Notary Public

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. With over 16 years experience as a legal assistant and notary public in the State of New Jersey specializing in business and residential real estate, Myra Kosak has notarized thousands of legal documents. In addition to performing notarizations, her job duties included: review of title binders, preparation of loan documents, calculating closing costs and expenses for Settlement Statements and reviewing closing documents with borrowers at the time of settlement.

As a commissioned notary public in the State of California of over 5 years, Myra has earned the privilege of being named one of 15 preferred notaries in the County of San Diego by ServiceLink Title.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. The best part of being a notary public is performing loan signings and meeting people from all walks of life and assisting them with one of the most important transactions in their lives.

An equally rewarding part of being a notary is helping couples and single individuals to become parents through the gift of adoption. As adoptive parents, Myra and Bruce do not accept monetary payment for notarizing adoption paperwork, but simply ask to receive a picture of the child the adoptive families are adopting.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. How much does it cost to have a document notarized?
The cost of notarization is $10 per notarized signature, plus a travel fee.

Where are you located?
I am located in the North Park/Morley Field/Balboa Park section of San Diego.

Why can't I come to you?
My business is designated as a mobile notary service and I do not have an office. City ordinances prohibit me from having clients come to my home to perform notarizations.

Do you go to jails/prisons or detention centers?
Yes, my set fee for notarizations in jails/prisons or detention centers is $125 which includes travel and up to 2 notarizations.

Can you translate my document?
Unfortunately, I am unable to translate any documents as am an English only individual. However, I can notarize a statement by the translator of the document that the translation is a true and accurate translation.

Can you give me a Power of Attorney?
As a notary public, my role is to properly identify the signer of a document. I cannot provide legal advise or documents for use to an individual. Please consult with an attorney, title company, bank, etc. and request the proper form which should be used.

Do you speak Spanish?
No, I am English speaking only and am unable to communicate in a second language. However, I will be more than happy to provide contact information for a bi-lingual notary in San Diego County.

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. In order to become a Notary Public an individual must attend a 6 hour class by an approved vendor, pass a State administered test, undergo an extensive background check and once approved file a $10,000 bond with the County Clerk's Office. Every 4 years a Notary must renew his/her commission and go through the same process once again. The only difference being the class time is reduced from 6 hours to 3 hours.

When looking for a Notary, ask about his or her experience. Some notaries specialize in certain areas such as loan signing, adoption, mechanic liens. While other notaries may just notarize documents for their employer only and are unfamiliar with more complex documents.

A Notary Public in the State of California is a commissioned official of the State and is not licensed by the State of California.

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. Of all the jobs I've had, the one I loved the most was my position as a legal secretary/legal assistant in New Jersey. My field of expertise was real estate law/loan signings.

When I moved to California in 1990 I interviewed with several lawfirms but was not hired because my field of experience was not the same type of the firms were looking for.

Shortly after I moved here I learned that real estate loan signings are performed by notary publics in California in a borrower's home, place of business or other mutually agreed upon location.

I took the state exam, passed and then did nothing with my Commission. In fact, I never even filed a bond with the County Clerk's office. I decided with 2 toddlers and a husband in retail, my being a mobile notary would not be the best choice for my family.

Several years later I still found myself missing what I loved doing in New Jersey for the lawfirms I worked for and decided to once again obtain my Commission. This time a 6 hour class was required in addition to passing the State exam.

Here I am today doing what I love and loving what I do!

Q. If you were advising someone who wanted to get into your profession, what would you suggest?

A. Becoming a commissioned notary is easier than some people think. Becoming a successful notary is the hard part!

I actually love what I do and look forward to meeting with borrowers and notarizing their loan documents. But not everyone is cut out for this business.

In addition to completing loan signings I train new notaries 'newbies' as well. By the time I am contacted by a newbie he/she has invested $500 to $2,000 in his/her new business venture and is now looking for an experienced notary to take them for a ride-along to show them how it's done.

Many of these newbies are one time borrowers who have had an experienced notary walk them seemlessly through their own loan docs and think to themselves, that's not hard, I can do that! By the time they've completed their notary training and obtained their notary commission they realize it wasn't quiet as easy as they thought it would be.

I recommend contacting a notary who specializes in the area of expertise you wish to enter into and ask if they would take you on a ride-along. Please do this long before you sign up for a notary seminar or consider investing in a commission. Notaries such as myself are happy to share their knowledge and answer questions. My fee for loan signing training ranges between $100 to $150 for a training/ride-along.

An experienced notary will be able to answer any questions you may have and provide you with helpful tips to building your business.

Some of the most frequent questions which are asked of me are:

Aren't you afraid to go into a stranger's home?

How long did it take you to learn all the documents presented in a loan signing?

Do you give other notaries your overflow work?

Interested in the answers to the above questions or others? Call me!

BEWARE! There are many notaries who view 'newbies' as a threat (afterall, a newbie is an experienced notary's competition) and will not under any circumstances allow a newbie to attend a ride-along. I've seen and heard other notaries be rude and insulting to newbies.