The Puerto Rico Senate has approved a new structure for notary fees, which would increase the cost of various everyday transactions for citizens, including affidavits for driver’s licenses and property deeds. Senator Adrián González criticized the legislation, saying it would make it more expensive for people to conduct routine transactions, such as buying a house or canceling a mortgage.
The new structure, part of Senate Project 1033, would set notary fees at $50 for sworn statements, $400 for public instrument authorizations without quantifiable value, and $600 for documents with quantifiable value. It also establishes a progressive scale for authorizing valuable objects or instruments, starting at $750. The Senate President, Thomas Rivera Schatz, announced that the budget for the next fiscal year, totaling $13,180 million, will be considered in the next session.
The new notary fee structure aims to limit discretion in negotiating notary fees and requires immediate payment of all fees and charges.