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IPEN - What Solution Provider is the Best for You, North Carolina Electronic Notary?

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  Hello Notaries of North Carolina, were you aware, electronic notarization has been available in North Carolina since 2005 under the Electronic Notary Act. At sometime between 2020 - 2022 North Carolina changed the language from electronic notary to in-person electronic notary aka IPEN to help specify more of what we do in this State when performing this type of notarization because a RON aka remote online notary also handles electronic notarization in a very different way that NC notaries does not perform as of this date. Speaking of RON, in North Carolina it is called REN, remote electronic notarization, because a notary must be an electronic commissioned notary also. This class is only 3.5 hours and can be taken at your local community college.  In notary language IPEN an adjective means in-person electronic notary. Well in this article we are speaking the same language, however, we will be covering what the noun, IPEN is.  As the demand for electronic notarization continues to gro

Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall and Director of Notary Enforcement Division Ozie Stallworth Fireside Chat for December 2022

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  In August the Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall and Ozie Stallworth, the Director of the Notary Enforcement and Electronic Notary Division, decided to take their "Fireside Chats" on the road and off YouTube to give notaries in the near by areas to meet and chat with them. December 5, 2022 made number 3. We were able to receive insight from our NC Notary Liaison of the NCNA and Certified Commissioned NC Notary Public Instructor of Fayetteville Tech, Mike Brown that was part of the audience. This is what he shared with the organization afterwards... " Our retiring President Dr. J. Larry Keen and our incoming President Dr.   Mark   Sorrells were on hand to great the team, and Dr. Keen and Secretary Marshall it turns our are old friends and have worked together to include in Moldova, with Dr. & Mrs. Keen accompanying Secretary Marshall on one of her trips to Moldova. Also in attendance with the Honorable Anita H. Lane, Register of Deeds for Sampson County in attend

Verifying I-9 Forms is A Great Service to Offer As A Notary Public

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  Additional services that a notary public can take advantage of is assistance with I-9 Forms. Employers may designate an authorized representative to fill out Forms I-9 on behalf of their company, including personnel officers, foremen, agents or notary public . The Department of Homeland Security does not require the authorized representative to have specific agreements or other documentation for Form I-9 purposes. If an authorized representative fills out Form I-9 on behalf of the employer, the employer is still liable for any violations in connection with the form or the verification process. When completing Form I-9, the employer or authorized representative must physically examine, with the employee being physically present, each document presented to determine if it reasonably appears to be genuine and relates to the employee presenting it. Reviewing or examining documents via webcam is not permissible. If the authorized representative refuses to complete Form I-9 (including prov

How to Complete a Notary Certificate

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  As a notary we are taught that we are non-attorneys in the state of North Carolina and therefore our focus is to ensure that all documentation presented to us has no blank spaces prior to us notarizing it. The only part of the document that we have full control of is "our certificate." In the example, an image of the acknowledgment certificate gives you the seven to eight essentials that certificate must include: The venue The name of the notary in the body text (may or may not be applicable) The name of principle signer(s)  The date of the notarization The notary's signature The notary's printed name The notary's expiration date The area where the notary's seal/stamp should appear If any of the following things are not listed on the certificate, we can either add them or add a "loose certificate." In the example we must always enter the current city and state that we are in at the time of the notarization. If there's an area in the paragraph t

Do You As A Notary Feel Overwhelmed or Lost?

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  For both new and experienced notaries in North Carolina, our commissions expire five years after being recommissioned. The Secretary of State does not require continual education, nor is it mandatory. After rethinking a lot of things since 2015, when the new edition of the North Carolina Notary Public Manual came out, I found that many of the details that were in the manual when I first became a notary in 1998 were no longer there. Year after year, I would hear notaries complain about feeling lost and avoiding customers who needed titles notarized, as well as being intimidated when an attorney-in-fact presented documents, and how they were doing a lot of things wrong and had stopped notarizing anything entirely.  In 2018, I decided to start "The NC Certified Notary Signing Agent Confident Training" because NC Notary Law doesn't recognize "signing agents." It's in black and white on page 62. This class focused on in-person, hands-on training for those who a

Happy Veterans Day to All My Fellow Veterans

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  Hello fellow veterans I'd like to take this time to say, " Thank you for your contributions to this country. Your bravery, sacrifice, and strength are not unnoticed, and we will be eternally grateful to you and your family for everything you have given to the country. I'd like to express my gratitude for all that you've done! Thank you for devoting your time, courage, and sacrifice to this country for all human beings." Many Americans do not understand what it is like to walk in a soldier's boots once we've sworn into office to serve our country. Our decisions are no longer ours for the government owns us, literally. There are missions that we take and we cannot talk to others about due to the confidential nature of it all. Many things that a soldier endures that has long life effects when we rejoin civilian life.  PTSD is "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" that can happen to more people than those that served in the military and is usually roote

Happy National Notary Public Day

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Please express your gratitude to the notaries public in your life on November 7th, Notary Public Day. Without the skill and care of a notary public, transactions that are crucial to the normal functioning of our daily lives would be impossible. There are approximately 4,8 million notaries public in the United States, all of whom serve the public interest as reputable public officers. On November 7, 1975, the first Notary Public Day was observed to "recognize notaries for their public service and contributions to national and international business." This is my birth year and it's amazing to know that other fellow notaries were acknowledged and this day was decided to become a date of recognition for notaries. Since the time of the ancient Romans, notaries have recorded events of judicial and commercial significance, as well as private transactions requiring professional expertise and honesty. Notaries are essential to the free flow of trade and the numerous extremely sens