Being a notary public is all about helping people. We help them with marriages and divorces and home loans and contracts and wills and trusts and anything else that needs our seal and is legal under state law. It’s nice to help people, and it’s nice to say yes. But there are plenty of occasions when it’s your responsibility as a notary to say no. Here are just a few hypothetical scenarios when “No” is the only answer:

  1. A lender asks you to leave a few spaces open in your journal so that you can backdate loan documents.
    Answer: NOPE
  2. While notarizing immigration documents, the client asks you for immigration advice.
    Answer: NO WAY
  3. A client asks you for legal advice about a contract.
    Answer: NO
  4. What about if a customer asks you to recommend the type of notarization they should get?
    Answer: NEIN
  5. A vampire shows up to have a document notarized and says he doesn’t have ID because he was born in the year 1790.
    Answer: NYET
  6. During a routine contract notarization, the client seems to be under duress, but the person they’re with urges you to finish the job.
    Answer: NUH HUH
  7. You’re handed a document to be notarized that is full of blanks that haven’t been filled in.
    Answer: NO WAY JOSE
  8. A precocious wise-talking 11-year old with no ID asks you to notarize a document.
    Answer: GET OUTTA HERE, KID
  9. Your bestie asks to borrow your stamp and journal.
    Answer: SORRY SWEETIE
  10. Someone hands you a document and tells you the signer will sign it later, but they need you to notarize the document now.
    Answer: PBBTHTHTH
  11. The signer only speaks Klingon, and you’re unable to communicate directly with him.
    Answer: YIDOGHQO’ (DON’T BE SILLY)
  12. You decide to charge $100 per notarization even though it’s illegal.
    Answer: KA-CHINGNOPE
  13. A customer asks you to notarize part of a document.
    Answer: H TO THE N

Can you lose a customer by saying no to a request? Sometimes, but it’s worth keeping your integrity and staying on the right side of the law. Don’t let a customer or a lender push you around and stand firm when you don’t feel right about what they’re asking of you. It will only serve to help you in the long run and establish your reputation as a reputable and honest notary public.

Here at Florida Notary Professionals, we’re known for our experience, skill, and knowledge. Headquartered in North Merritt Island, Florida, we provide signings at our office or at the location of your choosing, serving Brevard County, including Cocoa, Cocoa Beach, Merritt Island, Cape Canaveral, Titusville, Mims, Rockledge, Viera, Indialantic, Palm Bay and Melbourne. We also provide service to Indian River, Saint Lucie, Orange, Osceola and Volusia Counties by appointment. Contact us today for an experience that will include excellent customer service, and notarizations and loan closings that will be completed with the utmost attention to detail.