This month’s NNA newsletter mentions new laws in effort regarding bond, E & O and ongoing education requirements came out today.
New 2025 Notary laws address commissioning requirements and fraud prevention | NNA
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I read that and saw the RON changes for my state of Tennessee. I got my RON commission 5 or 6 months ago and the fee was $75. I wonder what the new fees will be with the training and certification? Honestly, it really hasn’t been worth even the $75 for the commission. I have had 1 RON request in that time. I am probably going to let my RON commission go when it expires.
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Following my review of the linked article, one of the most significant observations was the considerable divergence in notary regulations across different states. Nevertheless, the section titled “What Errors and Omissions insurance will – and won’t – cover” captured my attention the most. For instance, the article cited a situation where a Michigan Notary’s failure to timely deliver a completed closing package to FedEx resulted in the title company needing to reissue the closing check, ultimately placing a financial burden of over $3,500 on the Notary. Given such examples, I want to strongly urge all Signing Agents to conduct a thorough review of their existing Errors and Omissions (E&O) insurance policies. It is crucial that Signing Agents gain a complete and comprehensive understanding of the specific coverage details outlined within their respective E&O policies.
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Thank you for that information!
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One other thing I found out is that almost all E&O policies are on a ‘declining coverage’ basis. I did a Testator’s Aff. on a Will (GNW). The man died several months later and his Will was contested, so I was requested to testify. Taking the oft-repeated advice to ‘notify your E& O carrier’, I did just that. E&O Carrier called me for more details. E&O attorney called defendant’s attorney,who said he’d subpoena me if I wouldn’t come voluntarily, E&O attorney said ‘best to just go’. So I did & testified. NO complaint of any kind was filed against me. End of story. Until I got a letter from E&O carrier that my ‘remaining E&O balance’ was now $730 less due to the ‘cost’ of E&O attorney’s 1 phone call to defendant’s attorney and 1 e-mail to me telling me to go.
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It is interesting to note that such a payment would be categorized as attorney’s billable hours. I wonder if that constitute a settled claim?
Have no idea–other than my E&O coverage had been reduced for that year’s term. Just a cautionary tale that E&O doesn’t cover what we thought it did. I have another…friend is a secretary at a law firm. Don’t know all the details, just what I was told: Lawyer had a client who just liked to sue for everything…apparently just for kicks and a bit of money. Lawyer didn’t want to get involved in yet another court case, so filed an E&O claim for very little against the notary. E&O gets to decide whether to fight the claim in court or pay to get rid of it. E&O paid, lawyer’s client happy…again. The devil is in the details.
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$3,500??? not covered by E&O or our mandated 15,000 bond. Crap in this situation rolls uphill, so that’s a 100% claim to the signing service.
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Agree with Joe. No standard E&O policy covers loan signing duties or any other little side gigs or “fillers” that some notaries do. It only covers notarial errors. If you want coverage for your signing agent side of your business, then you need the Signing Agent E&O. If you want coverage for anything beyond that (thinking all the field work assignments many do) - professional liability would be the way to go, and hopefully a policy that will cover all aspects, including notary.
There is a thread here and this has been discussed extensively. I think Biberk was the company named most often to provide the coverage someone would want. No personal experience with this
Louisiana did some of us bad. I had just renewed my bond, sent it to SOS, and then two weeks later, I received the notice that it went up to 50,000 in February, and if you don’t have the increase, you will be suspended. Why except the bond if they knew it was going up? Our legislators are slow
wow…..that is asinine, how dare us peasant notaries call the people we pay to cover us for years as they make stacks of cash off us to turn around and be penalized to not even technically use our insurance. I’m sorry they did that to you .
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Chandie– Welp… them’s the rules …ya’ gotta read or get a lawyer to explain the small print. You’ll learn 95% of what you need to know as a notary and NSA in about a year….and spend the next 3 decades learning about the last 5%… usually the hard way.
awl1957–the bond amount is the law–until it changes. It’s the way the government works. Ain’t it grand…
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Are you serious??? Oh my
About the charge/decreased E&O for a couple phone calls? Serious as a heart attack! OR the once in a lifetime new things? That, too. Another is when you stop being a notary & let your E&O expire and then a claim is filed. Guess what? You better have purchased ‘tail insurance’ (yeah, it’s a thing).
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Oh no! Thank you so much for sharing! I hope the new notaries understand this conversation!! If not, they need to ask!
I’m still in shock. I never…
Update, since it was a mandated by legistatrue the insurance just issued a rider bringing the total to the $50,000 requirement and did not charge for the difference. In five years I may be retired.
Professional liability is the policy I carry. A standard E/O policy as you stated, doesn’t cover anything else we do outside the notarization. My policy is through Biberk. I haven’t had to use it so I can’t speak to their claim process, but the policy was easy to get and was priced lower than other companies.
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