Searching for steps on how to become a Notary in New Jersey? Then you must read till the end. A notary is basically a signing agent. Someone who will be present as a witness when documents are being signed and afterward signs and stamps the signed documents.
In New Jersey, a notary business can earn you a living while you are being of help to people during document signings.
A notary makes sure the identity of persons when documents are to be signed, is correct as they say. And when a notarized document is involved in a court case, a notary would be needed to be present in court.
The office of a notary in New Jersey is an important one even though it’s not complex. Notaries in New Jersey are contacted to render their services to businesses, for legal and financial institutions.
Notaries provide their services efficiently to make sure things are done properly during document signings to prevent fraud and illegal activities.
It is important to notarize documents such as mortgages, contracts, deeds, and several corporate transactions.
Requirements and Processes of Becoming a Notary in New Jersey
Becoming a notary in New Jersey is not a hard nut to crack. You can apply to become one, as long as you meet every requirement that makes you eligible.
These New Jersey notary requirements and processes for becoming a notary would be found while you read through.
How to Become a Notary in New Jersey
If you desire to become a notary in New Jersey :
Step 1: Check the Age Requirement
You should be eighteen years of age and above. Being below eighteen years of age disqualifies you from being a New Jersey rotary.
So you need to be adult enough to be able to apply to become a New Jersey notary.
Step 2. Check the Residency Requirement
That would make work easy and more efficient. Or, you could apply to become a New Jersey notary if you work regularly in New Jersey without being a resident of the state.
Step 3: Ensure You Are Not An Ex-convict
Being convicted of crimes would deny you a chance to become a notary in New Jersey. Especially convicted of a first or second-degree crime or crimes.
Step 4: Apply to Be a Notary
You will have to fill and complete a notary application which should be endorsed by the legislature of New Jersey.
You’ll submit this with a filing fee of $25 and if you are filling this application online, you’ll have to pay an extra $5 which is a portal adjustment fee.
Step 5: Get Endorsed by the Legislature of the State
While you may be able to fill out most of the information on a computer, you’ll have to print the form so you can sign it.
The form which you would fill out and complete must be endorsed by a member of the legislature of New Jersey.
Step 6: Submit This Form
Submit this form at www.nj.gov/njbgs. The application itself includes instructions on where to submit your application and related materials after you’ve completed it. You may be allowed to mail it in, or you may have to present it in person.
Step 7: Taking a Course and an Exam
You’ll have to go through and complete a six-hour course, pass an exam which would be made available to you, and you’ll have to provide proof of the exam taken. The State Treasurer approves all these processes.
The examination tests your knowledge of standards and requirements listed in your state’s notary handbook
The overwhelming majority of people who take the notary exam pass it. However, if you fail to pass the first time, most states allow you to take it again.
You may have to pay an additional fee to re-take the test, although some fees reduce the fee for repeat test-takers.[
Step 8: Getting Certificates
If you get approved, the New Jersey Public Commission Unit would send you a commission certificate and an oath qualification certificate.
You’ll likely get your commission certificate in the mail. It may take as long as 6 weeks for your application to be processed.
- If your application is rejected, you will receive a notice that lists the reasons.
If your application was rejected in error, or because you failed to provide the required documents, you typically can re-file a new application without paying additional fees.
- If your application is denied, you may be able to reapply.
However, you may have to wait as long as a year from the date of denial. You’ll have to pay the application fees and take the exam again.
Step 9: Submitting Your Certificates
When you receive these certificates, take them and a fee of $15 to the county clerk. You have a maximum of three months to do this.
Step 10: Get New Jersey Notary Stamp, Journal, and An E&O Insurance
You have to get a New Jersey notary journal and stamp which will be customized with your name, notary public, state of New Jersey, and when your commission would expire. Getting an Errors and Omissions Insurance would save you when mistakes and the possibility of legal actions surface.
Step 11: Buy Your Practice Materials
To start notary practice, you’ll need a notary journal and a notary public seal.
The materials that accompany your commission certificate will include a list of vendors where you can legally purchase your seal. Journals can be purchased at most office supply stores.
- Your notary seal will include your name, the words “Notary Public,” your commission’s expiration date, and the county where you live.
You can only have one seal. It may take several weeks to create the seal. Once you get it, make sure all the information is correct.
- Your journal can be any ledger or notebook. It must be a paper record. Choose something with permanently bound pages, rather than loose-leaf or perforated pages, which can easily be removed.
Step 12: Advertise Your Notary Services
If you’re building your business as a notary independently, you can advertise yourself to the public.
Check your state’s law on notaries public to find out how you can advertise, and any disclaimers you must include.
Step 13: Start Practice as a Notary
Rather than working independently, many notaries work as administrative assistants in corporations or law firms, or in various positions in financial institutions.
- With a notary public commission, you may earn a higher salary than similarly qualified administrative or legal assistants.
Notary Public Renewal in New Jersey
To renew your commission, you’ll have to take the same process you took from the very beginning of becoming a New Jersey notary.
Your appointment would last for five years, and after that, You’ll receive a renewal package from the state, three months before your commission expires.
It is important to note that notaries of New Jersey, who would be renewing their commission after July of 2022, would have to take a three-hour continuation course.
Appointment of Notaries in New Jersey
In New Jersey, the State Treasurer is the one to appoint notaries and commissions them as well, while the Department of the Treasury’s Notary Public Unit is responsible for the collection of the applications for notary appointments, taking care of the commissioning processes, and keep a record of the databases of active notaries in New Jersey.
If you intend to contact the Division of Revenue or Notary Public Unit, you can do so using the information as follow:
Department of the Treasury
- Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services
- Notary Public Unit
- PO Box 452
- Trenton, NJ 08646-0452
- Phone Numbers: (609) 292-0642
- (609) 292-9292 (Notary Public Application Phone)
- Website: https://www.state.nj.us/treasury/revenue/
When Would a Notary’s Commission Become Non-existent?
The commission of a New Jersey notary becomes non-existent and void when death, resignation from the notary or revocation are in the picture.
Also, this may occur when a notary is no longer a resident of the state or has no job or business in New Jersey.
A notary’s commission can also become non-existent when the notary gets convicted of a crime under any law for committing a crime that has to do with dishonesty or crimes of first or second degrees.
Is an Exam or Training Needed For You to Become a Notary in New Jersey?
You would need to go through an exam in order to be commissioned as a notary in New Jersey.
This exam is a six-hour course of study which will be approved by the State Treasurer. And also, for an existing notary who wants to renew his/her commission, he/she would also go through a three-hour continuing education course.
And at the end of the examination, the Treasurer would issue a certificate of approval showing that the exam at www.nj.gov/njbgs has been completed.
The examination and education which is required for a notary commission are not applicable to notaries in New Jersey who are licensed attorneys-at-law in the state.
How Much Does it Cost to Become a Notary in New Jersey?
It would cost :
- 1. A registration fee of $25 and a $5 portal adjustment fee.
- 2. Tuition for the course and examination which would be taken.
- 3. A New Jersey journal and a stamp.
How Much Does a Notarial Officer Charge?
A New Jersey notary charges differently considering what service he/she is rendering. These charges are as follows:
1. They charge $2.50 for the administration of oaths, taking of proof of deed, taking of affidavits, and acknowledgments.
2. They charge $15 for acknowledging grantors when there’s a transfer of the real estate, administration of oaths, and taking proofs of deeds.
3. They charge $25 for the administration of oaths, taking of affidavits, and acknowledging mortgages in financing real estate no matter the number of such services performed in a single transaction.
Can I Perform Remote ink Notarizations (RIN) in New Jersey?
You can not perform RIN in New Jersey. As a notary in New Jersey, you are not allowed to perform remote ink notarizations.
How to Become an Electronic Notary Public in New Jersey
A notary public would have to notify the State Treasurer electronically via https://www.njportal.com/DOR/Notary before he/she performs an electronic notarization to start with.
This is to let the State Treasurer know that the notary will be going through a notarial act/acts through electronic records and making known the technology he/she is considering using.
For a notarial officer to perform an electronic notarization for someone, he/she must :
1. Get a form of identification for the individual pursuant in line with chapter seven of the Notary Public Manual
2. Complete an electronic certificate including an electronic signature and stamp.
3. The notarial officer should make sure his/her stamp and signature are trustworthy. The stamp and signature :
- 1. Must be unique to the notary.
- 2. Be able to carry out independent verification.
- 3. Should be associated with the electronic document in a tamper-evident manner.
- 4. Be controlled and handled by the notary alone. The notary should make sure that he doesn’t let out information about how his signature and stamp were fixed, except if it is he is required to do so by law or any understandable reason involving the preparation of an electronic document and transmission vendors.
How Can One Update His/Her Address With The New Jersey Secretary of State?
If there be changes in the address of the notary, the not would have to notify the State Treasurer’s Division of Revenue, by submitting a change request online and this won’t attract a fee.
How Much Does a Notary Earn in New Jersey?
To know the average income of a notary in New Jersey, click here.
How Important is a Notary Journal in New Jersey?
A journal is important when it comes to a notary’s job. In this journal, all notarial acts performed should be documented.
This journal can be in a paper or electronic form, as long as it is reliable, and it is advisable for a notary should keep one medium of journaling at a time.
How to Change Your Name on Your Notary Commission in New Jersey
As a notary public, if you for any reason change the name with which you applied to become a notary, you must, before you sign or file a statement as a notary, provide and sign a statement in writing and under an oath on a form provided by the State
Treasurer, outline the reasons why you had to change to a new name. This change of name attracts a fee of $25.
This signed statement by the notary would give him the right to still exercise his rights as a notary in New Jersey. You must have gone through How to Become a Notary in New Jersey and should have some beautiful suggestions. Please comment below as they will help us improve. Check out the 10 top law schools in South Carolina and how to apply.