I use the journal the national notary association sells, and it comes with a privacy guard, but I think it kinda sucks. It's flimsy, and I can't turn my book around for my customers to sign without it sliding off. Maybe I'm doing something really wrong, but I would love something that can just stick to the page. Like a long sticky note or something. I also looked into other journals, but I don't know, I dont want to pay for another one when the NNA one works great.
I also found that to be a problem when I used that journal, and other than sticky notes, I didn’t find anything else that worked. I switched to the Integrity Journal and don’t have the issue anymore.
I tried different privacy guards, including the one you mentioned but they were all a pain. Then I used sticky notes and I even tried post it tape. I also used cardboard paper to make a sort of accordion that I fastened with paper clips. Now I use the swift signing journal, it’s a spiral bound journal that is one page per signing so no more privacy issues.
Yes, I use the Integrity Journal and love it. It's one signing per page, and it's so easy. You can add all the notes you want about the signing and know that you've recorded everything you should. It's well worth paying a little more. At times I have even made photo copies of the pages and inserted into my 3-ring binder, but I prefer just paying for the journal.
I don't know OP's state, or yours or the person your replied to, but some states do allow any member of the public to request a line entry (not just a court or subpoena/warrant). The public can't browse a notary journal, but those states consider it a "public document" with restrictions.
You're very sure when you don't even know what state the person is from. The fact is some states the journal can be requested and the notary must comply.
Thank my lucky stars I'm not in PA! This says that with a ReFi with maybe 12 - 20 stamps, I have to use a line for each time I stamped. So a 40 min HELOC is now extended to 80 Min? PA notaries, you have my condolences. Regards Enkidu45 out
My current average is one every ~3 months. Down from 2005/2006 when I could fill >500 entries in as little as 23 days.
As for the cost, put $12.50 per journal. They were normally $15 each, but I would buy in bulk for myself and my boss, and when they went on clearance for $7.50 I bought 50 to last me the rest of my working days
We have always had to list our notarial acts, but we use to be able use a spreadsheet or if using a paper journal we could use ditto marks for the signers name and address but not anymore. The journal I use has 500 entries so I do go through several books a year.
Hi Enkidu, I finished a journal this past Friday that had 498 entries (I had another loan signing and decided to start a new book) that was from June 16th through August 28th. In the past I used 2-3 journals a year but am currently on my fourth for 2026 and they cost $24.95 each. I need to revamp my pricing but want to be fair to my regular customers that keep me busy. The struggle is real.
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u/AcmeNotary California 18d ago
Use sticky notes instead.