Posted by dww on 9/3/13 11:09pm
Msg #483102

Posting from earilier this year!

Greetings fellow notaries public!
It's been a long while since I last wrote; sorry for the delay responding to some questions asked about my post regarding my proposal that we fight to have the notarization fee raised here in California. I do understand National Notary Association's position and belief that they're a 'service organization', not a lobbying firm. None-the-less, notaries public often work long hours, print huge loan packages, and drive to borrower's location, with little reward other than simply loving the work. I love being a licensed notary public and certified loan signing agent! I began this work long before I attended law school and didn't want to give it up after graduation to enter the legal profession.
My purpose in posting the previous proposal was with hope that we would be paid more for the actual work and serious responsibility we carry; that competition between notaries public would not be as fierce; and for recognition in our respective states that we're the glue that holds the entire loan signing process together so that borrowers achieve their goal for refinancing, purchase, or selling their real property!!!

It is a big undertaking. I once worked in the California State Legislature and understand how deals are made and bills become statutes. It's worth every bit of our energy here in California to achieve recognition because we are the largest number of sworn in public officials not paid anywhere close to what other public officials receive nor the recognition for the work we do. It cannot hurt to try.

I will be writing proposals to my state legislative representatives concerning the many different issues I see as viable for statutory change and plan to lobby for an increase in the notary fees allowed now under the current statute.

And finally, I believe that we as a whole are the best and most appropriate people to seek the change. I'm not willing to accept things as they are. The law states $10.00 per SIGNATURE. No where does the law say that we can't charge the remaining balance owed to the signers after the amount accepted for a loan package has been met. NNA couldn't answer this question either! The only response was "you agree to accept a fee for the loan package from the signing company so that's all you can charge." When asked where this is written in the law you get a "huh?"

Hope this clarifies my position and purpose suggesting that we all write to our representatives here in California and express the same sentiments.

Let me know what you think by emailing me here or at [e-mail address]

Thanks for reading!
Diane Wadsworth-Woolley, j.d.;msw;acsw;ras
Licensed Notary Public/NNA Certified and Background-Screened Loan Signing Agent

Reply by JanetK_CA on 9/4/13 12:46am
Msg #483103

Just a few quick thoughts...

* I think it would serve the industry - and whatever goal/purpose you have - for responses to be posted publicly here for all to read, to whatever extent people are willing, rather than sending them directly to you. I, for one, would like to see other people's views on this.

* If your goal is to increase the allowable per signature fee, I believe it's very important to focus your arguments on the typical notarization and separate out any reference to loan signing. I'd guess that the vast majority of signatures that get notarized in this state have nothing to do with loan documents. Whatever justifications there might be for a fee increase should stand on their own, imo. Otherwise, I don't think you'll get anyone to listen to you.

* A significant portion of the work involved with a loan signing - and sometime the vast majority of it - has nothing to do with the actual act of notarization, since some packages only have a few (some only one) document to be notarized. So trying to justify a rate increase on that basis I don't believe would stand up to scrutiny.

* I'm not sure I agree with your premise about "the remaining balance owed" for a package with lots of notarized signatures. To look at it that way, I believe, conflates two separate issues. If you're going to use that as justification, then I think you'd have to separate every package into two pricing segments - notary work (charged per signature) and everything else - then set up a separate fee schedule for the latter. Otherwise, you've got apples and oranges. Plus, I can't imagine that any hiring party in the industry would go for that. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I happen to agree with the NNA on that issue. (Trust me, that doesn't happen very often! )

I applaud your goal of trying to increase fees for the work we do. However, I feel that there are other issues that might have a better chance of success and be more worth the effort of making noise with the state legislature for improvement of the lot of the notary public in our state.

I'll be interested in reading other people's comments and opinions on this.

Reply by rolomia on 9/4/13 7:31am
Msg #483115

The ONLY way the CA. state legislature would agree is if...

...they were to collect the difference as a tax. As Janet said, it probably won't be accepted. California's state government is nearly bankrupt, both morally and economically. To suggest any extra fees for notaries would likely backfire. I'm from California. I was born and raised there.

I spent 27 of my 49 years, there. I have friends, relatives and family who still live there, some of whom are notaries. Of course, anything is possible. But, if your legislative lobbying efforts fail, you just wasted your time (and money, since time is money, whether you invest any actual money into this, or not).

In fact, they may decide to reduce the fees that notaries are allowed to collect, if they interpret that the economy might improve but for $10 notarizations. Sounds ludicrous, I know. But, so does the idea that California's state legislature would ever agree to this. Good luck, though. JMHO

Reply by Stephanie Santiago on 9/4/13 2:03pm
Msg #483184

I do not believe I am a Licensed Notary Public, but a

Commissioned Notary Public.

Are you commissioned or Licensed?

Reply by loandocs on 9/4/13 7:05pm
Msg #483227

Re: I fully support raising the Notary Fee here in Californi

With all the phases of work that we do, we get no monetary respect. Increased fees would help notaries a great deal.