Category: In the News

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.

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When this first hit our radar a couple of weeks ago we thought we probably would not talk about it.  But, again, many national outlets cover a story, but they don’t tell us what we want and need to know, and that is problematic when you need to really understand a topic.

Many of you probably remember we covered a signing earlier this year that was in the mainstream news.  It elicited passionate responses and brought up good points.  It set all kinds of records for website traffic for us, but at the same time, the craziness that surrounded it all detracted from the points that needed to be made.

So we are going to try and leave the circus out of this. (good luck, huh)

Dallas Notary Suspended

A Dallas area notary has reached a settlement with the state of Texas regarding a signing involving two prominent individuals in 2016.  The settlement is said to include a three month suspension of notary duties, plus additional training and testing before she regains her commission.

The notary still stands by her work, and states that the only reason she settled with the state is to finally put this behind her, according to statements made by her attorney.

As to the notary:

“As a notary, it has been a consistent practice of mine to adequately document the identification of the person whose signature I have notarized, as required by law.”

So What was the Suspension For?

So you get this great signing and it goes wrong for all the wrong reasons.  But, if something happens, it stays with that signing, right?  Right now the most prevalent thought is that the suspension is for this particular high profile signing.

But, was it this particular signing that caused the issue, or did it just cast an unseemly spotlight on every signing the notary has ever done?

According to Texas officials, it was a little bit of both.

1. The notary failed to properly witness and document the signature for the high profile signing.
2. Further investigation into prior signings revealed additional violations.  — Thanks to The Dallas Morning News

You kind of get the feeling, that if someone audited everything you ever did, they are bound to find a mistake somewhere.  No one is perfect, no matter how hard we may strive to be.  And the sheer thought that one signing could rule them all is pretty scary.

So, it makes you wonder if something was wrong, or if the search for something wrong was so strong it was just better to get out of the way.

Making the Best Out of a Bad Situation

In business, we love to say we are looking for a win-win situation. But, what about when you are stuck in a lose-lose situation?

Seriously, what do you do when every option you have is bad?  Do you fight it out until the end, or do you try to escape with as little damage as possible?

The answer to that probably depends on the person, but when you look at a situation that could stretch out for an unknown amount of time, it is hard to blame someone for taking a lesser or more minor infraction, so they can move on with their lives.

Yes, having to take any settlement is onerous, especially when you know you are in the right, but let’s take a look at the alternative.

• The notary has already been living in limbo for 6 months or more.
• The notary would continue to live in limbo for an unknown amount of time into the future.
• The result at the conclusion may be equal to, or worse, than the agreement that has been entered.
• Continuing to have your name associated with either of the parties to the signing is bound to cause further problems, especially when considering what the signing was for.
• We seek justice, but when politics gets involved the outcome becomes unpredictable.

So, it’s not hard to see why someone might just want to move on with their lives.

Unfortunately for her, damage has been done.  Her name has been dragged into a national conversation we are sure she wanted nothing to do with.  We wish her the best moving forward.

Further Political Drivel Great Articles:

• Are Political Campaign Signings Worth It?
• Should Notaries Play a Part in Our Election Process?

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It appears our previous article on the Shasta Signing raised a few more questions that need to be addressed.

I have to say we have been impressed with the feedback and questions.  We love we are surrounded by so many as engrossed in this business as Sunshine is.  And while this is an outlandish situation, and it is not going to happen to most notaries, it is one of those weird things to be aware of.

We do wish we have more answers, but we will address what we can, and maybe that will help shine a little more light on the situation.

Conspiracy to Commit Fraud

In our previous article, we said that the notary had been accused of conspiracy to commit fraud.  This brought up a lot of questions, but there was something in this that we want to make clear.

No law enforcement agency has accused the notary of conspiracy.

Beyond that, we just don’t know.  We do know accusations happened on social media.  We do know that people made it sound like the accusations were coming from someone related to the victims, be it themselves, family, friends, or attorney.  But, we have no proof who levied the accusations.  We have no idea if the person or persons did it out of belief or anger at the situation. And we would prefer for solid facts to be released before we make any further comment on the situation.

So, we are going to leave it at this point, and if we get further documentation in the future that changes what we know, we’ll let everyone know at that time.

Criminal versus Civil and Your Reputation

A person or entity does not need to be charged criminally to face a civil lawsuit.  Even when an extreme claim is made. And we definitely believe an accusation of fraud is an extreme claim that needs to be backed up by serious evidence.  And while, absent of serious evidence, the notary will prevail, the damage to their reputation may already be done.

We never post the names of any notary accused of anything, or even convicted of something.  We value the relationship we’ve built with notaries all over the country over the last decade, and we do not believe it is our job, or our ethics, to damage the reputation of a notary.

Unfortunately, we are not the only ones who report or comment on events.  Names get thrown in newspaper articles, web postings, tweets.  The really sad part is this normally happens when the true details of a situation are not known.  And when the notary gets vindicated, none (or very few) of these previous postings get corrected.

In other words, a notary does not have to do anything wrong to take a hit to their reputation.  Again, this is unlikely to ever happen to you, but it is something we all need to be aware of.

The Best Way to Protect Your Reputation in Today’s Age

We just talked about how a story comes quickly.  We live in an age of a 24 hour news cycle and social media.

And we also talked about how initial stories tend to have incomplete, or incorrect details.

If somehow you get involved in a signing that becomes controversial, you need to get out in front of it.  Make sure those original stories are complete with facts from you (or an anonymous source with knowledge of how you think, lol).  Know which local reporters you should call, and make sure to call anyone that publishes an article without speaking with you first.

You will probably want to get advice from an attorney about this.  While we want to get out in front of the story, we do want to make sure we do so without asserting something we should not.

Remember, in today’s environment, protecting our reputation is an active pursuit.  Sitting idly by is not an option.

What About My E&O Insurance?

By now we should all know what E&O Insurance is.  It protects the notary from any errors or omissions in a signing.  It is a vital insurance for a notary to have, both to protect their personal or business liability, but also to establish trust with clients.

Here is the issue, and we have not been able to get anyone to directly verify that E&O Insurance would protect against allegations such as these. And no one who is willing to speak on the record.  That’s a bit troubling, but they are probably just making sure they stay on the safe side. *If there is anyone out there willing to speak on the record about this, we’d love to talk to you.*

The issue is simple, an error versus an intentional fraud.

The part that is not simple, is this is a giant mass of gray.  You can be accused of fraud over a simple error, or for nothing you did wrong at all.  And this is where the confusion sets in.  And as much as we wish we could tell you in certain terms what this all means to you, at this time we cannot, and from the conversations we have had, we are not sure we ever will.

Further complicating the matter are differing laws in different states. And differences between policies that each notary holds.

There seems to be no easy answer to this, though we would love to be proven wrong.

In Closing

As you can see, the Shasta Signing is fascinating, and while something like that is unlikely to ever happen to us, it raises questions we may not have encountered or have answers for.

At this point we are hoping the accusations against the notary are baseless, and that the accusations were just made by an upset victim or someone close to them.

If that is true, this story may have an uneventful end for notaries.  But, if it is not, it may raise some serious new questions for notaries across the country, and may provide some answers to lingering questions.

*Please remember that we are notaries, not lawyers.  We do our best to keep you informed, but please do not consider what we say as legal advice, as we are not qualified to do so.*

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If you are an Idaho notary or resident you have probably heard of the fiasco that has now been dubbed “the Shasta Signing”.

For those unaware, an Idaho notary, who shall remained unnamed, signed a document transferring legal title of a house from a daughter to her father.

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It’s the fourth of July and it’s time to fire up the grill, have a blast with friends, and then literally blast some fireworks.  But, it’s also a day to take a little time to remember how we became a nation. So this fourth, how about we take a minute to honor the notary who helped found our nation, Thomas McKean.

Born in Pennsylvania in 1734, Thomas McKean was quick to use his family’s influence to jump into politics, and was quite good at it.  By 1756 he had already passed the bar exam and had become deputy attorney general of Sussex County, and within a couple of years was named clerk of the assembly.  I could go on, but you probably get the point, he rose quickly up the political ranks before the revolution.

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Talk about walking into a whirlwind.

When we brought word of the accusations against a Texas notary last week, we had no idea we were walking into the largest story surrounding the notarial profession in years. If you’d like to catch up on that, check out the Trump and Stormy Notary Conflict.

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Update:  The notary and their attorney have responded to the allegations.  Check out their side of the story.

New Notary Rule #1:  Don’t get yourself stuck in a feud between a porn star and a president.  That is what happened to a notary in Texas, who is now under investigation by the Texas Secretary of State’s office.

As always, we will give the notary the benefit of the doubt, assume they made a terrible mistake, and will not post their name here.  This story is more about the lesson learned than anything else.  – – And the whole story around it is both sad and hilarious.

Stormy Daniels, you may have heard the name lately, allegedly had an affair with President Trump.  In 2016, during the run up to the presidential election, Stormy signed a Non Disclosure Agreement with one of the President’s attorneys, Michael Cohen.  The price is a relatively tame $130,000, considering that Stormy had a book deal on the horizon, and she could have probably sold her story for more than what she agreed to.

What is Causing the Storm(y)?

So, what is all the fuss about, for the notary?

In Texas, notaries are bound to sign and date agreements, but to also provide a certificate verifying those that sign the documents.  This certificate is where the problem is emanating.

“Attaching your seal to a document without a notarial certificate constitutes good cause for the secretary of state to take action against your notary commission,” a Texas official said in a letter to Jackson, sent last week. – – The Hill

To further murky the waters, all parties to the NDA used pseudonyms, or fake names. Of note, we have found out that President Trump is likely to use the name David Dennison.  This is quite noteworthy for notaries, as Trump allegedly has another NDA with a different porn star, Jessica Drake, where the same issues that are unfolding in Texas, could do the same thing to another notary.  We do not know where the alleged second NDA was notarized at this time.

What is the Bottom Line?

This is just another reminder that we all need to make sure we dot our i’s and cross our t’s.  Not only has this notary been dragged into a national news story, they have also been dragged into national politics, a double whammy for the vast majority of us.

If you add the potential charges from the Texas State Attorney’s office, and the possible loss of commission, it is a lethal trifecta for the notary.

The vast majority of the rules and laws surrounding our profession are there to protect those who are executing documents, but also us as the notary.  They give us an “out” if we ever run into a hinky signing, or are requested to do a signing we do not feel comfortable with. They allow us to be firm in enforcing the guidelines of our trade, regardless of who the client is.

Because the more noteworthy the client you are doing a favor for, the bigger the newspaper and television coverage that will haunt you.

And we all like our sleep at night.

Credit: Stormy Daniels Photo Provided by Toglenn – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

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When we think of notaries, we often think of our daily tasks, or just of the job in general.

Lately, we’ve been pointing out the more human side of notaries, like the Biggest Blunderers and some of the Bizarre, among other things. And don’t forget about notarizing in your own blood.

But, notaries do more in their lives than make mistakes and do weird things.  Notaries make a positive impact!  So, in that spirit, let’s take a look at some of the Notaries that changed the course of history as we know it.

The Notary that helped build a Nation

This notary was so instrumental in the founding of our nation, that he deserves an article of his own.  Thomas McKean, the notary of South Delaware, the man who came to Washington’s defense as a nation was born.

He was the President before our first President, the man who challenged another to a duel on the Senate floor.

In short, he was all that and a bag of toast.  Thomas McKean was really the Notary that helped found a nation.

An Olympic Debut

John McQuhin, a resident and notary in Paisley, Scotland became the first to record one of the earliest team sports.  Those in and around the sport call it the “Roarin’ Game”, but you probably better know it as the Olympic sport of Curling.  Not the bicep type, the flinging granite rocks across the ice type.

McQuhin recorded protocol and oversaw a medieval grudge match between John Sclater and Gavin Hamilton.  It was the battle of the Monk vs. the town representative.  And it was 1540 on a frozen lake where competitors flung granite rocks across the pond.

With that McQuhin added himself to the origins of a now mighty sport we all watch once every four years.  He will forever be enshrined in the History of Curling.

The Father of a Genius

We’re not going to claim that Piero da Vinci was always the greatest man, but he sure contributed to one.  The child he had outside of wedlock has fascinated the world for centuries on end.

Perhaps the greatest artist and genius of all time, Leonardo da Vinci’s fame still burns bright today.  His paintings go for hundreds of million of dollars, and he is still part of pop culture with all of the mysteries surrounding his life.

But, Piero was an insistent father.  Historical Accounts show Piero remained involved in Leonardo’s life.

Nepotism and the Father of a President

Only one President in United States history has been sworn into office by a notary.

It probably helped that the notary was his father, but history is history.  Calvin Coolidge became the 30th President of the United States in 1923 after the sudden death of Warren G. Harding.

And this is where Calvin Coolidge Senior steps in to make his mark on history.  Away with his son in Vermont at their traditional family home, which had no power or water, Coolidge had to be informed of the president’s demise by a messenger.

And since the change of power must be quick, Calvin Coolidge Senior stepped in to swear in his son as president at 2:47 in the morning on August 3rd, 1923.

Afterwards, the new president, went back to sleep before embarking for Washinton, DC the following day.

And if you really want to follow the importance of notaries throughout thousands of years, check out the world’s first notaries. Not to be confused with the world’s oldest notary.

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What is tax reform and how will it affect you and your business?

If you have been watching tv and radio you may have heard a lot of different things about tax reform, which is both confusing, and some of it incorrect.. So, let’s instead try to focus on what the tax reform will mean to notaries and their businesses.

** Disclaimer: Just to make clear, we are not tax professionals, we are notaries at heart that run an online and mobile notary service. The goal of this article is to inform you on some things upcoming, and to give you ideas for questions you may want to ask your tax professional. So please proceed understanding this is not tax advice, this is for informational use only.**

The Corporate Tax Rate was Cut, How Does that Affect My Business?

A big part of tax reform was cutting the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. And you’ve seen companies racing for tv time giving out Christmas bonuses and pay raises. (Not to detract from their actions, but free publicity is the best publicity)

But does this affect the average notary?

The first thing you must take into account is that there is more than one way to skin a cat, and even more ways to structure a business. And how your business is structured will have an effect on what tax reform means to you personally.

Most mobile notaries that we do business with are set up as sole proprietors or as a single member LLC.

In most cases, the sole proprietor carries income almost exactly like a sub-contractor or a freelancer. You have to save extra payroll taxes to pay at the end of the year (depending on income, some sole proprietors are required to pay quarterly). Here is what CBS has said about that income.

Gig economy workers like Uber drivers and freelancers will benefit under the tax plan’s treatment of pass-through income. The tax bill provides a 20 percent deduction to pass-through businesses, many of which are small businesses like landscapers and Uber drivers.
Under previous law, that income was taxed at the personal income rate. But with Republicans lowering the corporate tax rate to 21 percent, that left a big gap between what big businesses would pay versus independent contractors or small business, given the top individual tax bracket will be 37 percent.
CBS News

LLCs are a more complicated beast, because there are so many ways to set up an LLC. But, single member LLCs are also pass through entities, so any breaks that those entities receive, will also pass on to single member LLCs.

** Again, this is an area you will want to scrutinize with your tax professional, simply because there are so many ways to set up your business, and small differences between them may affect your final tax bill. **

Of note, we focus on being mobile notaries, not tax professionals. But, there may be ways that you can restructure your business to provide further tax relief, or at the very least simplify the process by which you have to do your accounting and pay taxes.

For example, did you know that if you are set up as an LLC, you can actually operate yourself as a larger company? Why might that be a good thing for you?

If you did this, you could pay yourself through payroll like at a normal employer. The benefit of this is that all of the payroll taxes you pay the business foots through your payroll is now tax deductible (Yay!). It also allows you to offer yourself a SIMPLE IRA, of which the business matches, which is also tax deductible for the business.

On top of that, there is a tax credit for businesses that offer SIMPLE IRAs that lasts for three tax years. We have been able to find no information that that tax credit has been removed under the new tax bill.

We talk a lot about how to be a notary and the rules and regulations surrounding it, but we plan to write some articles in the future that will show you some different ways to set up your business, plus some of the positives and negatives of those setups.

I Heard There are Changes to Business Deductions

The biggest change in business deductions likely to affect the mobile notary is that home offices will no longer be deductible. Most mobile notaries we deal with have a home office, so this is likely to affect a lot of us. (This ended up not being true. though a simplified method was added.)

To give a quick explanation and to keep numbers simple, let’s say I have a 1,000 square foot house, of which I have a 100 square foot office, or 10% of the total area of the home. Under the current bill, I can deduct 10% of things like my mortgage, utilities and capital improvements to the home. (Up to a certain percentage of my Adjusted Gross Income)

As of 2018, those deductions will go away.

I can’t argue the fact that that does not sound good. But, it is important to note that the standard deduction doubles under tax reform, and for most of us, that will more than offset any deductions we make for our home office.

Currently, employee business expenses, including the home-office deduction for employees who work out of their own homes, are deductible as miscellaneous itemized deductions, but these deductions are limited to those expenses that exceed 2% of AGI. Under the Trump plan, this deduction would be eliminated.
Weinlander Fitzhugh CPAs

The second major change in deductions is the entertainment deduction. You may not even use this in your business.

This deduction is mainly for people who take clients on outings like golf trips or sporting events. Those will no longer be tax deductible. The more likely deduction that a mobile notary might take, meals, is not affected by the change.

So, in short, business related lunch or dinner are still the same. But, taking a client and family to Disney World, you are going to have to cough up the taxes for that one.

The act disallows a deduction for an activity generally considered to be entertainment, amusement, or recreation. Under the act, taxpayers are still generally able to deduct 50% of the food and beverage expenses associated with operating their trade or business (e.g., meals consumed by employees on work travel).
– Journal of Accountancy

As accountants continue to pour through the almost 500 page bill and really nail down the changes important to you, we will do our best to keep you updated.

Also, if you’d like to read more about the bill here is an excellent article by The Hill, A Gift for the Self Employed

** Disclaimer: Once again, we want to remind you that we are notaries at heart, who also happen to operate an online and mobile notary service. We are not tax professionals. The goal of this article is to inform you on some things upcoming, and to give you ideas for questions you may want to ask your tax professional. So please treat this as informational use only **

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So where does the line get drawn on what is a legal document?  Or better yet, when does it turn to just plain bizarre?

Recent news reports show a man in Miami had a tattoo on his chest that said “Do Not Resuscitate”.  That man ended up in the hospital and left the doctors with an ethical dilemma.  Do they follow the wishes on the tattoo or do they ignore them until they receive proper legal documentation.

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