Being a Notary

[ChetMC]

I'm curious about this as a work at home option....

We recently had to have a travel letter notarized. It was 10pm on a Friday night when we remembered that DH needed it the next morning. We thought that we were going to have a big problem on our hands, but it turns out that 24 hour, come to your house notary services are all over the place. We paid a notary $50 to come to our house at 8:30am on a Saturday. It we'd had her come Friday night when we called she'd have made $110. The going rate for weekday, business hours calls seems to be about $20.

Being a notary seems like a good option for people who want to work out of their house, or who want to work flexible hours. This woman certainly doesn't need to get many calls to make a couple hundred dollars a week. i imagine that you wouldn't need to travel, for a lower fee people could go to you.

Has anybody looked into doing this?

[Equuskia]

I'd love to be a notary, but here in PR, you have to be a lawyer, so my return on investment would take a long time

[ChetMC]

Vary from State to State?

Originally Posted by Equuskia

I'd love to be a notary, but here in PR, you have to be a lawyer, so my return on investment would take a long time

It must not be like that in every state. When we lived in Washington State we used to get stuff notarized at the bank. My impression was that the person we dealt with was about one step above bank teller. And here in California, you can get stuff notarized at the UPS store. I can't imagine anybody with a law degree is working at the UPS store.

[kalisis]

The laws differ by state, but generally, notaries cannot charge more than $1 or $5 for actual notary service.

If they travel, then they can be reimbursed for those charges. But generally, I would not consider being a notary as a way to make money. Most any attorneys office will notarize a document for free or that very nominal fee. A lot of libraries have a notary on staff. My mom has two employees who are notaries and anyone can walk in off the street and have anything notarized for free.

Here's a link: http://www.punny.org/money/maximum-n...t-notary-guys/

[Equuskia]

Wow, that is really cheap. Here to get anything notarized, it starts at $20. Maybe I should get that juris doctor after all!

[mistymama]

Most banks will notarize for free as long as you bank there - when I worked in the law firm we notarized stuff for our clients for free. The point being most people have a notary public hook up and don't need to pay for services.

I'm still a notary and keep it because it comes in handy to help family and friends when they need it. You certainly don't need to be a lawyer here - I think all it took was buying an insurance bond and paying the fee at the county courthouse. Pretty simple.

[Maggi315]

here in PA anyone can become a notary, it costs a few hundred dollars for the course and certification.

However, there are limits on the notary fees, they are supposed to be set. so i don't know if the notary from home thing would really pan out. the banks around here do it for free for customers and many of the larger companies also have a notary on staff to use for free. Car dealerships also have notaries. And the courthouse.

I don't know if you can get away with charging other fees though, like there is a notary fee, then a "travel fee" or "after hours fee" or "housecall" fee. Seems that you should be able to separate those out. In that case, it might be more profitable.

[Livviesmom0207]

I'm a Notary in MA and I can't charge more than $2 for my services. It's definitely not a viable work at home option.

Most people who are notaries get commissioned because they work somewhere that it's useful or necessary, like a law firm or a bank.

[lilyka]

wow, I have never paid for something to be noterized. we have banks open 7 days a week, my lawyer of course noterizes her own stuff and even DSS has their own nortary.

[luv-my-boys]

I have actually looked into it as a extra $ kinda thing. Here all I have to do is either take a course or pass the exam. Usually the course is slightly more but I can re take the exam until I pass I have looked into it because we are a military family and have often needed something notarized at odd hours days/times/places where honestly it would have been more convenient to have someone come to me and I know lots of military families who have been in the same spot. Although there are *free* services to us sometimes for personal reasons some families dont want to go that route. Also I have found out that at least where I am locally its expensive as you are allowed to charge per page or per signature! I once had paperwork that required my signature at the end of each page...a 13 page mini book LOL! I wouldnt see it as a for sure job type thing just something I would offer for some extra cash here and there.