Return to table of contents for Notary Public 101.
.
NOTARY JOURNALS
Not all states require keeping an official journal of Notarial acts, but 123notary requires it as that is the only evidence you have should you go to court. There are identity thieves and cons all over the place. They might pretend to be a home owner to steal that person’s equity or con grandma into giving her fortune away to some crooks. If your notarization ever goes to court, your journal is the only record of what happened and who signed what, etc. Most Notaries think keeping a journal is an annoying task that they do because they have to. It is the same attitude that children have towards doing their homework at age seven. But, your journal can save your neck, and I know many whose hides have been saved who ended up in court.
.
ONE JOURNAL ENTRY PER PERSON PER DOCUMENT
Most Notaries think that you create one entry for each signer and then cram in the names of all of the documents you are notarizing. This is very sloppy. If you pick up five packages from FedEx, do you sign once or do you sign five times, each for a particular tracking number? If you keep one journal entry per person per document, then you have a signature proving consent to be notarized for each document you notarize. Additionally, you must name the particular and complete name of each document, and not just say “loan docs.”
.
INFORMATION
In your journal you write the date, time, type of notary act, name of document (the full name, no abbreviations or check boxes here please) and the document date. You need to record the name, address, and ID of the signer as well. Then the signature, thumbprint and notary fee. Let’s focus on the document information in this section though. You need to record the:
Full name of the document, not an abbreviation.
Document Date — many documents have a document date inscribed within that is an arbitrary date created by the document drafter. It could be the date the document was drafted, or the date it was intended to be signed, or a random arbitrary date.
Other distinguishing factors — if you are signing multiple documents with the same name such as Deeds of Trust, Grant Deeds, etc., you need to differentiate them somehow. Escrow numbers, names of grantors, grantees, APN numbers, property addresses, number of pages, or anything else can help identify a document after the fact in case you end up in court.
Signatures — each line of your journal needs to be signed by the corresponding person. If John and Sally are each signing three notarized documents, then John gets entry 1, 2, and 3 while sally gets 4, 5, and 6. Each signer must sign their three entries otherwise the entries are meaningless.
Thumbprints — I am skipping mentioning more about the other things that belong in a journal as most Notaries get it, however, few Notaries keep thumbprints. Your journal thumbprint is the one piece of evidence the FBI will ask for when they come knocking on your front door. Additionally, it discourages fraud as fraudulent people do not want to be thumbprinted.
Other Information — Although I am skipping elaborating about the other journal fields, I will make a quick note about the additional information section in a journal. That leaves space for information about credible witnesses, subscribing witnesses, unusual facts about the signers, the location, or the circumstances in which you are signing. If the signer claims that they are being kidnapped, write that down in the additional information section of your journal, then call the police. If the signer has a weird neck tattoo, you might need to remember that in court. Put it in your journal. The judge will think you are a very thorough Notary.
.
FINAL NOTE
The purpose of journals is not only to please your state’s Secretary of State, but also to please judges and FBI agents. Keeping a clean, correct and thorough journal will make a positive impression on the authorities and could keep you from being named as a suspect if God forbid you ever unknowingly Notarize an identity thief, fraud, or otherwise bad person. Notaries don’t get in trouble that often, but for those who make a career out of being a Notary, eventually you will be investigated at least once and perhaps end up in court, so keep your paperwork in order so the investigation is fast and smooth. Otherwise you might end up in court for a very long time — no joke! Roughly 1/7 of the Notaries on our site have ended up in court due to something that they notarized.
.
I have always completed every thing in my journal. I have no desire to go to court but if I do I want to be done as quickly as possible. I also make it a habit to get a thumb print for every notarial act.
I notarized a rental agreement yesterday and had to attach an Acknowledgment Certificate. I got a thumb print in my journal and in the certificate.
Comment by Harroll V. Chisom — September 17, 2018 @ 10:19 pm
Great article!! I always fill in the title, or as much of the title as to identify it–“To Be Filled In Personally by Borrower Indemnity as to Defts, Liens, Possession”–I always fill in the signing location if it differs from the ID address. I had a inkless thumbprinter, but I never used it until I read Your article on thumbprinting. The only county in IL that requires thumbprinting in a journal is Cook County, too far for me drive to for regular signings, so I do tell signers that it is optional. I have had two refusals, but most signers have a good time and good story for their next party. I figure that it is better for them to do so bc it provides an additional piece of evidence against property fraud.
Comment by betty — March 5, 2019 @ 4:43 pm
Does anyone have a picture of the inside of your notary journal to share how it should be complete?
Comment by Pamala Wilson — September 23, 2019 @ 4:09 pm