WHY do signing companies and/or title companies ask the notary to provide a witness or 2 witnesses? It is not fair to put that burden on the notary. It seems that businesses are always trying to find ways to put more and more responsibility on the notary for chicken feed fees.
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I don’t provide witnesses. I think they should advise signers they need to get witnesses.
The fee they offer NEVER covers witness costs. So I just don’t bother with those.
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I look at it more as the company highlighting that witnesses are a specific requirement for that loan, to be communicated to borrowers during the confirmation call. This way both the notary and borrower have advance notice. That’s how I interpret it — and since notaries know other notaries, if the borrower can’t (or won’t) secure witnesses, there’s usually a backup option available. During the confirmation call, if the borrowers say they cannot get witnesses, I may suggest we sign at a coffee shop or fast food place instead of their home. If the borrower is willing to go that route, it’s on them to ask patrons to be witnesses, not me.
It’s not a burden for me to arrange witnesses if the borrower comes up short. Once, I notarized for a commercial builder who was only working in my state. We met super early at Denny’s and got the docs signed. Witnesses weren’t required but his situation is why I don’t see it as a burden to help a borrower secure witnesses. If needed, I can use this site to line up other notaries to serve as witnesses, for a $25 fee paid by the borrower, due when the two witnesses arrive at the signing.
I’d rather have that solved in advance than have a borrower say they’ll have witnesses and for whatever reason those witnesses have to back out and now there are no witnesses and no plan — because at that point it becomes the notary’s problem to fix on the spot, even though it isn’t the notary’s fault. Just my $0.04.
@inkanddone Hmmm . . . 
Everyone wants to know:
What’s the BEST KEPT SECRET of Notary Café? 
===> The SEARCH FUNCTION of the Notary Café database!
There’s a TREASURE TROVE to be found there!
Just left click on the nearly invisible Magnifying Glass and enter: “WITNESSES” to find lots of threads and valuable insights!
Here is a very recent thread from just a few weeks ago to get you started on your Research . . .
To be crystal clear: It’s not the notary’s responsibility to provide witnesses, but I’m willing to help solve the problem when necessary because I’d rather prevent a failed signing. If the borrowers can’t secure their own witnesses, I have a defined backup mechanism—and the borrower pays for it.
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I agree with you.
I miss the days when title companies and banks printed and sent the docs to the notary via FedEx or UPS. They were good to notaries then. Now it’s different. The cost of living goes up and title companies, signing companies and banks pay less to notaries. smh
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It is not my responsibility to provide witnesses. The signers can ask their neighbors or their friends to be witnesses.
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