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January 9, 2011

The Big Bang Theory: Feeling in control Notarizing

Filed under: Sit-Coms — Tags: — admin @ 11:16 am

RAJ: You know. That entire notary experience was exhilerating.

LEON: I could go either way on that one.

PENNY: I liked it.

SHELDON: I don’t care how it makes me feel. But, can it make us sexy?

LEON: I guess it could. I would feel more in “control” if I could manipulate an inked seal type object with ease.

RAJ: Yes, that is the height of manliness. I agree. We should do this.

SHELDON: Do what?

RAJ: We should take notary lessons. I’m so awkward. We all are. But, who will teach us?

SHELDON: I know… Dora. Have you ever met Dora?

RAJ: I can’t remember

SHELDON: If you can’t remember, you’ve never met Dora. If you meet her once, you’ll never forget.

(Dora comes to teach them about notarization. She is tall, smooth, sexy, and has long flowing hair and very high heels)

RAJ: Hi D.d.d.d.dora!

DORA: Hi, what was your name again?

RAJ: You can call me Roger… or Raj, whiever you can pronounce. Not that you couldn’t pronounce either one, but if you prefer one over the other, you know you can…

DORA: I get the picture. I’ll stick to Raj. It has a sort of a ring to it.

SHELDON: Hi, Dora. We were wondering if becoming notaries, or learning about it would make us smoother around women? As you can see, we are a little bit awkward.

DORA: It couldn’t hurt. Personally, I feel that getting out of this cramped lab, and mingling with the world around you might be a better idea. But, as you wish.

LEON: So, what do we do first? Do you ID us?

DORA: Yes, but I was more interested in showing you how to use my stamp. That’s illegal of course, but not if we cross out the impression afterwards.

SHELDON: Oh, I’m very good at crossing things out. I made a career of that in high school.

DORA: Okay, now grab that seal like you mean it.

LEON: Uh, okay.

DORA: Now press down with it…. no.. not that hard. Do it with confidence. Just the right amount of pressure. Oh my God that looks Terr…iffic! It’s okay to smudge. It doesn’t detract from the meaning of the stamp (pause) so, long as the county recorder never sees it. Now, give me your thumb Sheldon.

SHELDON: What are you going to do with my thumb?

DORA: You’ll see. That’s good. Your thumb isn’t shaking like I thought it would (Sheldon’s entire body is shaking)

SHELDON: Will you give it back when you are done?

DORA: I’m going to ink you up

SHELDON: Oh, that sounds exciting. Ouch. What was that for?

DORA: I just affixed your thumb’s impression to a journal entry.

SHELDON: Oh. Very interesting. You can compare that to police records. Detectives do that a lot.

DORA: Somehow I don’t think that the police will have any records on you. Just a hunch.

LEON: You don’t know him too well. He has a record.

DORA: For unpaid parking tickets or something more serious like a broken tail-light

LEON: Should I tell her about the time that you failed to report a stolen electron?

DORA: Stolen electrons? Wow, you guys are regular felons! Now Leon, come over here, and we are going to fill out this Jurat wording.

LEON: Here.

DORA: No, a little closer… Now, what’s today’s date?

LEON: A date?

DORA: Today’s date.

LEON: January

DORA: It’s Feburary. Where have you been for the last week.

LEON: In this lab, honestly.

DORA: Okay, look on your i-phone.

LEON: (bashfully takes i-phone out of his pocket) It’s February 13th

DORA: You just put that date, right in here.

(30 minutes later)

DORA: I don’t think this notary stuff is going to make you smoother with women. But, I know a good therapist named Venus. Maybe she can help you.

SHELDON: With a name like Venus, how can we go wrong? How did you know we like people named after astronomical objects?

DORA: Just a hunch! See you guys!

.

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Form I-9 According to Ken

Filed under: Ken Edelstein — Tags: , , , — admin @ 10:50 am

Form I-9
Certification
I attest, under penalty of perjury, that (1) I have examined the document(s) presented by the above-named employee, (2) the above-listed document(s) appear to be genuine and to relate to the employee named, and (3) to the best of my knowledge the employee is authorized to work in the United States.

That is the form that notaries are being asked to sign. This presents a bunch of problems to me. First, notaries in New York County are prohibited by the County Clerk from “certifying” anything. That term is reserved for government officials and Registrars of educational institutions to “certify” the original and duplicate copies that they issue. I’m not supposed to say (in the notary section) “I certify that before me appeared…..” – certify & certification is a no no.

Examined and appear to be genuine – that’s OK. We do that when we inspect ID to notarize, it’s a routine part of the job. But here there is a subtle difference. I am being asked to comment specifically on the ID, not the identity of the person signing. That is a big change to me. I really don’t like “going on record” as to the quality or “genuineness” of the documents. Sure, it does not ask me to commit that they are genuine, only that they appear to be genuine. Small difference.

Last comes the “deal breaker”. “… to the best of my knowledge the employee is authorized to work in the United States”. Well, I have NO such knowledge either way. On what basis do I make such a statement? “Well, your Honor, being that I had no knowledge, then to the best of my knowledge….” That might fall flat. Worst case: based on MY statement the person obtains a job in a “sensitive” position and does real harm. Then the witch hunt starts; guess who will be asked why I “approved” the terrorist who disabled a large portion of the power grid?

It appears the entire I-9 process is designed to establish “responsible parties” for when the “you know what” hits the fan. ONLY the government, with its vast resources is qualified to determine the eligibility for working in the US; NOT a humble notary public looking at a selection of user submitted documents. Perhaps there are “items of record” that are not shown that are very relevant to the issue at hand. The State of Texas cautions notaries about form I-9.

This subject has been covered several times on the 123notary.com forum. I have been told that I don’t know what I am talking about not having taken the training. True enough. But, I don’t think any training will change the statements I am asked to sign. They are the reason that, other than notarizing the applicant’s signature; I will not touch an I-9. In a similar manner I have been asked to notarize a Will. NY law requires an attorney for that function. One attorney wanted to “guide me” over the phone. Nope, it’s MY signature and no other that would be in the notary section. Point being: signed documents have to be able to “stand alone”. In the case of the I-9 – training or instructions; nothing mitigates the signed statement. With the “attorney at the end of the phone” will signing – in 40 years when many are gone – ONLY my signature would remain; and someone might contest the validity of the notarization.

I’m sure to be “flamed”, but I would not sign an I-9 for any amount of money, I’m very wary.

.

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Venue — Definition

Filed under: Technical & Legal — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 10:12 am

What is a venue in a notarial context?
The venue is a place in a notarial certificate where the state and county (or parish, burrough, or unincorporated city) are documented. This typically appears at or near the top of a Notary certificate or the top of the Notary wording embedded in a document.

State and county of venue
The state and county that should be recorded would be the state and county where the notarization took place and NOT where you reside, and not the county where the notary is commissioned. Sometimes you might not know what county you are in, so please find a way to look it up as this is a legal matter.

Where are venues used?
Venues show up on Notarial certificates (notary certificates) such as Acknowledgments, Jurats, Proof of Execution, etc. The venue is normally left blank and for the Notary Public to fill in. You might see:

State of _______
County of ________
and an “s.s.” somewhere in the venue section as well.

Keywords:
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Jurat Venue
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What does state and county of venue mean?
What is venue when signing a notary
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Venue and notary
When dealing with a venue on an acknowledgment statement, what shoudl the notary list in the blanks.

.

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Venue — legal definition
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Notary Hotel 2 — the sequel

Filed under: Virtual Comedy Themes — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 3:08 am

Welcome to The Notary Hotel, for all things notarial.

Customer: “Wow, this hotel is so notarial, even the notepad comes with Jurat wording!”
Reception: “We cater to a very specific market over here.”
Customer: “That is great, but honestly, at one of those other Notary Hotels, there were ink stains on the wash cloth!”
Reception: “Oh, I’m very sorry to hear about that. That must be the hotel on the other side of town that is currently out of commission, right?”
Customer: “That’s the one, but I don’t like to mention names!”
Reception: “I understand”
Customer: “And they were annoying too. Each room had a fax machine, so they could fax the bill to you, and they required three dozen fax backs before they would let you check out!”
Reception: “Sounds like that other notary hotel, or the Notel, as we call it was owned by a signing service.”
Customer: “Tell me about it.”
Reception: “We are notarial, but in a good way over here, well at least we like to think we are. You’ll enjoy our notarial breakfast. You get an embossed waffle. Instead of having the regular grid, you will get a huge impression of a circular embossed notary seal. Instead of an expiration date on the seal, we say — best if consumed before 6-01-2014 — for example.
Customer: “I’m hungry already.

Can you expedite my express-o?
Reception: “Then, you’ll enjoy a cup or two of our signature French roast coffee — but, you don’t have to notarize the signature.”
Customer: “Great, because I don’t feel comfortable with foreign language notarizations.”
Reception: “Oh no, it’s not a French language roast, the coffee is English speaking, and so is the signature.”
Customer: “In that case, that will be fine. I prefer espresso though.”
Reception: “Well, since we are a boutique hotel, we can make espresso upon special request.”
Customer: “Can you expedite my express-o? No pun intended.”
Reception: “And over here, instead of paying by the night, you can stay for a pre-arranged number of days, weeks or months — we call that period of time a commission!”
Customer: “Boy, you guys are just too notarial. Next thing you know, I’ll have to take a proctored test to stay here.”

What type of Notelarization?
Reception: “Well, we test you in other less pronounced ways — to make sure you know what you’re doing. Can you sign the register please, I mean the journal? We like our guests to sign it. We’re a bit old fashioned.”
Customer: “So, where you do you want me to sign it?”
Reception: “That was part of the test. You are the notary, you are supposed to know. You sign in the signature section!”
Customer: “Right… what was I thinking. I’ve been doing this job for twenty years and still have to be reminded! I’ll put the type of Notelarization as well — acknowledged overnight stay.”
Reception: “Super. Let me check your ID, to make sure the name matches the one in the journal. Your ID says, Ralph E Emerson, and you signed Ralph Wemerson? Am I missing something?”
Customer: “Well, over time, my E became sideways and began to look more like a W. You understand, right?”
Reception: “Well, at least it’s not like Wang Zhu Ming from China who signed in Chinese characters.”
Customer: “That’s nothing, I had an Egyptian who signed in hieroglyphics once, or at least it looked that way!”

Standards at the Notary Hotel
Reception: “At our Notel, we have standards. If any of the maids fails to abide by the following regulations, their commissions can be suspended, revoked, or terminated.”

(1) Failure to require the guest to sign for their food delivered during room service
(2) Failure to administer an Oath for the late night lasagna Jurat
(3) Failure to honor the 3 minute right to rescind on midnight tacos

Affidavit of Maid Services must be signed at the door. The date and time must be documented as well, along with an indication of the type of maid-torial act. For example, they could acknowledge that they made up the room.

Customer: “It sounds wonderful. This Notel operates for the benefit of the customer. What about late night pay-per-flick. Is there a rescission period for that if I don’t like the movie?”
Reception: “Yes, you can mail, or fax your…”
Customer: “Stop right there, did you say fax? I’m out of here!”
Reception: “No wait… come back…”

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Following Directions

Filed under: Loan Signing 101,Ninja Theme Articles,Popular on Facebook (shares) — Tags: , — admin @ 1:49 am

A notary was given easy instructions for a particular loan.

He was instructed to CALL the Lender, Title Officer, and Processor in the event of even the smallest of problems. If they didn’t answer, then to leave a message. The notary was very experienced and trusted by many companies. So, the notary got to the signing, and started the signing. The borrower was to sign with their middle initial “Z”. Everything was fine, until the borrower had an objection about the XYZ Affidavit. The notary tried to explain the document on his own. Then, the borrower still wasn’t happy. So, the notary called the signing company who gave him an answer about the document. The borrower was happy, and the notary sent the documents back to the lender without issue. There was another small question about the Affidavit of Mahzhong too. But, the signing company was closed by the time he made that call. So, he called the lender, left a message, and then left the signing after a few minutes. Our notary decided to keep the Fedex until the next morning when he would hopefully hear back from the lender.

The next week, the notary got a letter in the mail stating that he was fired.

What did the notary do wrong?

(1) The notary explained the document to the borrower after he was expressly given instructions to call the Lender, Title Officer, and Processor if there was even a small problem

(2) The notary called the signing company instead of calling the Lender, Title Officer, and Processor. It turned out that the Signing Company gave a very shoddy answer to the question that the borrower asked. The Lender knew that the staff at the signing company couldn’t give intelligent answers to questions and that was why he requested that the notary call the Lender, Title Officer, and Processor — all of whom could give very professional answers to all pertinent questions.

(3) The notary held on to a time sensitive Fedex instead of dropping it off at a staffed fedex station. The receipt for the Fedex was for the next day, and not the day of the signing — another issue which was unacceptable for this picky Lender (who paid generously by the way).

So, the Lender called the notary and reitterated what was in the letter. The notary rebutted by saying

But, I always call the Signing Company when there is a problem.

The Lender responded:

Your job is NOT to do what you always do.

Your job is to do what I asked you to do. After all I am the one who is (or was) paying you before you got fired!

FOLLOW DIRECTIONS as long as they are legal requests!

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January 8, 2011

Good ID is not Enough

Filed under: Ken Edelstein,Popular on Twitter 2011 — Tags: , , , — admin @ 10:38 am

It’s a sad notary who is writing this installment. I write this in the evening after the culmination of a series of events. My tale will be familiar to many, especially those with years of experience. It started out as a routine request to notarize a Power of Attorney, then the Agent would sign two additional forms using their Powerof Attorney authority. The assignment was from a lost funds recovery agency. The three short documents were emailed to me; and my fee was coming as a check; mailed the same day.

Delays developed into two weeks, presumably, I did not verify; the check cleared long prior to the start of the assignment. As to the assignment: An elderly lady was in a convalescent home, she was to give her son Power of Attorney to dispose of some assets. Immediately my antenna went up. Hospital environments are challenging, seeing proper ID often a major problem. He also assured me that she was rational and able to understand the document she was to sign. The son related that she did not have “Govt issued Photo ID” but a collection of documents that should suffice. We discussed this issue at length. I have wide latitude in what constitutes proper ID in NY State. The rule here is that the notary is required to view “adequate proof”. That’s it. No further guidelines.

The son could produce several original (not photocopies) documents that only a family member would have access to. The sticking point was the aspect of photo ID. Finally, a breakthrough; the facility had in the patient folder an admission picture, and were willing to give me a copy (to be returned with other photocopies of original documents. It was not the best ID situation, but the lady had been in the home for over a decade, and the assets were recently discovered.

I know, I’m letting the son’s “story” influence my “is it good enough” decision. There were other positive aspects of her identification that I will not disclose. Suffice to say, I informed the son that strict adherence to gathering her ID was essential. Looking at the notary section of her Power of Attorney, I noticed that “produced a driver license as identification” was preprinted. I could not edit the file as the PDF was from a scan. I had the attorney send me an editable file and changed that line to mention by name each of the ID components that I planned to accept. A quick scan and I proceeded to send the scan to the attorney for approval. Approval granted.

The next hurdle was witnesses. I could be one of them. The son said he would “draft” a nurse to be the second witness. Been there, suffered that. Many is the facility that I have visited that do not allow staff to sign anything. The son insisted they would. I asked for the name and contact number of the specific staff member to be sure to arrive during their shift. Son was unable to obtain any commitment and a few days delay was incurred as he found a witness.

Finally, after two weeks, we set a date and time. I prepared two of each of the three documents in case there was a mistake. Upon entering her room my heart sank. It was obvious that she would be unable to understand what she was to sign. Additionally, she was physically unable to sign. The floor nurse was called, and confirmed my opinion. She could hear, but not respond to “blink three times if your son is standing in front of you”. The floor nurse called the Social Worker who asked “what’s going on in here”. A brief explanation later yielded “I will not permit her to sign anything”. Of course that was redundant; I would not notarize with or without her permission. The son lamented that the “Court Appointed Guardian” procedure was too time-consuming and expensive. This was my cue to leave, feeling sad for her affliction. But, the law is inflexible, applies to all; and as NY notaries are sworn officers of the State Department – I could only walk away.

.

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The Notary Police

Filed under: General Stories,Popular on Linked In,Popular on Twitter — admin @ 8:22 am

Have you ever been pulled over by the Notary police? The problem is that there is no such thing. But, if there were, then there would be one more thing to gripe about. Can you imagine if there were Notary police? If you gave an Oath the wrong way or forgot all together, you might get a citation — I swear it. And if your seal was smudgy you might get a warning. What if you identified someone incorrectly because the ID did not match? You might have to spend the night getting booked at the Notary jail.

I think that the Secretary of State should pretend to be a customer and see how many things you do wrong and then book you. That is my idea of what the Notary police should be like. California used to audit people’s journals. That was the one type of Notary procedural checks and balance that they had. I am not sure they are still doing that.

I do a little Notary policing to make sure people know their basics. The sad part is that only 5% of our Notaries on 123notary are up to my standards for minimal Notary knowledge acceptability. That is really sad. But, what can I do? I can’t force people to learn who refuse to know their job (yet brag about how great they are because of how many years they have been doing their job probably incorrectly.)

In the mean time — licensed and commission certificate please. Keep both hands on your seal.

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Family Guy: Peter joins ISIS by mistake & needs a notarized conversion

Filed under: Best Humorous Posts,Sit-Coms — Tags: — admin @ 7:02 am

PETER: Hey Lois, hasn’t it been kind of a long time since we took a vacation?

LOIS: Yeah Peter, we haven’t gone anywhere since we went to Vegas. Remember when we lost all that money to those one armed bandits

(A one armed mugger snatches Lois’ purse and Brian chases him bites him and gets Lois’ purse back)

PETER: Yeah, that was fun. We won $2000 dollars and blew it all on school clothes for Meg. What a waste.

(Meg shows up wearing a hat, takes it off and puts on another expensive hat, then changes her coat, then puts on a set of boots)

MEG: Let’s go somewhere foreign!

BRIAN: Yeah, I heard that when you go to a foreign country, everything looks different and smells different, which is important to me because I’m a dog.

PETER: That’s it. We’re going to Jonah’s tomb. I’ll have Stewie book the tickets now.

STEWIE: So, who’s buried in Johah’s tomb?

CHRIS: Oooh, ooh, ooh, I know. Ulysses Grant?

STEWIE: No, dummie, Jonah’s buried in Jonah’s tomb. And by the way, where is Jonah’s tomb.

PETER: According to this cheap travel agent I hired, it’s in Iraq. I think we have a military base there. So, we’ll be safe.

LOIS: Just so long as I can get wifi. But, I heard there’s a lot of violence there. Will we be safe from danger?

PETER: Oh come on Lois, don’t you want a break from our typical boring life?

(They all get on a plane, fly, and get off in Iraq. Everyone on the plane is wearing an Islamic outfit.)

LOUDSPEAKER: Welcome to Iraq.

PETER: Hey Lois, we’re in Iraq

LOIS: I heard there’s a conflict between the Shia’s and the Sunni’s. But, how do you know which is which?

PETERS: It’s obvious. The ones with the long hair are the Shia’s and the ones wearing shorts are the Sunni’s.

STEWIE: No dummy, you can tell them apart from looking at their ID. I know that because I’m a notary!

LOIS: Peter, I don’t think anyone’s wearing shorts here. And everyone’s staring at me.

STEWIE: According to my GPS, the tomb is 70 miles Northwest. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to rent a car.

CAR RENTAL: Welcome to Rent a Humvee. Would you like bulletproof or non?

PETER: Don’t those use a lot of gas?

CAR RENTAL: Well, we got a ton of these when the US military left, and gas is only 50 cents a gallon. So, enjoy.

PETER: So, which is cheaper?

CAR RENTAL: Unarmored!

PETER: I’ll take an armored one. That way I can tell all of my buddies at the Drunken Clam that I drove an armored vehicle!

(The entire family drives up barren roads on their way to Jonah’s tomb. They quickly learn that the tomb was destroyed by ISIS recently.)

LOIS: I can’t believe they destroyed an ancient biblical tomb. What a horrible thing to do.

STEWIE: Those damn tomb-wreckers! Can’t they think of anything better to do?

LOIS: Oh look Peter, look at those hooded people waving their machetes.

PETER: Are they butchers? I could use a nice slab of meat right about now.

ISIS GUYS: Stop where you are!

LOIS: What do you want?

PETER: I’ll have some roast beef, um, make it lean, and a New York steak… or if that’s too much trouble, a Baghdad steak will do, and could you throw in a pickle!

ISIS GUYS: And what else?

PETER: Do you have any sides?

ISIS GUYS: We don’t take sides! Convert to Islam — or DIE!

STEWIE: Could you say that again, but with more emotion?

CHRIS: Are you guys hot under those hoods? How can you not sweat wearing those hoodies?

ISIS GUYS: We don’t mind being hot. We’re preparing for eternal damnation. I understand it’s very hot there. Okay… Convert to Islam — or DIE!

STEWIE: That was much better. But, could you put more emphasis on the “die” part.

ISIS GUYS: Oh, sorry. Convert to Islam — or DIE!

LOIS: They’re going to kill us.

STEWIE: No no, not if we convert.

ISIS GUY: By the way, the conversion needs to be notarized.

STEWIE: But, I can’t legally notarize my own conversion. That would be a violation of notary law.

ISIS GUY: It doesn’t matter just as long as it’s not a violation of our radical interpretation of Sharia law.

CHRIS: Does this mean that mom and Meg will have to wear a veil?

ISIS GUY: Yes!

CHRIS: Ha ha, Meg has to weir a veil.

PETER: Okay, let’s get this converting over with so I can have a sudsy beer back in the hotel room.

ISIS GUY: Beer is not allowed!

CHRIS: Unless you cut the head off.

ISIS GUY: Now repeat after me: Allahhu ackbar. La illah la ha illah la…. and put these outfits on. His and hers.

LOIS: Oh look at these beautiful silks. One size fits all. But, do you have this in pink? And do you have anything that’s more flattering to my figure?

PETER: La illah la — ha ha ha ha ha ha (fart) ooops (fart) ooops (fart) oops.

ISIS GUYS: No, you’re saying it wrong. It’s not ha ha ha ha ha ha.

PETER: No, that’s how I say it.

ISIS GUY: By the way, you are now required to officially get a notarized statement that you are changing your name from Peter to Boulos.

PETER: Fine, I was sick of my name anyway. Just call me Boulos the great!

LOIS: Peter, ask them what the machetes are for.

PETER: Why the way, we were just wondering what all of those machetes were for

ISIS GUY: Oh, these? These are for cutting off the heads of infadels!

STEWIE: Would my former nursery school teacher Rebecca be included in the definition of infidel?

ISIS GUY: Yes!

PETER: Cool, let’s get this show on the road. I want to be the first one to cut a head off. I’ll call it.

(Peter flips a coin. It lands on his hands — heads up)

ISIS GUY: It’s a deal. But, you must first become part of our militia. Try on this ski mask.

PETER: Oh, are we going skiing?

(Peter has a thought of skiing down a hill wearing a black ski mask and holding a machete, then slams into a tree)

PETER: Ahhh, I’ll pass!

ISIS GUY: Okay let’s get started. We are going to invade this village. The women stay at the camp with us! Get in the Humvee!

PETER: (cuts a guy’s head off) This is cool. (cuts another guy’s head off, blood gushing everywhere) Ah, this is pretty cool. (cuts another head off) This is kind of cool. (cuts a fourth head off) Ahh, this is getting a little boring here.

ISIS GUY: We do not do this for our enjoyment. We do it for Allah.

PETER: A-la what?

ISIS GUY: Allah

PETER: A-la-carte?

ISIS GUY: Do you dare make fun of the very great Allah?

PETER: Listen, this was really fun, and it was a long trip, and we’re going to head back to the hotel, and check out the mini-bar.

ISIS GUY: You are not going anywhere!

CHRIS: I have to go to the bathroom.

ISIS GUY: There is a rock over there. That’s the closest we have. Bring your own toilet paper.

PETER: First, can I get a notarized statement documenting that I successfully decapitated four infidels? I want to post that on my wall back home.

ISIS GUY: You are not going home. We have a jihad to fight!

PETER: I think I better call Stewie. (ring ring) Hey Stewie, they’re not letting us out of here.

STEWIE: No problem, I have a solution for this. Check out my newest invention, it is a multi-head Uzi that can shoot in three directions simultaneiously. (bang-bang-bang-bang-bang)

(Stewie kills all two hundred of the ISIS guys within two minutes, they go to the camp to get the ladies, and then go back to the hotel)

LOIS: Peter, next year, let’s go somewhere more quiet, like Afghanistan

PETER: I was thinking more along the lines of New Orleans, but I heard they have some good new channels on Kabul TV.

LOIS: Don’t you mean cable TV?

PETER: That’s what they call it over there I guess…

.

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Scary results when a notary uses our letter from hell

Filed under: Loan Signing 101,Popular on Twitter 2011,Tips for Getting Paid — Tags: , , — admin @ 2:23 am

Scary results when a notary used our letter from hell 

We get complaints from notaries every single day who are not getting paid on time, or not getting paid at all.  Since I care deeply about this situation, I have networked with Carmen (who I work with), and a few other very seasoned notaries to create a system for getting paid which is almost foolproof.  Nothing is perfect, but this system is as good as it gets.
 
Please visit
How to make sure you get paid signing agent  
Our system starts with the notary background checking ALL companies they work for.  Asking for references, and checking the company on the BBB website is a must.  If you already accepted the job, you could cancel if they have a margin of a few hours.  Otherwise, take your chances.  Keeping faxes and work orders in order is critical, and keeping the stub from company checks is a life and death issue. This is all talked about in detail on the how to make sure you get paid page. Notaries need to fax fills regularly with all pertinent information on the fax.  But, if you did everything right and STILL didn’t get paid — there is the template of our demand letter.
 
A notary used our demand letter, and the company threatened her with a LAW SUIT!!!
Oh my gosh!  Is it really true?  Actually, the notary only sent a “watered down” version of our template letter, but the reaction was almost postal…  The notary stated that they repeatedly contacted the company by phone and email, but never got paid for various jobs done. Then, the notary said that they would take the following actions by a particular date if not paid:

a.         Notify the Attorney General of the details and circumstances of the occurrence.
b.         Notify the Secretary of the State of Texas to look into the matter
c.         Notify other notaries public of the details of non-payment.
d.         Register the details of the occurrence with the BBB.
 
The signing company got back to her and said…
 
I feel obligated at this time to inform you that Ck # 15533 for $45 cleared your bank on 7-11-11, presented on 7-8-11 for Account #134554 (for a particular name).  That was less than 13 days after i sent you the email asking you to do the notary job in the (name of town), TX area.  Your email is making libelous or slanderous threats against myself and my company for which you can be sued in civil court  (i.e. notifying others in the industry that I do not pay my bills).  I feel it is now my duty to report you to the Texas Notary Division of Austin for making such threats when I can prove that you were fully paid within 2 weeks of the service provided.  I will be forwarding a copy of this email to them immediately.   It is a shame that you did not do your own research regarding payment of this service, before making such libelous threats…. (name of owner),  (name of business)
 
My opinion
I think the notary should have listed the particular jobs that were not paid for, i.e. the names of the borrowers, loan numbers, addresses, etc. I think that the notary should have kept track of all payments and all of the check numbers of all payments in the past, so that she would know what that check was for, and if it even existed.  It is easy for signing companies to scam notaries by making up fake check numbers. Most notaries don’t keep good enough records to keep track of it all — but you have to — or you might never see your money…

Tweets:
(1) Carmen, a few seasoned notaries & I developed a fool proof method for getting paid every time no matter what!
(2) A notary used our almost foolproof letter from hell to request payment & the company threatened to sue her!
(3) Our scary demand letter threatens to report the late paying signing co to the SOS, Attorney General, DA & more!

You might also like:

Getting what is due! A clever plan!
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=3221

Protecting yourself with a contract
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=2593

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Credible Witnesses from A to Z

Filed under: Comprehensive Guides,Credible Witnesses — Tags: , , , , , , , — admin @ 1:51 am

Credible Witnesses from A to Z
 
What is a credible witness?
A credible witness, “CW”, or credible identifying witness is someone who can identify a signer at a notary signing.  The credible witness must know the signer and must know the signer’s name.  The witness should know the signer by having met many times in the past through different individuals.  Some states require that the credible witness always knows the notary as well, to create a chain of relationships, while others only require that the credible witness knows the notary if only one credible witness is used.  The credible witness should be an impartial party who does not have beneficial interest in the document
 
Which states allow the use of credible witnesses?
Many states allow credible witnesses, and we documented these states on a forum post
http://www.123notary.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4047.  To summarize: Virginia is a state that does not allow credible witnesses.  Most other states that we have information about do allow credible witnesses.
 
States that allow 1 Credible Witness
How many credible witnesses do you need to use in various states? What are the credible witness rules?
Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania and several other states allow the use of one CW that must be known to the notary, and must know the signer. 
 
States that allow 1 or 2 Credible Witnesses
California, Florida, and Georgia, among other states, allow the use of one CW if the witness is known to the notary and knows the signer; or two CW’s if the notary doesn’t know either of the witnesses.  These states are unique in that they offer a choice of using one or two credible witnesses.
 
States that allow 2 Credible Witnesses
Tennessee and Missouri allow the use of two credible witnesses to identify a signer.
 
Procedure
Credible Witness Rules can vary from state to state, but as a general rule, you should not use a credible witness unless there is no identification available.  In many cases, the identification available will have a different name variation on it, making it unacceptable to be used when signing documents that have a longer, or different name variation. Whether or not its legal to use credible witnesses in this type of situation is something to look up in your state’s notary manual.
 
The credible witness must SIGN the notary’s journal in California. Rules vary from state to state, so be knowledgeable about your particular state’s rules. The CW must raise their right hand and swear to the identity of the signer.  The CW must also have acceptable identification.  It is wise for the notary to record the CW’s address, ID#, and phone number in their journal. 
 
Common Uses
If a notary is doing a jail signing, inmates never have acceptable ID on them unless a visitor brings it.  When doing a jail signing, an attorney, relative, or friend of the inmate will normally meet you. Make sure they are going to bring the inmate’s ID and that the ID is current and state issued.
 
Hospital signings involve signers who are too elderly to drive in many instances.  These folks often don’t have current identification making the use of CW’s necessary.
 
If you notarize someone who lost their ID, or doesn’t have one becase they don’t drive, you might need credible witnesses. 
 
If the name variation on the document is slightly different from the name on the ID, you might check your state notary manual to see if using a credible witness in this situation is allowed.
 
Issues
A few notaries on our Facebook network have pointed out that many loan signings should not be done using credible witnesses.  One notary in Pennsylvania stated that for loans that require USA Patriot Act ID verification, credible witnesses should not be used.  Another notary in Florida points out that the CW is swearing to the fact that the signer does not have the acceptable identification documents and that it is difficult or impossible to find such documents.

Credible Witness Notary
There is no such thing as a credible witness notary, however you can be a notary that uses credible witnesses.  Just make sure you know how many credible witnesses to use.
 
Summary
After being a notary public in California for eight years, I found that 15% of my signings would not have been possible without the use of credible witnesses, among other “Plan B” type procedures.  Many notaries try to get through their career learning as little as possible about what they need to know to get the job done.  You will be letting future clients down if you are not an expert at credible witness procedures for your particular state.  You could be letting countless clients go high and dry if you don’t know this procedure. Please consult your state’s notary manual to learn exactly what all of the CW requirements (credible witness notary rules) are for your state.

You might also like:

Credible Witnesses – the process explained
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16695

Credible Witness Scenarios
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18911

Credible Witnesses – the ins and outs
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19634

Forum string: Credible Witnesses – the basics

Can a notary be a witness?

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