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CALIFORNIA NOTARY PUBLIC · LOS ANGELES COUNTY
Filing Day
Everything required to convert the commission into an active, working notary. One page. Bring it to the counter.
—
days until your appointment
Monday, August 10, 2026 · 1:15 PM
Norwalk · 12400 Imperial Hwy · Booking J1O1EU6EFH
21 days of buffer before the Aug 31 deadline
Commission Number
2563256
Bond Number
108406828005
Aug 1, 2026 → Jul 31, 2030 · LA County
✅ EVERYTHING IS IN HAND — verified Aug 7
Certificate of Authorization · both Oath of Office forms · commission #2563256 · paper bond #108406828005 received · seals ready for pickup at Western.
Nothing is outstanding. Monday is a clean run. The bond arrived folded — that's normal and not a problem. §8213 lets the bond be filed by certified mail, so the statute assumes it travels folded; the recording standard (§27361.7) is legibility, not flatness. Lay it under a stack of books overnight and carry it flat.
Do check these three before Monday: the surety's signature and seal are present, your name matches the commission exactly, and the commission number on the bond reads 2563256. Those are what actually get a bond bounced.
✅ THE GIG CONFLICT — solved
The original 8:30 AM slot collided head-on with your $100 Monday route. Moving to 1:15 PM keeps both: run the route, come home, sleep, then file. Nothing lost, and you show up rested instead of thirty hours awake — which matters on a day you're swearing a legal oath.
Still true: 1-hour cancellation policy, appointment-only office. Missing 1:15 doesn't cost $48 — it costs the next available slot.
Status: PENDING — not yet confirmed. The county still has to confirm and send an email. If you don't have a confirmation by Thursday Aug 6, call (800) 201-8999 — verify J1O1EU6EFH is on their calendar AND that the old 8:30 booking is fully cancelled. An unconfirmed booking is not an appointment.
The part nobody tells you: the four-year term started August 1 and runs to July 31, 2030 no matter when you file. The clock does not begin at the counter — it began on the commencement date. Every day you wait is a day of commission life you paid for and can't use.
You booked Aug 10, which banks 1,451 working days instead of the 1,430 you'd have gotten filing on the 31st. That's three extra weeks of commission life for the price of one phone call made on the right morning.
And if the 30 days lapse — the commission is void. No extension, no appeal, no hardship exception. You retake the exam, refile the application, and pay everything again.
The Sequence — where you are right now
✓
Done · Jun 13
Pass the state examScore 70. College of the Redwoods, Eureka.
✓
Done · Jul 7
Live Scan fingerprintsATI B188FIJ966. DOJ and FBI both cleared.
✓
Done · Aug 1
Commission issued#2563256. Verified on the SOS active-notary roster.
✓
Done · Aug 3
$15,000 surety bond issuedBond #108406828005. Number confirmed by phone with the surety — the bond exists on their books, only the paper is in transit.
✓
Done · Aug 4
Norwalk appointment bookedMon Aug 10,
1:15 PM. Booking J1O1EU6EFH. Moved off the original 8:30 slot to protect the $100 Monday route. Bond number was required to reserve it.
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← YOU ARE HERE · Aug 4–9
Three things before MondayConfirm the booking left PENDING status · block Sunday night from gig work · verify the Certificate of Authorization is in the SOS envelope.
✓
Done · Aug 7
Paper bond receivedBond #108406828005 in hand. Every prerequisite for Monday is now satisfied.
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Before you leave Monday
Do NOT sign the oathIt is
administered by the clerk — you raise your hand, get sworn in, then sign in their presence. Bring both copies blank. A pre-signed oath can be rejected and replaced with a fresh form.
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Mon Aug 10, 1:15 PM
File oath + record bond$48, pay in person. You walk out commissioned with 1,451 days of term remaining.
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Today — do not wait for Monday
Order seal + journalYou have the original Certificate of Authorization, which is the only gate. Mail it tracked to an SOS-authorized manufacturer today and the seal arrives about when you're commissioned instead of a week behind.
Monday Morning — the run sheet
LA County Registrar-Recorder / County Clerk
12400 Imperial Highway, Norwalk, CA 90650
Monday, Aug 10 · 1:15 PM · Booking J1O1EU6EFH
(800) 201-8999
Directions
| Time | What |
|---|
| Sun night | Gig as normal. No conflict now. |
| Sun, before bed | Pack the folder. Not Monday — you'll be too tired to think straight. |
| Mon AM | Run the $100 route. This was the whole point of moving the time. |
| ~9:00 AM | Home. |
| 9:30 AM | Sleep. Alarm at noon — set two. |
| 12:15 PM | Out the door. Midday is lighter than 8 AM, but Imperial Hwy is never empty. |
| 1:00 PM | On site. Parking and finding the right counter eats more time than you'd think. |
| 1:15 PM | Oath administered. Bond recorded. $48 in person. |
| After | Photograph the filed oath and recorded bond before you leave the parking lot. |
Two questions worth asking when you call to confirm: (1) Do they take card, or cash/check only? (2) Does the bond need to be the original with the raised seal? Counter policy varies, and a wrong answer on either is the most common reason people get turned away and have to rebook.
What Goes In The Folder
Tap to check off. Saves on this device.
✓
Original $15,000 surety bond — #108406828005In hand as of Aug 7 — arrived folded from the surety, which is normal and fine. Gov Code §8213 expressly allows the bond to be filed by certified mail, so the statute assumes it travels folded. The recording standard is §27361.7: legible enough to photograph. A mail crease doesn't defeat that. Lay it flat under something heavy overnight, carry it flat, don't re-fold. What actually gets a bond rejected: missing surety signature or seal, a name that doesn't match the commission exactly, or a wrong commission number. Check those three.
✓
Both Oath of Office forms — UNSIGNED✅ In hand. Two copies is normal: the county keeps one, you keep one as proof of timely filing. Do not sign, date, or fill in anything. The clerk administers the oath and directs you.
✓
Certificate of Authorization + full SOS packet✅ Certificate located. Do not leave it at the counter — you need it to order the seal afterward. Bring the whole envelope, not just the pages you think you need.
✓
Photo IDCA driver's license. Name must match the commission exactly — Jermaine Fields.
✓
$60 cash + a cardCounty quoted $48, pay in person. Bring margin on top of it.
✓
Booking confirmation emailBooking J1O1EU6EFH. The original 8:30 booking Q7TP599B57 was replaced — verify only one shows in their system. Status is PENDING; confirm it flipped.
✓
This page, on your phoneCommission number and fee breakdown, one tap away at the counter.
The Fees — straight from the county schedule
| Item | Amount |
|---|
| Registration fee | $23.00 (clerk's fee $16 + filing fee $7) |
| Bond recording — first page | $20.00 |
| Bond recording — each add'l page | $3.00 |
| County quoted you | $48.00 — pay in person, charged after the appointment |
The $48 the county quoted is $5 above the published $43 single-page figure, which means they are recording your bond as a two-page document plus change, or adding a small handling item. Not worth a phone call — just bring more than $48. Cash covers a card system that's down; a card covers a fee that came in higher.
Supplies — order after filing, not before
✅ Order the seal NOW — you do not have to wait for Monday. The only gate is the original Certificate of Authorization, and you have it. Nothing requires the oath to be filed first. Ordering today means the seal lands right around when you're commissioned instead of a week behind it.
Do not bring the certificate to Norwalk. The county wants the oath and the bond. The certificate goes to the seal manufacturer.
✅ ONE CERTIFICATE COVERS BOTH SEALS — order them together today.
Form NP-31 has printed impression slots numbered 1. and 2. under the line "NOTARY SEAL IMPRESSIONS, ONE FOR EACH SEAL MANUFACTURED," and the note to the manufacturer reads: "If more than two seals are manufactured, place the additional impressions on an attached page." The single certificate authorizes multiple seals. No duplicate form needed.
⚠️ BUT — both seals must come from the SAME manufacturer, in the SAME order.
The manufacturer imprints each seal it makes onto your certificate, photocopies it for their files, and mails the original to the Secretary of State (Notary Public Section, P.O. Box 942877, Sacramento, CA 94277-0001). Once that original leaves the vendor's desk it is gone.
So you cannot order the desk stamp from one vendor and the pocket stamp from another. One vendor. One order. Both stamps on the same cart. Split it and the second one needs a duplicate certificate and a fresh mail cycle.
Where to order — from the SOS master list in your packet
The law requires the manufacturer to HAVE the original certificate. It does not require you to mail it. Hand-carry it and the entire mail cycle disappears — no tracking, no lost-in-transit, no waiting on another state. These are pulled from the Secretary of State's own authorized-manufacturer list (232 / June 08, 2026) that came in your commission envelope.
| Manufacturer | City | Phone |
|---|
| Huntington Park Rubber Stamp Co. | Huntington Park
~12 mi from Norwalk | 323-582-6461 |
| North Hollywood Rubber Stamp Co. | North Hollywood | 323-463-3111 |
| American Notary Group | Los Angeles (Eagle Rock) | 323-349-0860 |
| Quality Rubber Stamps | Santa Monica | 310-395-6434 |
| Western Engraving | Torrance | 310-542-2000 |
| Shachihata Inc. (XStamper.com) | Torrance | 310-530-4445 |
| A-1 Rubber Stamps / Type Art | Chatsworth | 818-739-4000 |
| National Notary Association | Chatsworth | 800-876-6827 |
| Notary Public Class | Los Angeles | 424-249-2446 |
| Valencia Rubber Stamp | Valencia | 661-295-5132 |
⭐ Call Huntington Park Rubber Stamp first — 323-582-6461. Two reasons. It is an actual stamp manufacturer rather than a UPS Store reseller, so it is the kind of shop that can cut a die the same day. And it sits about twelve miles from the Norwalk County Clerk.
That opens a one-day play: drop the certificate there before Monday, then on Aug 10 file your oath at 1:15, drive twelve minutes, and pick up both stamps on the way home. Commissioned and fully equipped in a single afternoon.
Read the fine print at the top of that SOS list: "This is a list of authorized manufacturers; however, not all of them offer retail service."
Half the entries are UPS Stores and Postal Annexes that just forward your order to a manufacturer elsewhere — you'd be mailing anyway, with a middleman added. The businesses with "Rubber Stamp," "Engraving," or "Marking Devices" in the name are the actual manufacturers. Those are the ones that can do walk-in.
What to ask on the call: "I'm a newly commissioned LA County notary. Can I bring my original Certificate of Authorization in person rather than mail it? I need two seals off the one certificate — a standard rectangular and a compact for tight acknowledgment blocks. What's your turnaround, and what do they run?"
Both stamps, one vendor, one visit. They imprint each seal onto your certificate and forward the original to Sacramento. Split the order and the second shop has nothing to work from.
The standard rectangular is the workhorse — it goes on 95% of what you sign. Self-inking with a clear base is worth it: you can see placement before you commit, which matters on a crowded page.
The compact is the one that earns its keep at a signing table. Loan document acknowledgment blocks are tight, and a full-size imprint that runs into preprinted text can get a package kicked back by the title company. Two seals is standard LSA practice for exactly this reason — it is not a luxury, it is the difference between a clean package and a redraw.
Add a journal to the same cart. No certificate required for it, and California law requires one active sequential journal — a commissioned notary without a journal still can't legally work.
Ordering the seal — the four rules
| # | Rule |
|---|
| 1 | SOS-authorized manufacturer only. Their assigned vendor ID gets imprinted on your seal — an unauthorized vendor produces an invalid stamp. |
| 2 | They need the ORIGINAL certificate by mail. Not a scan, not a copy. The manufacturer examines the original, imprints each seal made onto it, and forwards it to the Secretary of State. Nothing ships until it lands on their desk. |
| 3 | Photograph both sides before you mail it, and send it tracked. If it's lost you're requesting a replacement from Sacramento and waiting on the mail twice. |
| 4 | Proof the imprint data character by character. A seal with a typo is a seal you buy twice. |
Exactly what must appear on the seal — check the proof against this:
Name: Jermaine Fields — must match the commission exactly
Commission number: 2563256
Expiration: July 31, 2030
County: Los Angeles — the county where the oath and bond are filed, which is Norwalk
Plus the State Seal, the words "Notary Public," and the manufacturer's SOS vendor ID.
Order the journal in the same cart. No certificate required for it. A notary with a filed oath and no journal still can't legally work.
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|
| Self-inking seal | ~$17 | Trodat 4913 or equivalent. Requires Certificate of Authorization. |
| Sequential journal | ~$12 | Must be bound with numbered pages. One active journal at a time — no exceptions. |
| Inkless thumbprint pad | ~$10 | Not optional for loan work. See below. |
| E&O insurance | Hold | Not required by the state. Confirm what Snapdocs / LSS actually require before buying — most signing platforms want $25K, some want $100K. Buying the wrong tier twice is a waste. |
Why the thumbprint pad is non-negotiable for you specifically: California law requires a journal thumbprint whenever you notarize a deed, quitclaim deed, deed of trust, other document affecting real property, or a power of attorney. That is essentially every document in a loan signing package. Skipping it isn't a technicality — it's the violation that gets commissions suspended.
The Day After You File
1
Photograph everythingThe filed oath, the recorded bond, the receipt. Into Drive, same day. Paper gets lost; this is your proof of timely filing.
2
Log the expensesAll of it — bond, filing fees, seal, journal, mileage to Norwalk and back. Startup costs for the notary business, deductible. Add to the 2026 tax log.
3
Then and only then, apply to signing platformsSnapdocs, Loan Signing System, NotaryDash. They ask for the commission number, the bond, and the E&O policy. Applying before you're filed wastes the application.
4
Connect it to the MLO licenseThis is the real leverage. You are one of the few people who can originate the loan and understand every page of the package at the signing table. Most notaries are reading those documents for the first time. You aren't.
Fees and appointment policy verified against the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk fee schedule, August 2026. Thumbprint and sequential journal requirements per California Government Code §8206. Seal authorization requirement per California Secretary of State. Filing window per Government Code §8213 — 30 days from the commencement of the term.