Has anyone received signing request where the notary is to bring 2 witnesses? If so, how do you handle. This may only be a Louisiana thing due to our Authentic Acts, but it is a bit counterintuitive to be a mobile notary and have this available. Any thouhgts?
First, witnesses must be paid for their time, too, so get a sufficient fee as YOU will be paying themâŠand most likely have additional mileage to pick 'em up & drop them back home.
Iâve never needed to provide 2 (thank heaven) and, lucky for me, have a willing friend. âNormalâ fee for a witness is $25, but I have gotten more due to excess travel TIME (is money!)
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I donât remember ever being asked to provide a witness, but I wouldnât do it. I wouldnât ask a friend to do that for me because thereâs too much to juggle and itâs just not worth it to me. Iâd have to say itâs not possible.
I have! One, I couldnât do as I didnât have anyone. A second one, my husband happened to be home and he witnessed for me. I paid him too much money though.
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Generally (in my state) the notary can also be the 2nd witness. I have a couple friends who are willing to be a witness and I negotiate an additional $25 for them.
I have the signer supply the witness, in Florida they have to be not related by blood or marriage to the signers.
Here is a link to the Doc Magic witness guide for all 50 states.
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Not necessarily true - itâs best if theyâre not, but as long as they donât have a beneficial interest in the document being signed, it would be fine.
And to add here - I looked at that guide, looked at Florida - by statute, witnesses are not required on mortgages - only on deeds of conveyance. Beware your sources.
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Yes, a very important caveat . . .
Iâve said (repeatedly) on the forum to check & double-check to verify the Sources of information for validity and veracity.
This is true whether itâs a person, website, reference material, etc. Important to ensure that the information decisions are going to be based upon is reliable, valid, & legal.
What a nice chart you put up. THANKS
Thanks for the replies. This gives me the direction I need.
Thatâs good to know, Linda. I get a lot of assignments for FL properties and always see the witness lines on mortgages. Why do they always ask for witnesses? Did the laws change recently?
Thanks for posting this. Where did you find it?
Note the last edited date is 8/2/2012. Wondering where to get an updated version.
@notary_veg itâs because they use a boilerplate template for mortgages. That form, with two witness lines, was in action when I started in the legal field 40 years ago - if witnesses are not required within the state, leaving those lines blank will not render the document unrecordable.
It is to be noted that, (and I should have said this in my previous post) in Florida witnesses are not required on mortgages by statute - however there are several counties within the state that have instituted their own witness requirements. The notary will need to know if the particular county requires them - my default practice was to have two witnesses across the board - covers all bases and, again, will not render the document unrecordable - but will avoid being rejected by the recorder.
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I turn down assignments that ask me to bring a witness. My past experience is that they want me to take it out of my fee (which is already too low) and not give an increase. AND, I donât have friends that can be at the ready for this. Too much trouble, not enough money for the stress. I HAVE been paid to just be a witness. It took me 10 minutes with the notary and signers and was paid $50 by the lawyers.
@kellySA17 I wouldnât turn down the assignment - here in Florida the notary can be a witness so that helps. But IMO itâs up to the signer to provide the witnesses and if they want their loan to fund, by God, trust me theyâll find a person or two to show up. I always told them âthey donât have to be here for the whole transaction and know your business - they just have to be here long enough to watch you sign the Mortgage, then they sign, and theyâre done and can leaveâ - that helped those people who didnât want their neighbors to know their business.
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Sorry that I wasnât clear. These are assignments where I am specifically asked to BRING a witness. In MD the notary can be one a witness as well. I didnât even consider asking the signer when the ask has been placed on me. I may take that into consideration moving forward. Thank you.
What state are you in? WA State Notary can not witness document(s) they are notarizing.
Pay attention Notes. Being mobile you may be 20 - 25 miles from the signer, whereas they will have a neighbor or close friend who can sign and leave. Good advice LindaFL.
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Montana but for my Florida closings the title company tells me I can be a witness too.
I have only received this type of request once. It was mentioned AFTER I agreed to take on a signing for an agreed-upon price. I was caught off-guard and couldnât think of anyone who would be ready and willing to come with me on such short notice. I ended up turning down this assignment.