With social distancing becoming the new norm, people are getting apprehensive about hiring traveling notary. In today’s post, we will discuss if it is possible to hire a mobile or travel notary during the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown, without being in direct touch. Read to know more.
As a result of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, The US government has put stringent restrictions on the movement of individuals to prevent the deadly virus from spreading further. Nevertheless, the Government has allowed essential service providers to operate under the social-distancing guidelines issued by the US Government.
Since the notary public offers essential services, a mobile notary agent can still provide notarization services despite the restrictions imposed, with some careful planning. All they need to do is minimize physical contact with the document signers.
A lot of mobile notary service providers across the USA are offering mobile notary services 24/7 while maintaining strict adherence to social distancing and the safety guidelines issued by the World Health Organization.
The American Association of Notaries has also offered numerous safety guidelines to keep notaries and clients safe during the ongoing global crisis. For example, the mobile notary public is required to adhere to the following measures to keep themselves as their clients safe from coronavirus:
• Maintain Safe Distance: Mobile notary agents are required to keep a distance of six feet between them and their clients.
• Wash hands Frequently: A mobile notary is required to wash/ disinfect their hands using hand sanitizers soon after arrival. The clients are also required to disinfect their hands using hand sanitizer provided by the traveling notary.
• Disinfect Belongings: Mobile notaries are required to disinfect their bags, pens, and other stationery items before and after each signing.
• Wear Masks and Gloves: They are required to wear masks and gloves while attending clients.
• Avoid Physical Contact: They are required to avoid handshakes and use non-physical methods of greeting their clients.
• Follow Coughing/Sneezing Etiquettes: They are required to cover their mouth while sneezing or coughing.
• Avoid Borrowing/Lending Pens: To avoid getting infected by touching something that has been contaminated with COVID-19, a travel notary should refrain from borrowing their clients’ pens or lending their own pens to their clients.
• If a mobile notary is physically unwell or has been exposed to COVID-19, they should stay home instead of stepping out to attend clients. Likewise, if any client is showing flu-like symptoms, including cough and fever, they are requested to reschedule their meeting with travel notaries.
• Last but not least, a traveling notary can choose to leave a meeting place if they notice any warning sign soon after reaching the client’s location. Nevertheless, if a mobile notary agent refuses to notarize documents and leaves the client’s site without completing the signing process, they should immediately inform the signing service company to explain the reason.
Thus, it is possible to hire a mobile notary during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. However, both the notary agents and clients should adhere to the guidelines mentioned above to ensure safety for all.
