Surety Bond Professionals is a family-owned and operated bonding agency with over 30 years of experience. With access to a broad range of surety markets, our expert agents are ready to assist with all of your Utah notary bond needs.
What Are They?
Utah notary bonds protect the state and the public against financial harm caused by the unlawful, unethical, or negligent acts of notaries. They obligate notaries public to carry out their notarial duties in compliance with all applicable statutes and the standards of the profession. Therefore, they play an important role in fraud prevention.
The documents that must be notarized typically are those that:
- Attest to the truth of a particular matter (e.g., affidavits and depositions).
- Confer authority to make financial decisions on behalf of others (e.g., powers of attorney and trust agreements).
- Are used to transfer ownership (e.g., wills, deeds, and titles).
Such documents can easily be used to defraud an innocent party. That’s why notaries are commissioned to verify the identity of a signer, witness the act of signing, and apply a stamp or seal proving that the signature is authentic.
Who Needs Them?
In Utah, notary public commissions are issued by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor and purchasing a Utah notary bond is a prerequisite for commissioning. The required bond amount (the bond’s “penal sum”) is $5,000, and, like a notary commission, the bond must have a four-year term.
Because of the potential for large damage awards in cases of fraud, it’s common for notaries to buy errors and omissions insurance for their own financial protection, usually when they purchase their Utah notary bond.
Speak with a Surety Bond Professionals agent today to discuss your bonding needs.
How Do They Work?
There are three parties to the legally binding surety bond agreement for a Utah notary bond:
- The Utah Lieutenant Governor’s Office is the “obligee” requiring the bond.
- The notary public is the “principal” who must purchase the bond.
- The bonding company that underwrites and approves the bond is the “surety.”
A notary doesn’t have to commit an intentional illegal act to be held responsible for someone’s financial loss. A moment of inattention or unwittingly accepting a forged identification card as legitimate can result in a claim against a Utah notary bond by an injured party. The terms of the surety bond agreement make the principal legally responsible for paying all valid claims.
What typically happens, though, is that the surety will pay the claim on behalf of the principal, up to the bond’s penal sum. This creates a debt that the principal must subsequently repay to the surety.
What Do They Cost?
Utah notary bonds are sold for a small fee, possibly as low as $50 for the entire four-year term of the bond, without going through the surety’s underwriting process.
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Our surety bond professionals will get you the Utah notary bond you need at a competitive rate.