Posted by LauraV (Laura V) on July 14, 2008, 10:16 am
71.227.213.43
If your state allows notaries to do witness work, this could be a new source of income for you.
For example: In my state (WA), there are 3 types of services a notary may perform out of presence of the client:
*Copy certification (comparing an original document to a copy and attaching a notarized statement that the copy matches the original). Seal is used. The person providing the original and copies does not need to be the owner of the original. The documents can even be sent to me via mail or FedEx.
*Acting as a government official on some forms. Example: signing a form in the capacity of Notary Public that the ID number on a vehicle matches number listed on form. The person who owns the car doesn't need to appear before the notary. The ID# verification request could come from anyone. The notary seal not always required. Seal IS required when proper notarial wording is presented.
*Acting as a witness. Notary seal is not used. Client does not appear before notary. This is usually in the context of presentment honor/dishonor work.
I am posting this for two reasons:
1. We notaries have to know our regulations cold PLUS be aware of things not clearly stated or not even mentioned in the regulations.
Of the three examples above, only the first situation is clearly discussed in my state's notary regulations.
My state's fee schedule mentions a witness fee but doesn't give instructions or even mention examples. We can all think of being a witness to someone signing her will when we are not the notary. But there are many other cases where I have acted as witness in my capacity of notary. Some of the situations required that I call my SoS to ascertain that I am handling the work properly.
2. Witness work is a largely untapped area of non-loan notary work. While the mortgage crisis continues, we notaries who love our work and don't want to change careers must be ever vigilant to find new opportunities to increase our service offerings.
Copy certification and witness work has come to represent around a third of my monthly notary income. It pays much better than loan work. Clients drive to me or mail/FedEx the work to me so I don't have time and overhead wasted on driving to the client. It is important to realize that I don't just get notary income, I get fees for the administrative work involved. Scanning, driving to post office or FedEx (both are very close by), phone conversations with clients and others, etc. I charge $30 minimum for my time. I'm researching to become more experienced and will probably up my admin fee to $50 by the end of this year.
I hope you research how witness work should be handled in your state and investigate the possibilities of how to get more witness work.
LauraV
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