A notary commission is a state credential, but the background screening behind it is not the same from one state to the next. Some states fingerprint every applicant and run the prints through state and federal criminal databases before a commission is issued. Others rely mostly on the applicant’s own sworn statement about their criminal history, checked against whatever the commissioning office can pull by name. Layered on top of that is a second, entirely separate screening track for notaries who do loan signing and title closing work, where lenders and title companies run their own vetting because the notary is handling a borrower’s signature, identity documents, and closing funds. Employers and hiring platforms that touch either layer need to understand where the state’s job ends and the industry’s own screening begins.
How states screen notary applicants
Every state requires some form of background attestation before commissioning a notary, but the depth of the check varies widely. At one end, states like California require applicants to submit fingerprints through the Department of Justice’s Live Scan program before a commission is issued. California’s Secretary of State states plainly that “state law requires all applicants to be fingerprinted as part of a background check before being granted an appointment as a notary public,” and the prints are run against both state and FBI criminal history databases, with the commission held until the office receives a clear result from both. Details on that process are on the California Secretary of State’s notary qualifications page.
Other states run a check without fingerprinting. Texas, for example, states that its office “runs background checks on all notary applicants” but does so through the application and its own records rather than a fingerprint submission, and disqualifies applicants with a felony conviction or a crime involving moral turpitude. That framework is described on the Texas Secretary of State’s notary public page. This is a useful contrast to California’s model: both states check criminal history before commissioning, but one does it through fingerprint-based database searches and the other through a name-based review tied to the application itself.
A number of other states sit closer to a self-disclosure model, where the application asks the applicant to attest to their own criminal history and the commissioning office’s independent verification is limited unless something in the application or a complaint later raises a flag. Because the exact mechanics, disqualifying offense lists, and renewal cycles change from state to state and get updated on their own schedules, employers and platforms that need current, state-specific requirements should confirm them directly with that state’s commissioning office, typically the Secretary of State, rather than relying on a general summary. The pattern worth remembering is the split itself: some states check before they commission, others mostly trust the applicant’s disclosure and react if a problem surfaces later.
| Screening approach | How it works | What it catches before commissioning |
|---|---|---|
| Fingerprint-based state check | Applicant fingerprinted and prints run against state and FBI criminal databases before commission issues | Convictions in any state the fingerprint search reaches, not just the commissioning state |
| Name-based state check | Commissioning office runs a check using the application and available state records, no fingerprint submission | Convictions and disqualifying offenses visible through name-based state records |
| Self-disclosure model | Applicant attests to criminal history on the application; independent verification is limited absent a later complaint | Relies heavily on applicant honesty, with less independent database checking up front |
What commissioning offices generally look for
Across the states that publish their disqualifying criteria, a few categories show up consistently. A felony conviction is close to universally disqualifying, at least for some period after the conviction or release. Crimes involving dishonesty, fraud, or moral turpitude tend to draw specific attention because they go directly to the core function of a notary, which is certifying that a document signing happened honestly and as represented. Some states also look at whether a prior notary commission was revoked or suspended, and whether the applicant has an unresolved judgment tied to notarial misconduct. Beyond the criminal history piece, most states also require a surety bond, which functions less as a background check and more as a financial backstop that compensates someone harmed by a notary’s negligence or misconduct, up to the bond amount.
None of this criminal history review typically extends into ongoing monitoring once a commission is issued. A state’s check is generally a point-in-time screen tied to initial commissioning and renewal, not a continuous watch on the notary’s record between renewal cycles. That gap is part of why a second layer of screening exists in industries where notaries handle higher-stakes documents.
Title and signing agent work adds its own screening layer
A commissioned notary can notarize plenty of everyday documents without ever encountering additional vetting. Loan signing work is different. When a notary works as a signing agent for a title company, settlement agency, or directly for a lender, that notary is typically the only person in the room with the borrower during closing, handling identity verification, loan documents, and sometimes closing funds or checks. Lenders and title companies bear real regulatory and financial exposure if that process goes wrong, so the industry has built its own vetting layer on top of the state’s commissioning check.
That vetting commonly includes a separate criminal background check ordered directly by the title company, signing service, or the notary’s own errors and omissions insurance carrier, confirmation of current commission status and bond coverage, and verification that the notary’s E&O policy is active and sufficient. Because state commissioning checks are largely a one-time or renewal-cycle event, many signing services and title companies rescreen their notary rosters on an annual basis rather than relying on the state renewal cycle, which in most states runs longer than a year. This gives the hiring company a more current read on the notary’s record between state renewals.
Financial institutions and their vendors that engage notary signing agents as part of a mortgage closing process are themselves subject to regulatory expectations around vetting the third parties they rely on. Federal financial regulators, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, have set expectations that supervised institutions manage the risk posed by service providers, which in the mortgage context can include the signing agents and closing vendors handling borrower documents. Background on how that vendor oversight expectation works is available through the CFPB’s supervisory guidance library. A title company that treats its signing agent roster the way it treats any other vendor relationship, with periodic reverification rather than a one-time check at onboarding, is applying that same logic.
What can disqualify a notary or signing agent
At the state commissioning level, the most common disqualifiers are a felony conviction, a crime involving fraud, dishonesty, or moral turpitude, a revoked or suspended prior notary commission, and in some states, an unresolved civil judgment tied to notarial misconduct. Failing to maintain a required bond or E&O policy, once commissioned, can also result in suspension.
At the signing agent layer, the disqualifying list is often broader than the state’s own criteria because title companies and signing services are managing their own liability, not just complying with a state statute. A notary with a clean commission and no state-level disqualifiers can still be turned down for loan signing work over a lapsed E&O policy, a criminal history hit that falls short of a felony but still concerns the hiring company, or a pattern of complaints logged with signing services even if none resulted in state discipline. Because this layer is set by private companies rather than a state statute, the criteria and how strictly they are applied vary by company, and a notary who does not meet one company’s bar may still meet another’s.
How FCRA applies when a notary is screened
Whether a background check on a notary or signing agent falls under the Fair Credit Reporting Act depends on who is running it and why, not on the fact that the subject happens to be a notary. The FCRA’s definitions matter here. Under 15 U.S.C. 1681a, a “consumer report” is information from a consumer reporting agency bearing on a person’s character, general reputation, or personal characteristics that is used for a covered purpose, and “employment purposes” specifically means a report used to evaluate someone for hiring, promotion, reassignment, or retention. That statutory language is available through the U.S. Code as published by GovInfo.
That means a state’s own fingerprint-based or name-based check at commissioning is not an FCRA event since the state is not a consumer reporting agency screening someone for employment. But when a title company, signing service, staffing platform, or lender orders a background check on a notary signing agent through a third party consumer reporting agency, whether that notary is an employee or an independent contractor engaged to do the work, FCRA’s disclosure, authorization, and adverse action requirements generally apply the same way they would for any other hire or engagement. The FTC’s guidance for employers lays out the basic mechanics: provide a clear disclosure, get written authorization before ordering the report, and follow the pre-adverse and adverse action steps if the report factors into a decision not to use the person. That guidance is at the FTC’s background checks resource page. Companies that order these reports are also generally required to provide the applicant a summary of their rights under the FCRA, a model version of which the CFPB maintains as Appendix K to Regulation V.
In practice, this means a signing service that treats its notary roster like a staffing pool and orders background checks through a consumer reporting agency needs the same disclosure and authorization paperwork it would use for a W-2 hire, even though most signing agents work as independent contractors rather than employees. The independent contractor structure does not remove the FCRA obligations if a consumer reporting agency and a covered purpose are both present.
Building a screening approach that fits the role
For a company that only needs someone to notarize the occasional internal document, confirming an active commission and bond is usually enough, since the state has already done the underlying vetting. For a company placing notaries into loan signings, title closings, or other work where the notary handles sensitive documents or funds, relying solely on the state’s commissioning check leaves a real gap, both because the state check may predate the current engagement by years and because state criteria were not built with mortgage closing risk in mind. Running an independent background check, verifying bond and E&O coverage, and rescreening on a regular cycle closes that gap. Reveal Background’s screening packages can be structured around that kind of role-specific approach, whether the need is a one-time verification or a recurring rescreen tied to a signing agent roster.
Two related areas worth understanding alongside notary-specific screening are how professional license status gets verified and how FCRA’s core disclosure requirement works across any hire. Our guides to professional license verification background checks and the FCRA standalone disclosure requirement cover both in more detail.
Frequently asked questions
Do all states run a criminal background check before commissioning a notary?
All states require some form of criminal history attestation or check before commissioning, but the depth varies. Some states, like California, require fingerprint-based checks run against state and FBI databases before a commission is issued. Others, like Texas, run a background check through the application and state records without a fingerprint requirement. Some states rely more heavily on the applicant’s own disclosure. Because criteria and processes vary and change, confirm current requirements with the specific state’s commissioning office.
Is a loan signing agent background check different from the state notary check?
Yes. The state’s check happens once at commissioning or renewal and is scoped to the state’s own disqualifying offense list. A loan signing agent background check is ordered separately by a title company, signing service, or lender, is often refreshed annually rather than on the state’s renewal cycle, and typically also verifies bond coverage and errors and omissions insurance, none of which the state’s commissioning check addresses.
Can a notary lose signing agent work without losing their state commission?
Yes. A notary can keep an active, valid state commission and still be removed from a title company’s or signing service’s approved roster over an issue that falls short of the state’s own disqualifying criteria, such as a lapsed E&O policy, a criminal history result the company is not comfortable with, or a pattern of unresolved complaints. The state commission and the private industry’s approval are two separate standards.
Does the FCRA apply to background checks on independent contractor notaries?
It can. The FCRA’s employment purposes definition covers reports used to evaluate someone for hiring, retention, or a similar decision, and courts and regulators have generally read that to reach engagements with independent contractors, not just W-2 employees, when a consumer reporting agency is used. A signing service or title company ordering a background check on a contract signing agent through a consumer reporting agency should generally follow the same disclosure, authorization, and adverse action steps it would use for an employee.
What is the most common reason a notary application gets denied?
Based on the disqualifying criteria states publish, a felony conviction or a crime involving fraud, dishonesty, or moral turpitude is the most common statutory disqualifier. A prior notary commission that was revoked or suspended is another frequent basis for denial where states track that history.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Notary commissioning requirements are set and updated by individual states, and signing agent vetting standards vary by title company, lender, and signing service. Confirm current requirements with the relevant state commissioning office or legal counsel before building a screening program.
