting business has grown over the past five years since more and more agencies and employers are requiring them as pre-employment, pre-licensure, permitting and certification.

It's a fact of life and there is no getting around it. If we want to stay in this business and work for the big boys, there is no getting around background checking annually, unless we want to do only GNW, which in some states is not that profitable. Every time I go to jail to perform a notary, they run a background check on me. I have to be a good girl to work in this town, or any other town as far as that goes.

If I could start a new career at this stage of my life, it would be forensics and human geography. There are people who are natural born criminals. No changing that, and they will always be criminals, and never should become notaries. as there are states who do not run background checks to obtain a commission. That is about to change. So getting a commission in some states does not allow a notary to work for banks, title and escrow. They will not be approved notary/NSAs due to not having a clean background check.

Reply by Serina/VT on 10/13/13 8:54am
Msg #487922

It seems to me that SS are asking an awful lot of trust on our part that they will safeguard our information. To get a notary commission in my state and I would suspect in all states, you can't have a criminal record. Our commission status is on the SOS website for anyone looking to verify it. Maybe they should be providing US with a copy of their BGC for everyone who has access to OUR data? The point of having an EIN was so we didn't provide our SS #'s to unvetted businesses.

Also, not having a criminal record is no guarantee that the person is honest. I point to the long string of municipal employees right here in VT convicted of embezzling from towns, elec co, and small business who had never been convicted of anything before they committed those crimes.

I am so rural that I get 3 or 4 signings a month on a good month, I fit this in around my full time job, for which I had to pass an FBI BGC. If that isn't good enough for them I don't know what is. They can send one of you ladies from Burlington to Norton I guess

Reply by ikando on 10/13/13 9:29am
Msg #487926

points in this thread

* SOS states it's not a good idea to provide some of the information requested to anyone.
* Every hiring party may begin requesting BGCs from their provider.
* BGCs may become an annual requirement.
* Hiring party should be required to provide US with THEIR BGC info.

My thoughts:
* We should be provided information, such as business financial statements like a balance sheet, to let us know if we can really be paid for our time. But a BGC on the principals of the hiring party, renewed yearly and provided to us whether we work with them or not, ought to be the required minimum. After all, we are extending credit. At least their EINs would let us know they are a serious business entity.

Reply by 101livescan on 10/13/13 9:46am
Msg #487929

Re: points in this thread

I completely agree. When a company, or the government screens it's candidates, they often view the candidates on social media sites. Would you hire someone who partied and night clubbed on the weekends, or displayed modes of unacceptable behavior? The audacity of people to think they can parade their lifestyle all over the internet and think people won't pick up on it.

I have a friend who works in WC for a huge insurance company. The first thing they search for is the client's social media. Then they check with neighbors. Perhaps they are sporting a new membership at an athletic club, new car, new snowboard, hang gliding, sky diving or dirtbiking in the desert. Out of work due to physical/mental disability, REALLY!

Know who you're working for, what is their standing in their community. Do they have previous convictions for ID theft and forgery that would keep them from getting a background clearance? Stay clear of companies with are only 1-3 stars. Their business practices say everything about their character.

In CA, a DUI will not keep a person from being hired or getting a license, permit, certificate or notary commission. Two and three DUI's might, as it shows lifestyle, character and demeanor. I can't tell you how many people come into my office and are fearful they will not pass the background check because they had a DUI in college. It's when a candidate has had a number of DUIs that becomes an obstacle.

Check 'em out as much as you can! You can find out a lot about people and companies on the internet.

Reply by HisHughness on 10/13/13 2:57pm
Msg #487956

My response to U.S. Certified Signers when they wrote ...

... to tell me they must hear from me with an XYZ background check, or I would be excised from their database:

"You will not be hearing from me. Please remove me from your database.

"I do not support the XY Association; I believe that it is not a positive influence in the industry in which I earn my living. Nor do I wish to support any company that demands that I use any XYZ product, and, in fact, would view any such company also as a negative influence in my industry."

Reply by MW/VA on 10/13/13 6:56pm
Msg #487982

I like that response, Hugh. It mirrors my sentiments about

that organization, too.

Reply by christiSocal on 10/13/13 8:26pm
Msg #487993

AWEsome response! N/M n/m