| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
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| What's the difference between a Notary Public and a Notary SigningAgent? |
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| An Illinois Notary Public is NOT a Notario(a) Publico(a), unless they are a licensed attorney. Independent contractors/agents, are not attorneys licensed to practice law and may not give legal advice or accept fees for legal advice. No somos abogados y no podemos dar consejo legal o collectar deniro para informacion legal. Chicago Notary Services can not represent you before the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service and/or the Immigration Board of Appeals. |
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