Notary News

Have you been looking to become a notary in Ohio?

If so, you might want to expedite the process, as notary fees are set to skyrocket this September.

State Set to Take Over

As we reported last year, Ohio notaries are are moving from being commissioned by the county they do business in. It is now moving to the Secretary of State’s office.

Sunshine tried to get more detailed information last year, but a lot of the new rules had not been written at the time, so while the state was helpful and responsive, they just did not have enough information at the time.

A lot of what will go into effect is said to cover the Secretary of State’s office’s expenses.

But, we wonder if the counties’ were taking a loss on notary certification, or if they are just more efficient than the state. Or, maybe the old fees are antiquated and had to be adjusted to meet current demands.

Anything But the Fees

The fee to become a notary is currently $15.

All that and more is going to change on September 20th.

Rate hikes, continued education and background checks run by the state are all on the horizon.

The registration fee will go from $15 to $150. While the renewal moves to $60. On top of that, a new background check will cost the notary an additional $22.

It is yet to be seen how this will affect the mobile notary.

Will the Ohio background check be accepted and replace current background checks? Or will the mobile notary have to get the state background check in addition to any they get now?

Renew Now if You Can!

If you renew before the new law takes effect, you will be grandfathered in.

You will fall under the current rules and regulations for five years.

Starkey (County court services coordinator Kelly Starkey) said those who renew their notary commission before the September deadline will be grandfathered in for five years and continue under existing law. She said once that five-year commission expires, however, they must follow the new laws.

Lancaster Eagle Gazette

What About Continuing Education?

If you remember our piece on Ohio Notaries from last year, our biggest concern was about educating notaries. And behind the scenes, we were trying to help the state with this process.

Unfortunately, the state still does not have rules regarding continuing education. We had hoped the state would be more pro-active in this area, but we are going to have to cross our fingers that they will finalize this soon.

We’re not sure if they see how important education is for notaries. And we are not just talking about continued education. There are several areas of education that we find important, and we talked about them in our article linked above.

If Ohio notaries are going to be responsible for new duties, they need those duties conveyed to them in a reasonable manner.

Any Other Good News?

Don’t we wish.

Like most of our business expenses, this is just going to have to be part of the cost of doing business. And at the end of the day, if you have a decent amount of volume for your notary business, the change in cost will probably pale in comparison to other business expenses.

The question would then be the time commitment needed to get current on the new rules and regulations.

If you are a current notary, renew now if you can. The same holds true to those looking to become a notary. Get yourself grandfathered in for the next five years. Let the new system play out before you have to become a part of it.

Attorneys should also look into becoming a notary before the new rules take effect.

• Facebook Page
• LinkedIn Page
• Sunshine's Twitter, or X Page

Your Nationwide Notary Signing Service

Increase your efficiency and bottom line with Sunshine’s Mobile Notary Services and Online Notary Services. Sunshine is always there when you need us.

GET STARTED

Or Call us at (727) 817-0000

Update: See our latest article on the Philly Fiasco.

Update: The Philly Fiasco Follow Up – First Step to Stop Fraud

When I first saw this a couple of weeks ago, I could not believe the allegations in Philly. If true, it is shameful. Signing dead people’s homes over to others, and at huge profits.

It is literally the Shasta Signing on steroids.

How to Steal a House

Forge a bunch of documents.

And when people don’t find out until years later, sit back and enjoy the chaos.

The story starts with fake death certificates, deeds and fake wills, among other documents. Some of these documents are notarized. (more on that in a bit)

Then take advantage of the state of Pennsylvania’s security on records and make everything official. After that, sell the home for a giant payday, all at the expense of the real property owners.

There is a lot of mud being thrown around, about the specifics and other issues, and we are going to avoid those for now. But, if proven in court, this isn’t just shameful, it is heinous.

What About the Notary(ies)?

We always give the notary the benefit of the doubt. And they absolutely deserve it in this case.

Forged Deeds. Forged Wills. Forged Notary Stamps and Forged Signatures.

In recent days police seem to be leaning towards forged notary signatures, but came short of mentioning the stamp as well. This is probably because the police are not notaries and do not realize the importance the provenance of the stamp means to notaries.

but it is significant that the notaries’ signatures appear forged as well. The notary is the one person whom the government believes can authenticate an individual’s signature.

The Philly Inquirer

The article above explains in painful detail the many problems facing Philadelphia in addressing this crisis, including further regulations regarding notaries.

What if the Stamp was Legitimate?

In itself, it probably does not matter.

Does it matter if it is forged? Does it matter if it was stolen/borrowed, and a copy made? Does it really matter if there is some guy who runs a shop, with a back room, who sells forged stamps (just like the movies)?

The only way it would matter is if the notary is engaged in the act (conspiracy). There is no evidence this is what happened. We have been paying close attention to this story for a several weeks now so we can provide an informed opinion.

And that means taking the right amount of time to let key facts and any allegations come to light. And not rushing to judgment on people who now seem to be less related to the incident than was thought several weeks ago.

And, yes, there was a notary being thrown in the mud a few weeks ago, though we will not provide any links.

Where do We Go From Here?

How does this affect the notary, and the legality behind their signature?

The piece above offers a couple of problems in search of solutions, but at this moment, there is one thing a notary does that stands out.

Keep a clean log book.

And hope that future answers to today’s questions, are done in a smart and efficient manner that is fair to notaries.

• Facebook Page
• LinkedIn Page
• Sunshine's Twitter, or X Page

Your Nationwide Notary Signing Service

Increase your efficiency and bottom line with Sunshine’s Mobile Notary Services and Online Notary Services. Sunshine is always there when you need us.

GET STARTED

Or Call us at (727) 817-0000

Alright, let’s take a guess. If you had to join a pool to guess the world’s oldest notary’s age, what would you select?

Would you take the safe route and go for normal retirement age? Maybe a little older? Betty White old?

And note, we are not talking about the world’s oldest notaries, but the age of a single one.

Older Than That

It’s almost beyond belief. Most of us can’t even imagine working until we are 100 years old. But, the world’s oldest notary is now 102 years old. And from reports, she is still more spry than most of us.

Born in Paincourtville, Louisiana in 1916, Lumina Newchurch first got her notary commission in 1967, at the age of 51.

Who would have guessed, she would be a notary for the next 51 years.

Still Actively Working

Miss Newchurch still maintains a home office, even though she now lives in a retirement community.

Sitting on the desk?

A typewriter.

Lumina works on a computer now as well, and has no problem printing documents. Even at the age of 102, she still adapts to the current market and adapting the clients she goes after, both in selecting the proper target market, and doing the amount of work she wants to do.

She Didn’t Become the World’s Oldest Notary By Being Dumb

We talk quite a bit about marketing yourself and identifying the customers that would best suit your business.

How does Miss Newchurch do it?

She targets people from her local community and neighborhood. People who are very close to her. Which makes signings easier for everyone involved.

She notarizes various documents needed by those in her local community.

What Can We Learn From the World’s Oldest Notary?

Do what you love?

Even if that means following a dream from the time Nat King Cole ruled the record industry, all the way through a time when we can operate rovers on Mars.

How About Marketing Our Business?

Lumina adapts. Beyond weeks or years. Beyond decades. Beyond generations and eras. She obviously is still quite adept at this, as she is still notarizing documents long past the time most of us last on this earth.

As far as we can tell, she is not doing signings for title companies. She is working with individual clients, and has diversified her business to handle her target client’s needs.

Remember, diversity of income is stability of income.

And Lumina Newchurch can most likely still teach us all a lesson or two on how to market and adapt your business for the long term.

I Want to Know More About Lumina Newchurch

Don’t we all.

Fortunately, the Donaldsonville Chief recently did a fabulous expose on her life. It tells the story of a fascinating woman, who just so happens to be the world’s oldest notary.

• Facebook Page
• LinkedIn Page
• Sunshine's Twitter, or X Page

Your Nationwide Notary Signing Service

Increase your efficiency and bottom line with Sunshine’s Mobile Notary Services and Online Notary Services. Sunshine is always there when you need us.

GET STARTED

Or Call us at (727) 817-0000

Once again, there is conflict involving politics and notaries.  But, let’s not worry about the specifics of it all this time and ask a more poignant question.

Should notaries play a role in our election process?

We Don’t All Go to the Polls

To make it clear, we are not speaking about people who attend the polls to vote.  Instead, we are talking about absentee and mail in ballots.

In most cases, these votes are cast and counted as is, without any special requirement to prove the person who filled out the ballot is the one whose name is on the ballot.  And as any one of us who’ve been notarizing important documents for a while have learned, while proper notarization does not make a document bullet proof, it lends significant, legal credence to it.

Some states or localities have laws that require notarization of these types of ballots.  In our recent midterms, one locality let a select few of it’s residents vote by email or fax, if the ballot was notarized.

So, What’s the Problem?

I don’t think we need to tell you the types of things that are alleged to occur in our elections.  But, we do need to take into account these things, if we are to properly address the questions.

So we are going to provide you with three different circumstances where either a notary, or lack of a notary, has become a question.  We are not going to name states, parties, races. We are simply going to give you the facts as we know them.

Break Glass In Case of Emergency?

So, there was an area in the United States that experienced a massive natural disaster just a couple of weeks before the election.  People homes were destroyed, lives turned upside down, sentimental possessions lost forever.

In other words, there was nothing to return to, at least yet.  And some who fled could not return due to medical or other significant reasons.

So, flouting the word of the election law, but acting in its spirit (benefit of the doubt), the local elections supervisor let a little more than 100 residents vote remotely, by email or fax, with notarization.

This caused a kerfluffle, of course, that those ballots be rejected.  That they didn’t follow official election protocol.  The opposing viewpoint, that since these residents faced the worst and could not reasonably return in time, is that not allowing them to vote would be disenfranchising them.

And an important question arose from the situation.  How should we handle voting for those affected by natural disaster, who cannot reasonably return to their homes?  And should the notary play a role, to ensure the process is fair?

Mail-In Ballots – Notarization Required

So while most states do not require mail in ballots to be notarized, not all of them follow that protocol.

And that has led to accusations that some voters are disenfranchised because it is too hard to find a notary, or they may not be able to afford a notary.

While we would disagree that it is hard to find a notary, since that is our job and we are good at it, that does not mean we should dismiss peoples’ concerns outright.  In this case, education on finding a notary might be a good way to alleviate concerns.

Or, maybe an enterprising notary or two will find a way to target these voters, provide services to them at reduced cost, and reap the rewards of all of the positive PR.  It’s a very valid, loss leader strategy, if a notary is positioned to serve this clientele.  Sending out press releases to all of the local writers for your area newspapers and tv reporters, would most assuredly give that notary positive coverage in the press.

There are a lot of other issues concerning the process in this state, but we will stay out of those, because they do not address the question at hand.

Should notaries help ensure the integrity of our election process by notarizing ballots that are mailed in?

So now we’ll look at the flip side of this.

Mail-In Ballots – Notarization Not Required

In another state, a group of people were arrested last week for allegedly paying off homeless people to fill out fraudulent election documents.

While we are not sure why they were doing it, they are accused of bribing the homeless with money or cigarettes, over the course of several years.  The total amount of ballots affected by this group is unknown to us.

This group is alleged to have preyed on some of our most vulnerable citizens.

Would requiring a notary prevent these kind of abuses?  Is there a way, that we as notaries, can both protect the most vulnerable among us, while also ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard when we vote?

The Verdict

We are not here to give you an answer to anything.  We just want to raise valid points, so we may intelligently understand things.  That way, if questions are raised in our communities, we are ready to offer solutions.

But, it is impossible to dispute.  Notaries provide integrity.  They provide a verifiable paper trail to prove the legitimacy of documents and the people that sign them.

Are notaries the answer?  It is not for us to say.

Maybe the better question is “Could Notaries be the Answer?”.

• Facebook Page
• LinkedIn Page
• Sunshine's Twitter, or X Page

Your Nationwide Notary Signing Service

Increase your efficiency and bottom line with Sunshine’s Mobile Notary Services and Online Notary Services. Sunshine is always there when you need us.

GET STARTED

Or Call us at (727) 817-0000

The rules for Vermont Notaries are changing in a dramatic fashion.  And it is going to be more challenging than before, maybe even greatly so, depending on your opinion and how you run your business.

Change In Control

All notaries in Vermont are now subject to the control of the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office.  More specifically, the Office of Professional Regulation.  On the surface, this sounds like a simple change, as there are many professions that are under the purview of the OPR (Office of Professional Regulation).

But, buyer beware, as the Office in Control, the OPR has changed a lot of the rules surrounding notary publics.

According to the OPR website, the notary registration process is going to be far, far more complex then what it used to be. The entire notary registration process used to consist of a single page form, submitted to the local county clerk, found at the county courthouse. — From LexBlog

Greater Oversight

This is all being done in the interest of greater oversight.  Which, honestly, the vast majority of the notaries that Sunshine Signing works with, do not need.

Why?

This isn’t just a simple change of oversight, it is a massive increase in state power over notaries.  Notaries are now lumped in with doctors and nurses.  And they have a lot more regulations to get their licenses than notaries do.

Is a change to make notaries more accountable good?

Yes, but only if done smartly to increase efficiency and transparency.  And, opinions may vary, but many notaries will find the new licensing requirements  burdensome or beyond the pale.

New Disciplinary Actions

Vermont notaries will now be subject to numerous new rules that could result in disciplinary action from the state.

For example, a notary who does not inform the state within 30 days if they have moved addresses are now subject to prosecution.  And that is not even close to all of it.  Notaries are now bound to the same rules as people like physicians.  And notaries are going to need to learn these rules if they are to comply.

Even more perplexing, is that notaries will now be subject  to disciplinary action, based on both the unique facets of notary practice, as well as, general disciplinary proceedings that apply to all professions.  For example, notaries are now required to obtain and utilize a physical stamping device (whereas previously a signature was adequate). 26 V.S.A. § 5370(b) provides that “[i]f a notary public’s stamping device is lost or stolen, the notary public or the notary public’s personal representative or guardian shall notify promptly the Office [OPR] on discovering the device is lost or stolen.”  Failure to promptly report constitutes “unprofessional conduct” and may subject the notary to prosecution pursuant to 26 V.S.A. § 5342(a)(5). — From LexBlog

Forget about a notaries’ five biggest mistakes, this is of an unknown amount at this point.

There is no denying these changes are abrupt and will require significant effort to learn.  Notaries will be subject to an array of state laws they were not subject to before.  From obtaining a notary commission, to the responsibilities on the job, to possible complications in their personal life, the process is changing and Vermont notaries need to be ready.

We are not lawyers, and though we do business with notaries in Vermont, the scope of the changes is outside of our expertise.  Therefore, we recommend you visit the article at Lexblog.  They are more qualified to talk about the specifics than we are, and have all of the documents that are needed for Vermont notaries.

We’d like to give full credit to Lexblog for alerting us of the changes.  Their article contains additional specific information.  If you are a notary in Vermont, we would highly recommend you read it.

• Facebook Page
• LinkedIn Page
• Sunshine's Twitter, or X Page

Your Nationwide Notary Signing Service

Increase your efficiency and bottom line with Sunshine’s Mobile Notary Services and Online Notary Services. Sunshine is always there when you need us.

GET STARTED

Or Call us at (727) 817-0000

The pumpkins are cut, the costumes are at the ready, but it wouldn’t be Halloween without something spooky.  And what could be more spooky in this industry than a notary who signs from the grave.

So as you pass out candy and adore all the little munchkins at your door, make sure you keep the “Headless Notary” in mind, for they should frighten even the most intrepid among us.

You Can’t Sign when You are Dead

Or can you?

Halloween only works for those who believe in it, those willing to commit themselves to the spirit of the holiday.  To let themselves truly engage in tradition for one day, lest they become a party pooper.

You’d be surprised at how many signings from the grave have been reported over the years.  Most only available in news clippings from before the advent of the internet.

But, the legend may exist even to this day.

A Ghostly Presence?

Just this year, a Brooklyn resident was accused of using the signature and stamp of a dead notary.  Another strange story emerged from Philadelphia.  In 2010, an incident in Wisconsin gained considerable attention.  And these are just a few of the ghastly signings that have occurred over the years.

Now are these simple frauds?  Or perhaps, something more sinister altogether.

On this sacred day, when the world of the living and the dead overlap, could the unthinkable really be impossible?

A Shiver Down Your Spine

We’ve all felt it, that tingling feeling going down your body, a feeling that believers say is a sign of a ghost in your presence.  They say the spirits are trapped on earth, unable to pass into the spirit realm until an unfinished piece of business is done.

So why couldn’t that ghost be a notary, one that loved their job so much they must sign more documents before they can move off of the earthly plane. Or one that is haunted by a signing they performed, and feel they must make it right?

One set of signings from beyond the grave involved a landlord who was allegedly wronging his tenants.  Several of the landlord’s documents were signed from the grave.

Now is that fraud by the landlord?  Or on a day like Halloween, do we have to entertain the notion that this was really revenge from the grave?  An act perpetrated by the spirit of a notary, to expose the actions of the landlord, so they could find peace and move on.

We’ll leave that for the Ouija board to decide.  Though, personally, we aren’t getting within 100 feet of one of those things.

To the readers:  In case you didn’t catch on, this article was done tongue in cheek.  This article was written in an attempt to simply put a quick smile on your face for the holiday.  We hope every body has an awesome Halloween (and stay away from the “Headless Notary”, they scare the crud out of us).

Halloween isn’t the only creepy thing surrounding notaries.  Check out From Norm to the Bizarre to find out what an extreme signing looks like.

If you’d prefer to get a chuckle at someone else’s expense (with names excluded) you might prefer some of our biggest blundering notaries.

Or how about signing with your own blood?

• Facebook Page
• LinkedIn Page
• Sunshine's Twitter, or X Page

Your Nationwide Notary Signing Service

Increase your efficiency and bottom line with Sunshine’s Mobile Notary Services and Online Notary Services. Sunshine is always there when you need us.

GET STARTED

Or Call us at (727) 817-0000

Notary reporting requirements in Ohio are getting more involved then they have been before.  And they are quite strange given the the job of a notary.

Elder Abuse?

The state has decreed that notaries are required, as of September 29th, to report any suspicions of elder abuse, neglect or exploitation to the authorities.

What?

The state has expanded its requirements for suspicion of abuse before, but that has always been professionals in the medical field.  You know, doctors, EMTs, pharmacists.  The type of people you might expect to have the type of training to properly weigh these things.

But, no.  The notary will now be expected to look for signs of abuse and report them.

To be fair, notaries are not the only profession caught up in this.   Real Estate agents, bank employees and others are too.  Many of whom are not given the proper training in their fields to make these types of judgments.

We have already spoken with Ohio’s Attorney General’s Office.  More specifically, about what training may be available for notaries.

They have been very helpful, and we expect to receive more information from them shortly.  As soon as we do, we will let you know about it.

Respect Our Elders

I think we all agree that respecting our elders is the right thing to do.  Any type of abuse against them is wrong.

But the majority of abuse cases are subtle.  Sure, if you saw someone who was surely battered, no one would fault you for doing the right thing. But, 24% of all elder abuse is exploitation.  Additional causes are neglect, emotional abuse and more.

Notaries are taught from day 1 that you never give your opinions at the table.  Outside of a circumstance where a signer is obviously unfit, whatever the cause, professional notaries are expected to act in a certain way.  You don’t know the person’s circumstances, and you don’t know if this is the best deal a person might be able to make.  It is hard to see, from our perspective, how you would evaluate these types of things without saying things at the table that are taboo for the industry.

This raises a lot of hard questions.

Does this Raise My Liability?

In short, no.

As long as you make the report in good faith, and do not provide demonstrably false information.

What is more unclear, is a situation where you do not report and the state thinks you should have.  With the Ohio law, it is a misdemeanor criminal offense to not report elder abuse, if a reasonable person would believe it was there.  But, how does a notary even understand, in a 45 minute signing, enough to make these assumptions?

We could cite the actual statutes, but it is confusing.  Family Safety and Healing has a breakdown that is much better than we could give you.

The concern we do have here is what recently happened in Texas.  That an investigation over one signing might lead to investigation of all your past signings.

What About My Clients?

This is where it could get ugly.

Even though the state will protect your identity, and you are free from liability for reporting suspected abuse, your clients will inevitably figure it out.  And what happens then?

Does it even matter if the report is correct?  What if you are wrong?

What if your main client is out of state, be it a private client or signing service? This could cause a headache to your client, who wasn’t physically present at the signing to make this judgment call alongside you, but yet could be dragged into and through the problem. The notary could feel like they could lose a valuable client, even though they followed the laws for their state. They could feel that this could trickle down the line from one client to the next and cost them their business as they become a nuisance.

How is That Fair to Ohio Notaries?

It is not fair.  We readily recognize that.

Most companies would understand and appreciate the notary doing the right thing.

But, none of us can deny that businesses run on money.  Some notaries may feel if they end up costing their clients’ money, they are not going to be happy.

We understand the notaries’ concerns on this and how it can affect them. We also see the need for additional training to be available.  Fortunately, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office understands this and is helping us get Ohio notaries the information they need.

While we applaud the intent of the new rules in Ohio, we are concerned at what the outcome will be for our notary friends in Ohio.

We do hope our concerns are unfounded, and that these rules changes will result in less elder abuse and that notaries will be free to follow their conscience and the law.  But, there are some valid concerns, and we feel it is the right thing to try helping Ohio notaries understand them.

• Facebook Page
• LinkedIn Page
• Sunshine's Twitter, or X Page

Your Nationwide Notary Signing Service

Increase your efficiency and bottom line with Sunshine’s Mobile Notary Services and Online Notary Services. Sunshine is always there when you need us.

GET STARTED

Or Call us at (727) 817-0000