Hi everyone,
I have been a notary in California for 5 years. I do a lot of General Notary Work now, which mainly consists of estate planning documents. I am curious as to what people charge. I typically charge the $15 per signature and a travel/time fee of $50 to $60 depending on location.
My question is this:
I had a trust signing today. There was a total of 30 signatures to be acknowledged. I would typically charge the travel/time fee of $50. Do you give a discount or a flat rate in situations like this? Basically, had I charged $15 per signature and my travel/time fee, the total would be $500. I did not charge this amount and gave a nice discount.
Anyone have thoughts on this? I am just wondering am I low-balling myself.
Thank you,
Fiona
As CA is one of the highest allowable fee states, I think you did the right thing. Even if it took you 4 hours for 30 Acks…at $500, that’s exceptional per hour pay. I think you kinda have to juggle time/travel/# of notarizations vs what your time/hr. is worth to YOU. I ‘think’ most notaries will discount for a lot of notarizations. Another thing to think about, with Loan signings, you’d be lucky to get $150 for–as sometimes happens–15 notarizations in the pkg.–despite your expenses of printing, etc. included in fee.
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The statutory fees are maximums. You always have the option of charging less but can not charge more per notarization than the state allows.
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Question Fiona, are you filling out, stamping, and journaling 30 separate acknowledgments? If that’s the case, the journaling requirement alone would entail over an hour of frantic scribbling in your book. Then each acknowledgment has to be prepared perfectly because your work might not be reviewed for decades. What to charge? The clients already know that UPS is going to charge them $500 plus tax, so anything you offer less than that is a good deal for them.
I forgot to mention that there are 30 signer signatures on the documents and an additional 30 signatures in your journal, 60 total. There are also 30 notary signatures, 30 + 30 venue. 60 dates, 30 your name, notary public, 60 signers’ names, 30 ID numbers, 30 expiration dates, and thumbprints.
All signed under penalty of perjury.
That’s why I have a stamp for the venue, date, and notary name. This helps speed up the process quite a bit.
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Joe’s right…and a better business person than I am. Point taken, Joe…and thanks for the slap upside the head.
I am in Washington state and thankfully our notary rules (WAC 308-30-190) permit Washington notaries to write a single journal entry for multiple notarized docs (if for same person on same day). Otherwise, holy cow Joe’s right – the state-mandated journaling requirement alone for real estate signings could be quite time consuming. I would certainly want to figure that into my rate quotes.
WAC 308-30-190
Journal of notarial acts required.
(1) A notary public shall record each notarial act in a journal at the time of notarization in compliance with RCW 42.45.180 and these rules.
(2) If a notary public performs notarial acts involving different statements or documents for the same individual on the same date, the notary public may record a single entry in the journal for all of the statements or documents. The entry shall include the number of statements or documents notarized and shall otherwise conform to RCW 42.45.180 and these rules.
(3) The fact that the notary public’s employer or contractor keeps a record of notarial acts shall not relieve the notary of the duties required by these rules.
