Why you should Choose your Mobile Notary Carefully

If you have ever neeeded to get a legal document notarized, you might know that there is a large (and growing) number of mobile notaries public in Northern Virginia. They perform all the duties of a traditional notary and they travel to the location of your choice. Notaries provide a convenience to the public, especially those who are elderly, infirm, disabled, or in long-term healthcare facilities.

Notaries are public servants who take an oath to follow the laws of Virginia, but there seems to be a growing number who blatantly ignore our laws, charging exorbitant fees, and they continue to do so because they can. These are the notaries you should avoid. Since there is no effective enforcement of the law by the Secretary of State, it's up to you, the consumer, to know what a notary can charge. The excerpt below, from the Code of Virginia, describes what a notary may charge. Part D is particularly relevant to mobile notary services.
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Allowable fees for a traditional notary public, from the Code of VA:
A. A notary may, for taking and certifying the acknowledgment of any writing, or administering and certifying an oath, or certifying affidavits and depositions of witnesses, or certifying that a copy of a document is a true copy thereof, charge a fee up to $10.
D. It shall be unlawful for any notary to charge more than the fee established herein for any notarial act; however, a notary may recover, with the agreement of the person to be charged, any actual and reasonable expense of traveling to a place where a notarial act is to be performed if it is not the usual place in which the notary performs his office.