The Bank Doesn’t Charge, Why Do You?
A notary public is a state official, however we are NOT paid by the state. In fact, we have to pay the state to be a notary public!
Banks often have a notary public on staff to handle their notary needs and will often allow that person to assist bank customers with their notary needs as a courtesy to their customers. While that employee is on the clock at the bank, the bank is compensating them and notary work is simply a part of their job description.
If your bank is willing to notarize your document then take advantage of it. You don’t need to call us and tell us the bank notarizes for free. We are well aware of that.
Keep in mind that banks usually will not send their notary to your home, hospital or nursing home, nor will they offer service after hours, holidays, etc. Banks also don’t want to get their notaries involved in financial documents, powers of attorney, wills, real-estate documents and many other types of documents to avoid “conflicts of interest” or liability issues.
An independent notary public doesn’t have an employer paying us and we are not limited by company policies as to the types of documents we may notarize. As long as the document you have contains a state-legal notary certificate (Notary “wording”) we can most likely notarize it provided the signer has proper identification, understands the document they are signing, are of legal age, and reasonably competent to sign a legal document. If we feel that a signer is under duress (pressured to sign by someone else) or there is any indication of attempt at fraud we can legally refuse to notarize the document. It is the job of the notary to positively identify a signer, their willingness to sign and to prevent fraud.
But why do you charge?
No one works for free. As notaries, we must pay for liability and errors and omissions insurance, supplies, our state fees, office and advertising expense and make a living.
We charge $5 per notary stamp in our office. This is the average fee that most independent notaries in Tennessee charge and about half of what some chain office service stores charge.
If we travel to your location we charge a $40 travel fee and $5 per notary stamp. This covers the average hour and a half of our time spent preparing, traveling to and from the appointment, the time spent at the location, as well as fuel and other expenses incurred. Would you drive across town to meet a stranger all hours of the day and night and not get compensated?
Some notaries charge less!
Yes, and some charge more. We charge a reasonable price for the professional service we provide. We operate out of a retail office location (not a home) and carry liability and Errors and Omissions insurance that exceed minimum requirements. We stay up to date on notary laws and we are trusted by several area attorneys, title companies and care facilities to take care of their client’s needs in a professional and courteous manner.
There are notaries providing service that have not even read the state’s notary handbook, don’t keep required records, and will put their stamp on anything for a few dollars. If these documents are challenged in court, will they have the proper evidence to present to a judge that they performed their due diligence in notarizing the document? We keep detailed records of every document and signer, even when not required by state law, so our clients can rest assured our notarizations are beyond reproach.
A notarization that doesn’t hold up in court isn’t worth anything.