"The new law also allows Delaware to charge a fee of up to $10 for each document notarized electronically. The actual fee has not yet been set ...The state doesn't charge a transaction fee for paper notarizations, because there's no way of keeping track of those transactions, officials said. But with electronic notarizations, the state will have a record of each transaction.
Geisenberger, the assistant secretary of state, declined to provide revenue projections ...
That amount, officials say, could grow significantly if the state program attracts out-of-state notaries, and gets a share of the estimated 950 million documents notarized nationwide each year. One observer of Delaware's corporate scene has his doubts ... although many companies incorporate in Delaware because they want access to the state's specialized Chancery Court, he's not sure how much they'll care about whether their contracts and leases are notarized by a Delaware-sanctioned notary."
"Certainly there is value in the Delaware name," Elson said. "Whether it extends to notaries, I don't know."
My penny thought: It sounds like a profit-making scheme for the State of Delware. Creepy feeling: Anyone in the U.S. can become a Delaware notary (just provide the proper "paperwork" , notarize a PAPER document in California as a Delaware notary and the signer takes it away to use. Smells like a great opportunity for 1) shysters to commit fraud using a Delaware notary commission and 2) shysters to commit fraud using a not-too-careful notary who holds a Delaware commission in another state. Both scenarios will make for an interesting and cost expensive inter-state lawsuit - federal court?
If paper can still be filed at a lower cost to the consumer and "instant eFiling" is not needed, I don't see many attorneys or "financial institution notaries" PAYING an additional $10 upfront to eNotarize and billing/explaining to their customers why they are passing on this higher cost.
|
