Will Resigning Your Commission Help Avoid a Complaint from the State?
When a state police officer visited Sophie’s notary office to investigate a case of stolen identity and a motor vehicle title transaction, he asked to see Sophie’s notary register.
She reluctantly pulled a tattered register from a desk drawer and handed it to the officer. He began to leaf through the pages, noticing that the entries were not in chronological order and many entries were missing information, including dates and customers’ names.
The officer left Sophie’s office and reported his findings to the Pennsylvania Department of State. An investigator from the State opened an inquiry into Sophie’s notary business. Upon learning of the investigation, Sophie resigned her notary commission, effective immediately. She thought she could take a vacation and then reapply for a notary commission again in a few months.
According to state officials, an immediate resignation when a notary is contacted by a Department of State investigator would not automatically close an open complaint file. It all depends on the facts of a particular case and the severity of the behavior in question.
The Notary Public Law permits civil penalties to be imposed for bad behavior that occurred during a notary commission, even when the commission is no longer an active one.
If a notary fails to keep a complete and accurate record of every notarial act they perform, the Secretary of State can take disciplinary action, which may include fines and suspension or revocation of a notary’s commission.
In the case of Sophie’s inaccurate register, the State proceeded with the case against her even though she resigned her commission. She was fined $500 and had her notary commission permanently revoked. Sophie had to close her business because she could never work as a notary again.
She reluctantly pulled a tattered register from a desk drawer and handed it to the officer. He began to leaf through the pages, noticing that the entries were not in chronological order and many entries were missing information, including dates and customers’ names.
The officer left Sophie’s office and reported his findings to the Pennsylvania Department of State. An investigator from the State opened an inquiry into Sophie’s notary business. Upon learning of the investigation, Sophie resigned her notary commission, effective immediately. She thought she could take a vacation and then reapply for a notary commission again in a few months.
According to state officials, an immediate resignation when a notary is contacted by a Department of State investigator would not automatically close an open complaint file. It all depends on the facts of a particular case and the severity of the behavior in question.
The Notary Public Law permits civil penalties to be imposed for bad behavior that occurred during a notary commission, even when the commission is no longer an active one.
If a notary fails to keep a complete and accurate record of every notarial act they perform, the Secretary of State can take disciplinary action, which may include fines and suspension or revocation of a notary’s commission.
In the case of Sophie’s inaccurate register, the State proceeded with the case against her even though she resigned her commission. She was fined $500 and had her notary commission permanently revoked. Sophie had to close her business because she could never work as a notary again.
