Surety companies, attorneys and accountants are confused by new bid requirements and say the Department of State isn’t helping. A Notary Processors Solicitation was issued in September. Apparently, the procedure for a solicitation is different than that outline in Florida Statutes for a competitive procurement process, Chapter 287.
The Department of State has not responded to questions about the Notary Processors Solicitation released Sept.5 but did respond to a public information request concerning correspondence about it.
A letter from Peter Antonacci, Gov. Rick Scott’s General Counsel, to Secretary of State Ken Detzner instructed the Department “to solicit price information from qualified notary processors and award a limited number of respondents” a contract to provide services to notary public applicants.
Notary processors serve as a one-stop shop for notaries’ legal requirements. Among other things, they check an applicant’s paperwork for a license, electronically file it with the state and provide surety bonds.
More than 20 processors provide services to Florida’s 400,000 notaries. The initiative would limit the number to no more than five.
“We do not understand how drastically reducing the number of Notary Processors in the State of Florida and limiting access to the NEFS Portal will benefit Florida citizens and businesses,” Paul T. Bruflat of CAN Surety wrote Detzner Oct. 14. CNA has more than 140,000 bonds in force for Florida notaries.
“We are not aware of any issues or complaints surrounding the current system,” wrote Bruflat.
Current vendors say they are confused that the solicitation came without warning. In letters to Detzner they argue that an open dialogue between the Department and Processors could have resolved many of the issues the solicitation seems written to address.
Antonacci’s letter to Detzner states the goal is to “maintain high quality standards for prompt and accurate notary application processing; promote fair and competitive pricing associated with processing notary applications and reduce the fees and costs paid by prospective notaries public and those doing business in Florida.”
Processors are perplexed that no consideration is given to companies that have been providing service to their customers for years and that the solicitation scores vendors only on price and the criteria does not reward a record of prompt and accurate processing of applications.
But vendors note that the solicitation is outside the competitive bid process for state contracts and they do not understand why. They also note that only one vendor currently meets the requirement to be able to process at least 2,000 notary applications each month.
That alarms the Florida Surety Association, The Surety & Fidelity Association of America and the American Society of Notaries, among others.
“We appear on the verge of a notary-service marketplace that will severely limit consumer choice, impose extreme financial hardship on thriving Florida-based Processors, and inflict pain and frustration on notary applicants already in the pipeline,” Kathleen Butler, executive director of American Society of Notaries, wrote Detzner Oct. 10.
“These are businesses (processors) with budgets and business plans, long-term debts and payrolls to meet, that will have very little time to plan how they will adjust to lost business revenue under the new Processor-Contractor arrangement,” Butler explained about the 20 current processors who stand to lose contracts under the new procedures.
Notary processing vendors say questions arise when a Notary Processors Solicitation is released outside the normal competitive bid process. They are unsure how to challenge the Department’s decision if it the process does not fall under Chapter 287. And they are confused by the language in the solicitation; asking what is meant by the words “solicitation for price information.”
“Why reinvent the wheel? It just doesn’t feel right,” said one speaking on background.
The deadline to respond to the solicitation is Friday, Nov. 14.
