2.6 Non-Discriminatory Conduct, Accommodation & Compliance

Why the NNA Teaches This in Lesson 1

Among the Lesson 1 objectives, the NNA lists "identify behaviors that could be seen as discriminatory or non-compliant" alongside the SPW Code of Conduct. The reason is structural: the Notary Signing Agent is frequently the only representative of the lending process the borrower ever meets face to face. Whatever the NSA says, implies, or refuses at the kitchen table can become the borrower's evidence of how the lender treated them — and fair-lending law reaches every participant in the credit transaction, not just the underwriter who priced the loan.

The operating principle the NNA teaches is short: respecting the diversity of borrowers is the law, not a courtesy.

The Two Federal Statutes

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), 15 U.S.C. § 1691, implemented by Regulation B (12 CFR part 1002), prohibits discrimination in any aspect of a credit transaction. A closing is part of the credit transaction.

Fair Housing Act (FHA), 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq., enforced by HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO), prohibits discrimination in residential real-estate-related transactions, which expressly includes residential mortgage lending.

The two lists overlap but are not identical — a favorite exam distinction:

Both statutes apply to the same mortgage closing at the same time, so the practical rule is to treat the union of the two lists as off limits.

Behaviors That Read as Discriminatory at the Table

These are the conduct patterns the NNA asks candidates to recognize. Note that intent is not the test — how the conduct would be perceived and documented is:

• Declining or abandoning an assignment after learning the borrower's race, religion, national origin, family situation, or disability.
• Commenting on protected characteristics — a borrower's accent, name, head covering, neighborhood, number of children, or whether "the husband" should be the one signing.
• Directing questions to one spouse and treating the other as a bystander, or assuming which co-borrower is the decision-maker.
• Treating an unmarried or same-sex couple differently from a married couple in tone, pace, or explanation of the signing process.
• Assuming a borrower cannot understand the process because of age, disability, or limited English, and rushing them or talking past them.
• Refusing to notarize because the borrower will not do something your state does not actually require.
• Steering — suggesting a different lender, product, or loan officer, which is both discriminatory-adjacent and a straight violation of Guiding Principle 4.

Where the SPW Code Backs This Up

Three Standards of Practice do the work here:

Standard 2.12 — Undue Cause for Refusal. The NSA "will not refuse to perform a notarial act solely because a signer refuses to comply with a practice that is not a legal requirement for notarization" in the NSA's state. If your state does not require a thumbprint, you cannot make one a condition of notarizing. Refusals must trace to law, not preference.

Standard 5.6 — Signer Awareness, Willingness and Disability. The NSA must immediately contact the contracting company when the NSA reasonably believes a signer (a) is not aware of the loan or the significance of the transaction, (b) has a physical disability requiring an accommodation the NSA has not been trained or authorized to perform, or (c) is being overtly influenced or pressured into signing or not signing. Note what this Standard does not say: it does not ask the NSA to diagnose capacity, refuse the borrower, or invent an accommodation. It says escalate.

Standard 1.4 — Federal Laws. The NSA is expected to know the federal laws that govern signing services: GLBA, TILA, RESPA, FACTA, and the USA PATRIOT Act. Fair-lending exposure sits on top of these.

Accommodation: Escalate, Do Not Improvise

The Fair Housing Act requires reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities in the lending process — but the accommodation is the lender's to authorize, not the NSA's to invent at the table.

Escalation is never the discriminatory choice. Refusing to serve a borrower is. Reporting that you are not trained or authorized to perform a specific accommodation, so the lender can arrange one, protects the borrower and you.

Non-Compliant Behavior Beyond Discrimination

The second half of the objective — "or non-compliant" — covers conduct that is not discriminatory but still ends assignments:

• Fee collusion. The federal government strictly prohibits collaboration to set fixed fees for loan document signings, including price-fixing agreements, boycotts of contracting companies, and pressuring other signing agents to charge an established minimum. Guiding Principle 7 (Standard 7.4, Collusion) mirrors this. Discussing your own rates is fine; agreeing on rates with other NSAs is not.
• Delegating the download or print. Standard 6.5 requires the NSA to personally download and print all closing documents. Handing the PDF to a spouse or an assistant is a Code violation, not a shortcut.
• Sharing portal credentials (Standard 6.10) or using a public or unsecured network to retrieve, download, print, or transmit closing documents (Standard 6.11).
• Unencrypted transmission of a signer's non-public personal information by fax or email (Standard 6.12).
• Misleading advertising (Guiding Principle 8) — implying legal authority, using a designation you have not earned, or marketing that suggests you can advise on loan terms.

Each of these has the same structure as the fair-lending rules: the conduct is judged by its effect on the borrower and the lender's compliance posture, not by whether you meant well.