Travesty of the Notarial Law

Just last week, I went to the dentist for consultation which lasted for more or less ten minutes and paid a fee worth P500.00. I remember accompanying my mother to the doctor as well, waited for almost an hour just for a five minute consultation and paid a fee worth P800.00. Some other services which require professional work, guidance and expertise are likewise paid for a fairly significant fee and people never bat an eye.

How come it is not usually the case with notarial services? Let me share you my experience.

I am a young lawyer who happened to manage our own law office in Quezon City together with my father and my older brother. However, we also have a law office in the province and my father manages it. My brother, on the other hand, is on a study leave abroad. That leaves me as virtually the lone partner in our office in Quezon City.

I am likewise commissioned as a notary public in Quezon City, hence, I welcome walk-ins for notarial services. But frankly speaking, the fees that I get from notarial services are not the main sources of our law office’s revenue. But still I had the urge to write this article for the sake of all notaries public and the legal profession in general.

Moving on, I regularly witness growing number of walk-ins who get surprised when they hear our office’s rate for our notarial services which I really find absurd.

In fact, to make my rate appropriate, I tried to ask the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Quezon City Chapter before for the rate of notarial services but they told me that it was discretionary on my part and that they do not actually prescribe a matrix of the said rates. Hence, I based my rate of notarial services with that observed in Ilocos Sur, to wit:

Affidavits                                                                  (P200.00)

Other Jurats & Prepared Documents                    (P100.00)

Special Power of Attorney                                      (P300.00)

Prepared Documents of Banks,

Companies & other Commercial Documents      (P300.00 to P500.00)

Deeds of Conveyances                                            (2% to 5% of the consideration involved but should not be less than P1,000.00)

Last Will & Testament                                            (5% of the fair market value but should not be less than 5%)

Contracts                                                                   (2% of the total consideration but should not be less than P1,000.00)

          Despite this matrix of notarial rates, I observe a fee of ½ of 1% of the consideration involved in deeds of conveyances and ask for P200.00 to P300.00 only for Special Power of Attorney, Commercial Documents and Contracts most of the time especially when people start batting an eye after hearing our notarial services rates (and I hope this is not construed as a practice of cut throat rate since I am very much against it).

          But I had enough of it. One time, an arrogant man started raising his voice at our secretary after learning that the notarial fee for his deed of sale involving a second hand Toyota Fortuner worth around P800,000.00 is at P1,000.00. I priced a deed of sale of a land amounting to P2 million pesos at P3,000.00 but the man just left and said “sa iba na lang.” Another clueless man laughed and said “masyadong mahal” after learning that the notary for his affidavit is at P200.00. Countless walk-ins would just walk out of the door, surprised and speechless, after hearing our already adjusted notarial rate. And so on and so forth.

          In all these instances, I was just controlling myself not to lose my temper and hurl invectives on these people. What they were doing were apparently an insult to my person as a lawyer and a notary public aggravated by the fact that they were showing their sheer displeasure and dismay inside my office. Nevertheless, I would just remind myself and our secretary that they are all clueless, and we should just laugh at them. But lately I can no longer tolerate them any further. All things have their limits indeed. Hence, this request in the form of an article.

I write not because of the unrealized notarial fees but because of what is happening with the notarial services has now become a travesty of the legal profession which we all lawyers claim that it must be the noblest of all professions. Apparently, the legal profession is way too far of being a noble profession after all, especially to the perception of the public.

          Come to think of it: we notaries public go to law school for four or more years, prepare for and take up the arguably most difficult examination in the land, apply and pay for the commission, and risk our license just to notarize the documents of others, and yet numerous people pretending to be lawyers notarize documents whose offices are just along busy roads despite the fact that the Notarial Law already requires a regular office before one can be commissioned as a notary public. And these fraudulent people are the ones offering cut throat rates which range from P50.00 to P100.00 even if it involves deeds of conveyances. With these, the notarial services have become a mockery so to speak. Worse, even lawyers who maintain law offices offer cut throat rates just to have people go to them for notarial services, how desperate that is. I, personally, think that this is more unethical than those bogus notaries public since they should have known better, professionalism is expected from them.

And because of these notarial parodies, people start thinking that lawyers, those who follow the prescribed rates, are greedy lawyers because they ask too much with their fees, a perception which the public does not attribute to other professions. And this is just unfair and obviously misplaced.

          We have Notarial Law which discusses possible sanctions for violators, the unethical cut throat rates being a ground for administrative action on lawyers, and what have you, and yet the notarial service remains to be a big opportunity for others to defraud people all to the prejudice of the vulnerable common people and the image and reputation of lawyers and the legal profession. I see that there is a weak enforcement of laws relating to notarial services and the lack of awareness and education on the part of the common people when it comes to notary. I highly believe, then, that it is high time for the people concerned to strictly enforce what should be enforced and make more safeguards, if they deem necessary, on the notarial law.

          No I am not crying over spilled milk. I am just a young lawyer who wants to straight things up, starting with small things which people usually overlook. This is not just for young lawyers like me but for the welfare of the legal profession and for the protection of the common people.

          Ubi jus ibi remedium.