What's the difference between a Notary Public and a Notary Signing Agent?
HOME    ABOUT CNS    ESPANOL    SERVICES    PRICES   AREAS COVERED  CONTACT US   WEBSITE USAGE   PRIVACY POLICY

© 2007-2012. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CHICAGO NOTARY SERVICES IS A TRADEMARK OF CHICAGO PARALEGAL NOTARY INC.™
An Illinois Notary Public is NOT a Notario(a) Publico(a), unless they are a licensed attorney. Independent contractors including notary signing/closing agents, are non-attorneys, and
are not licensed to practice law, and can't accept fees for giving legal advice.

Chicago Notary Services ™, its owner, independent sub-contractors, or staff, are considered non-attorneys, and can not represent
you before the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service or the Immigration Board of Appeals.

No somos abogados y no podemos dar consejo legal o collectar deniro para informacion legal.
A Notary Public can notarize any
document needing a notary stamp and
signature.  A basic notary does not
need any specific training (in some
states) or special insurance to become
a notary public.

An Notary Signing Agent is a notary
public who is trained and properly
insured to close on loans.  Financial
institutions or its service providers hire
sub-servicers (NSA's), to perform or
close on various types of settlement or
loan closings.  Samples of service
providers include title and signing
service companies, as well as
attorney-title firms. Real estate
transactions involve closings for
residential, commercial, or
construction loans.

Settlement services include structured
annuities, debt consolidation, or loan
modifications.
A Notary Public and a NSA are the same entity, and both
professions use the same tools of the trade, such as a
notary stamp, signature and journal for record keeping
purposes.

The main difference involves the NSA's primary function.

NSA's primarily provide loan closings services. The
notary acting in the NSA capacity, is required to have
specialized training, meet federal compliance, and have
more than adequate experience in the financial, mortgage
 & real estate industries.
NSA's are required by federal & state
law (in some states) to have or meet
certain training in the financial,
mortgage, and real estate industries,
be criminally background screened,
and carry a special insurance policy
called Errors & Omissions (E&O).  
Companies that hire NSA's, only hire
those NSA's that meet all of the above
AND that have been "certified".  
Certification is not a requirement to
become an NSA, and was only offered
as part of 'membership packages' with
certain notary public associations.

The above is why our pricing for the
two types of services, are very
different.  An IL Notary may refuse to
notarize any documents, and may or
may not charge the state fee for a
notarial act of a $1.00. This fee doesn't
include an administrative, recording, or
travel fees.
Can an NSA legally close on residential, commerical
or construction loans in Illinois?

Yes.  Under prior law, Illinois Notary Signing Agents were limited to
performing loan closings for lenders who handled the entire  transaction
without the assistance of a title company conducting the settlement, or
were required to become “independent escrowees” and maintain
prohibitively expensive insurance, bonds and securities in order to
perform closings for title companies.

With the enactment of Senate Bill 2718, ALL Illinois NSA's are now
considered lawful escrow agents who can perform closings when hired as
independent contractors by a title insurance company or title insurance
agent.

There are no restrictions on the operation of NSA's in Illinois. In addition,
Senate Bill 2718 specifically excludes employees and independent
contractors from the definition of “independent escrowee” under the Title
Insurance Act, effectively eliminating any requirement that an NSA must
become an independent escrowee in the future.
Why do NSA's need to participate in a criminal background screening?

To protect the privacy of borrowers, Congress developed certain rules for
the handling of private financial information. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley
Financial Services Modernization Act (GLBA) and the resulting
Inter-agency guidelines,  require that all persons involved in the lending
process,  undergo a criminal background screening.

Most if not all lenders are mandating title companies, and title companies
in turn are requiring signing service companies, to ensure that anyone and
everyone, that has access to mortgage documents, to have a clean
criminal background report.

This requirement covers everyone who receives access to borrowers'
private financial information, including Notaries who act as Signing
Agents handling loan document closings.