"Background check" means three different things depending on why you're being asked. Here's which one applies — and which ones cost nothing.
Ask this question in any notary group and you'll get a wall of one-word answers: "NNA." It's not wrong — but it's not the whole picture either, because "background check" means three different things depending on why you're being asked for one. Paying for the wrong one wastes money. Skipping the right one costs you work.
Some states require a background check or livescan fingerprints as part of getting or renewing your notary commission. This is run through your state's process — often the state police or an approved livescan vendor — not through any private membership organization. No third-party screening substitutes for it, and no third-party screening is required on top of it. Your state's commissioning authority (usually the Secretary of State) publishes exactly what's required. Start and end there.
This is the one people usually mean. Title companies and signing services want assurance that the person handling a borrower's loan package has been screened, and most of the industry standardized on the NNA's annual background screening. Some companies accept alternatives — Sterling and DISA come up, and some signing services run their own vetting — but acceptance varies by company. If loan signings are your business, the practical reality is that the screening most hiring parties recognize is the one to hold. Check what the companies you want to work with actually accept before paying for anything.
Here's the part almost nobody says out loud: for general mobile work — powers of attorney, affidavits, estate documents, vehicle titles — there is typically no third-party background check requirement at all. Your state commission already vetted you to whatever standard your state sets. A member of the public booking a notarization isn't asking for a screening report; they're asking whether your commission is real and current.
If you do loan signings, the annual screening is a cost of doing that business. If you don't, it isn't. Don't let anyone blur that line for you.
Commission and renewal requirements vary by state. Always confirm current requirements with your state's commissioning authority.
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We verify every notary's commission directly against their state's official records. That's the check that actually matters for the work booked through us — and it costs you nothing. No membership, no annual screening fee, no paid listing. Joining Smoothquill is $0.