More States Propose Increasing Notary Fees In 2016

Updated 7-13-16 with new District of Columbia information. Most Notaries would agree that the fees they're allowed to charge for notarizations are far too low — in fact, some states haven't updated their fee schedules in decades. But a number of bills have been introduced this year to allow Notaries to charge more.

States proposing fee increases or removing fee schedules altogether this year include:

Kentucky:

Senate Bill 214, signed by the Governor on April 8, 2016, eliminates Kentucky's maximum Notary fee schedule entirely, allowing Notaries to set their own fees for their services. The new law prohibits Notaries from charging for jurats related to benefits for military veterans and their families. Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts and Tennessee are the only other states that allow Notaries to set their own fees.

Hawaii:

At present, Hawaii Notaries may charge a maximum of $5 for notarizations. As introduced and passed in the Senate, Senate Bill 2446 would raise the maximum fee to $25 per acknowledgment — the highest in the country — and $10 for other notarial acts. However, the bill was scaled back in the House to a maximum fee of $10 for an acknowledgment and is awaiting a final vote. If the House version passes, the House and Senate will have to resolve which fee to allow — $10 or $25.

Hawaii Notaries who wish to support Senate Bill 2446 can contact their local legislator.

California:

Assembly Bill 2217 will increase the maximum fee Notaries in California may charge from $10 per acknowledgment or jurat to $15.

California Notaries who wish to support AB 2217 can send a message to Amanda Budhram, legislative aide to Assembly Member David Hadley, at Amanda.Budhram@asm.ca.gov with the subject line "I Support AB 2217."

UPDATE 8-3-16: The bill has passed the Assembly and Senate, and is now before Governor Jerry Brown for his signature.

District of Columbia:

Effective July 1, Notaries in the District of Columbia may begin charging $5 per notarial act, up from $2. District of Columbia B-112 also gives the Mayor authority to periodically adjust fees. However, the fees cannot be set lower than the current $5. This means that the Mayor may increase fees without having to get approval from the District of Columbia Council.

Georgia:

House Bill 381 would have doubled Georgia's maximum Notary fee from $2 to $4. The House passed the bill, but the General Assembly adjourned before the Senate could vote on the bill.

Georgia Notaries who would like to support House Bill 381 can contact the office of State Senator John Kennedy.

Illinois:

Illinois only allows Notaries to charge $1 for each notarization at this time. House Bill 5926 would increase the maximum fee to $3.

Illinois Notaries who wish to support HB 5926 can contact the office of State Representative Laura Fine.

Indiana:

House Bill 1301 proposed raising fees from $2 to $10, but the bill failed.

Vermont:

House Bill 206 repeals the statute allowing Vermont Notaries to charge $.50 for each certificate under seal and $2.00 for each protest and notices of protest. Vermont Notaries can contact State Representative Donna Sweaney, chair of the House Committee on Government Operations, to support the bill.

These Notary fee bills continue a legislative trend that's been in motion since 2014, when South Carolina, Minnesota, Maryland, West Virginia and Wyoming raised fees Notaries may charge. Notaries can follow updates to state regulations using the NNA's searchable online Notary law database.

David Thun is an Associate Editor at the National Notary Association.

Related Articles:

Webcam Notarizations And Other Legislative And Regulatory Trends To Watch In 2016

Types Of ID That Notaries May Accept Under New State Laws

Additional Resources:

Notary Laws And Policy Tracker

State Notary Websites

41 Comments

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Delfina Diem

11 Apr 2016

I live in New Mexico, and nobody charges any fees for notarizations

Yukita Manuel

Any state having set notary fees is not right in my opinion. It does not allow the notary to grow his or her business and make a name for themselves. MY OPINION

Jose R. Armienta-Emerich

We should rate our services, not the State. This is about the responsibility we carry on our shoulders when we act as such.

John

I could rarely afford to have documents notarized in California. Now it will be for only the rich. $15 is the cost of a family meal!

Tom Cole

I'm a notary in New Mexico. The law says we can charge and sets the fees, whether to charge is up to the individual notary. I know several that charge fees.

Eduardo Rojas

For the last few years most of the work that I have done is as a Notary Signing Agent, through several companies that provide this service to their clients. I must say that I find it very unfair that for the time that I have been doing this type of work, (since 2010) the fees have remained the same, but the workload increases. Take this example. When I started, I used to do signings for $60 to $75, depending on the area, that involved the printing of the package (70 to 90 pages x 2, one for the signer and one to be returned signed), travel to the signer and mailing of the package. Now they are requiring that you print a package of over 150 to 175 pages x 2 (in both letter & legal), travel to sign the docs.,go back to house or office and pull a set of docs. to be faxed back, put it back again in the same sequence and take it to the FedEx or UPS office, when authorized, ALL for $60 to $70. Do you think this is fair? If you don't have a dual size printer, you're doomed, because this takes forever. If you calculate your time per hour, for all that work,it comes to about $8 to $10. We are professionals that have to pay for insurance, gas, car depreciation, paper, ink, among other things, plus have to make a living. What can NNA do to help us with this situation? I'm pretty sure there are a lot of other notaries that feel the same way and like me don't know where to turn. I would like to know if there are other companies in this line that are conscious of this situation and pay more? Please, if there is a place that we can look for this information let us know. We would really appreciate your input. Thanks

Yelena

NY allows to charge $2 and the cost of transportation in NYC one way is $2.75 ... Peanuts... And I don't see NYS on the list

Yvonne Greene

Thank's for all the hard work you do, in keep us up dated it is much appreciated!

Ralph Nicosia

I am a Notary Public in New York State for over 40 years and I think it's about time that they increase the fee from $2.00 to at least $5.00.

VICKI

When will we know if the bill passes in California?

National Notary Association

12 Apr 2016

Hi Vicki. We will continue to update this story as we get new information. Also, you can follow other state Notary bills through our searchable state law database at https://www.nationalnotary.org/knowledge-center/news/law-updates.

Sherry W.

It costs almost $1000 for an active Notary License. Please support for increasing fees.

Odalis Figueredo

I think the fees should be increased in a moderate way. Besides that, I noticed that the State of Florida is not included in the new changes.

Mister J

I disagree with the idea of notaries being allowed to charge whatever fees they want to. As a Notary Public, you are a public official, commissioned by and for the state you live in to provide an official service to the public. So notary fees should be standardized within a state. New Mexico seems to be unique in this regard. The New York fees do seem ridiculously low, though.

Kitty

I am a notary in California and have been for 25 years. The fee has always been $10. A $5 raise after 25 years ????? it should be higher. Would any of you reading this work at a job that did not give you a raise for 25 years and then only $5 !! In addition, I feel that notary fees should be regulated, otherwise, people will shop around to find the cheapest notary when $10 is already low.

Parissi

13 Apr 2016

It's very sad the State of North Carolina still charge $5 for notary fees. This have been this way for so long. Guess it's a big boost from $3.00 many years ago.

William Carr

14 Apr 2016

Notary Fee has been $2.00, will there be a change in the fee.

Hi William. At this time, only the states listed in the article have introduced bills to raise Notary fees. We will update our readers if we hear of any new states proposing fee increases.

Traisie

I was a business owner Of mobile notary service. It went out of business when the public health care system cut funding for hospice and palliative. I loved my business. I keep my stamp, bond, E&O insurance and business cards up to date, just in case of an opportunity.

CeCelia

17 Apr 2016

I Did Not See Texas On The List. Are We Being Considered

18 Apr 2016

Hello. Texas has not introduced any bills to raise Notary fees at this time.

Arlene

In NYS you are allowed to charge a $2 fee, it does not state you have to charge the fee. Granted, at $2 most of the time it is not worth charging it, if they did increase the fee it is still up to the notary to charge it.

Cindy Gonzalez Florida Notary Signing Agent

Want professional signing done? Pay professional fees! Insurance, paper, ink, gas, time and expertise just to name a few of our cost and self employment tax - look at our big picture. We are an important part of the industry - not just an average notary.

Pauline

19 Apr 2016

I have been a notary in the State of Florida for 20 yrs. I personally have never charged a cent. That is me... what I want to do. I feel my payments will be in heaven, and it's my way of paying it forward. I have performed weddings as well and have not charged them either. My gift to them.

Christine m

20 Apr 2016

We are all underpay and over work for this little money.And we have to pay fir traing and supplies we are working for Nothing. Am Trying so hard to get out od this field. Sub for your school district even that is better. I only take job that will pay me. Everyone of us can do something else because its takes a lot of training to do this so you can do other things. Just my option.

Christina Panzarella

03 May 2016

The fees that a Notary is allowed to charge in NY are pathetic. It costs money to maintain a notary license. It takes time and intelligence to properly notarized a document. Why shouldn't a notary be properly compensated? Wake up NY. This is not 1950.

Karen Gordon

06 Jun 2016

I've just emailed my State Representative about increasing the fees for Illinois. They have never changed - still only $1.00

Linda

18 Jul 2016

How do we request an increase in fees for NY? I thought 2 years ago it was is legislation for $10? Who do we contact?

20 Jul 2016

Hello Linda. We suggest contacting your local state legislator and letting them know you support a fee increase for Notaries in your state.

Wayne Brunelle

Oregon limits notary fee at $10 plus travel which is whatever a customer will agree to pay. I have stopped doing closings as I am not interested in additional expenses to be a notary signing agent which more and more places require. The banks and title companies want to pay the least amount they can while you want the most you can get. Printing two copies of everything takes time and money for printer and supplies. What other trades do states regulate how much the license holder may charge? Are attorneys limited in fees they can charge? I also perform process serving and their are no limitations to charges that I am aware of but the county sheriffs and local police departments compete with my services. I could go on and on.

Cheryl Kaster

It is very nice that the NNA provides this information to Hawaii Notaries well after the deadline has passed for any input by those Notaries. Unfortunately, the Attorney General's Notary Office, though they monitor legislation and did provide a "no position" position on this bill from the very beginning, does nothing to notify Hawaii's 6000+ Notaries of pending legislation affecting us. Thi NNA information doesn't help because this issue is long dead and the time to notify Hawaii's Notaries is when they can still have input into the legislative process. This information is partially correct about Hawaii. The last increase in notary fees for Hawaii Notaries was in 1995 when the fee was increased from $4 to $5. SB 2446 proposed raising all fees from $5 to $10, except it proposed to raise the fee for an Acknowledgment and a Jurat to $25, not just the acknowledgment. I found out about this bill in time to submit written and oral testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. After giving my oral testimony, the committee did ask me some questions, and then voted to amend the bill so that ALL fees would be increased to the $10. The next committee that would have heard this bill was the Finance Committee and the Finance Committee did not schedule it for hearing so this article is incorrect when it says that this bill would have then gone to the conference committee...because SB 2446 died in the Finance Committee back in April. It is still important, however, that any Hawaii Notaries reading this contact their legislature because I intend to work toward the introduction of a new bill that will raise all fees to $10 from the beginning. It seems to me that there never was an intention for this bill to pass because of the ludicrously high $25 rate for acknowledgments and jurats. One of my objections to this bill was that $25 for ack and jurats and the fact that this fee would bring out of the woodwork unscrupulous people who have not care for the laws, let alone the practices of knowledgeable, prudent and ethical notarial practice taught by the NNA. I will be working to put into place a system in which Hawaii Notaries can be notified well in advance so they can truly have an opportunity to provide input into the laws and administrative rules that affect notarial practice in the State of Hawaii.

Notary Narayan

For many of your complaints about notary fees being outdated & ridiculous, the first step is to contact a few of your state senators & petition them or just write letters, emails. Even better is to write up the draft change & present it for few state senators & seek a sponsor. That's how change is achieved. Not by complaining here.

RG

I have been a self employed mobile notary in California for the past 7 years. I became a notary when the mortgage broker office I was a compliance/office manager for closed it's doors in 2009. We are a single income family where I am the sole bead winner. I was unemployed for over a year, went through our savings then took a leap of faith and became self employed. It does cost us to maintain our commissions, E&O Insurance, Bond, business licenses, supplies, etc. along with our time, vehicles, maintenance and fuel. With all that being said, I am glad to see Notary Public's are being recognized for their work. And thank you NNA for keeping us updated!

M. Garcia

What is with all the whining? Didn’t you investigate this business before investing your time and money to become a notary? You need to stop whining and crying about your career choice. So the notary fee is only $1-whatever per signature, you can charge an additional fee for driving to someone's house or business to complete the notary – at least in California. With the ridiculous cost of living in CA (thanks to Moonbeam and his buddies), and dishwashers, waitress, and entry-level positions soon be paid $15 per hour for work, I do not think it is unfair to increase the notary fee to $15. However, I do feel sorry for the elderly on fixed incomes that will have to bear the burden of higher prices with no raise in their income to match. @John, who said "I could rarely afford to have documents notarized in California. Now it will be for only the rich. $15 is the cost of a family meal!" Where in California can you feed a family for $15? I know you could have had a $15 family meal in the 1990's, but certainly not in this millennium!

21 Jul 2016

This bill was amended and then was never passed out of the finance committee,

Lucia Hasbun

23 Jul 2016

Hello Eduardo Rojas, I'm a Notary for the State of Texas and I do signings for several companies. I have been paid anywhere from $75-90, sometimes $150 (rarely) and find no problem with that. Sure, it doesn't help if doing this for a living. I get alerts constantly and the signings pay well. Look into it. One company I do signings for is WFG Lender Services and have been since 2010. They have been awesome about paying me for all of the signings I've done usually 2-3 weeks from the signing date. Only a couple of times, they were late but not by much. Look into singing up for alerts. Can't remember where I signed up to get them. And I also do notarizations and charge mileage for those jobs. Hope this helps.

Diane B

03 Aug 2016

I have been a notary public in California for 38 years, am an escrow officer and a mobile notary and feel it is absolutely time that the maximum notary fee is increased to $15. It costs a minimum of $500 for me to renew my notary commission not to mention supplies, E&O insurance because of liablity and annual background checks the lenders are requiring. We do not charge extra for notary work for our escrow customers. As a mobile notary the fee is included in what I charge. However, many companies want to pay next to nothing and expect you to print 2 sets of docs, 150-200 pages. Do all the notary work, usually 6-10 notaries in each set of loan docs, which at $10.00 per signature and with a couple signing that would be $120.00-$200.00 just for the notarizations. then we must be sure all the docs are scanned/faxed, signed correctly, and returned in a timely fashion. I always tell the companies that don't want to pay, Mail Boxes Etc. would make more money than me and they don't have to print docs, scan them, send them back and go to the people and have any knowledge! Crazy job!

Sara W.

16 Aug 2016

I am amazed that some states allow only $2. But, I do wonder how the costs of being a notary compare from state to state. In California, they added a full day class you must take the first time you become a notary and a half day class that you must take every time you renew (every 4 years). They also added a background check including electronic finger prints and photo. All of these requirements added to the cost and time required just to be a notary, without increasing the fees we can charge. For California notaries complaining about gas and photocopies, you can't blame the law for that. The law only regulates what you can charge for the actual notary act. California law allows notaries to charge as much as they want for mobile notary services. If you are bundling your notary fee with your travel fee, you should review notary laws to make sure you are not in violation. Notarizing a document does not require photocopying. The most it requires is for you to print the jurat or acknowledgement form if you don't purchase pre-printed forms. If you are a document signor not being compensated for photocopies and your time to do a lot more than notarize signatures, you should renegotiate your contracts. The $10 fee authorized for notary acts, is not intended to cover photocopies or travel expenses or any services beyond identifying the signor, confirming they signed the document or administering an oath, completing your log, having the signor sign your log and completing the jurat or acknowledgement.

Audrey Parker

24 Mar 2017

A lot of people don't even realize that WE have to pay to become Notaries Public. I asked a guy for $3 to notarize his documents and you would have thought I'd asked him for his left kidney! I explained to him that we don't just send in an application and *BOOM!*, we're a Notary. We pay the Secretary of State, the Clerk of Court and then we pay for our supplies. He was just flabbergasted. So, tell your people why you're charging them (if you choose to charge).

Ana

18 May 2017

Hi, for all Notary Public from New York, there is a petition in change.org for an increase in fee for New York. Please add your signature, we need all the support to have the fee changed.

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