In the past we have not permitted lenders to become notaries for the bank, only branch managers who perform the attestation and notarize any loan documents needed at closing/signing.

We are considering having the lenders become notaries so they may conduct closings outside the branch. Are there any issues we have not considered?

Have others done this?

Have you considered the advice here: https://www.nationalnotary.org/bonds_and_insurance/minimize_liability/index.html

Maintain your impartiality:
By definition, a Notary is an unbiased official witness who is personally or professionally unaffected by the document. In legal disputes signers and attorneys may attempt to discredit a document on the grounds that the Notary had a financial or beneficial interest in the transaction.

For this reason, never notarize your own signature or a document in which you are personally named. If you will receive a direct benefit, fee, commission or advantage other than the fee allowed by state law, you also should not notarize. Similarly, if you stand to suffer a direct financial loss from a transaction, you should not notarize.

Notaries also should refuse to notarize for close family members because a Notary’s impartiality can be questioned in these circumstances as well.

I would never have the lender who was involved in approving/handling a transaction be the one who notarized the documents. Notarization should be an independent transaction. The lender is intimately involved in the deal.

Thank you so much for the link, and I did discover a similar reference in another place as well.

Each state has its own notary laws and processes. What you are proposing may in fact be illegal, depending on the language of the law. In any event, having a notary who is invovled with the transaction in any way can also be a red flag for mortgage/loan fraud. There could also be civil liability issues both for the loan officer (notarizing his/her own deals) and the Bank for allowing such a practice if in fact fraudulent activity occurs.

Yes, I reviewed our state specific notary rules and they are not as strict as the national association.

Our lenders have no approval authority nor do they prepare documents or review all signed documents prior to boarding the loan .. these steps are all done by others. Our lenders are salaried, not on commission but even so, I was not comfortable having them act as notary - so appreciate all your guidance & suggestions.