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February 2, 2024

Common Notary Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Filed under: Notary Mistakes — Tags: — Tom Wilkins @ 12:00 am

In the realm of legal transactions, the role of a notary is paramount. Whether you’re a homeowner finalizing the purchase of your dream home or a business owner executing critical contracts, the presence of a notary ensures the legality and integrity of these important moments. However, notaries are human and, like anyone, can make mistakes. Recognizing and avoiding common notary mistakes is key to ensuring that your transactions proceed without a hitch. Let’s dive into some of these pitfalls and how to avoid them.

1. Failing to Identify Signatories Properly

One of the most critical roles of a notary is to verify the parties’ identity in a transaction. Common mistakes include not checking identification thoroughly or accepting expired IDs. To avoid this, always insist on current, government-issued identification with a photo, signature, and physical description.

2. Neglecting to Record Entries in the Notary Journal

A notary’s journal is an official record of notarial acts and protects the notary and the signatories. Skipping entries or not detailing the transaction accurately is a mistake that can lead to legal complications. Ensure every act is recorded promptly and in detail.

3. Improper Use of Notary Seals

The misuse or improper storage of notary seals can lead to unauthorized use and fraud. Notaries must secure their seals and only use them when performing an official act. Remember, your seal is your responsibility.

4. Overstepping Notarial Boundaries

Notaries are not legal advisors. Offering legal advice or explaining the contents of a document oversteps the boundaries of the notary’s role and can lead to legal repercussions. If asked for advice, the best practice is to direct the individual to seek legal counsel.

5. Incomplete or Incorrect Notarization

Missing information, such as the date, location of notarization, or signatory details, can invalidate a document. Likewise, using the wrong notarial certificate or wording can lead to a document being challenged. Always double-check your work for completeness and accuracy.

6. Not Understanding State-Specific Laws

Notary laws vary from state to state, and not being up-to-date with your state’s requirements can lead to mistakes. Continuous education and reference to state notary manuals are essential to stay compliant.

7. Ignoring the Signer’s Willingness and Awareness

A notary must ensure that signers are willing and aware of what they are signing, free from coercion or impairment. Ignoring signs of reluctance or confusion can question the validity of the notarization.

How to Avoid These Mistakes

Avoiding these common notary mistakes starts with education and diligence. Stay informed about your state’s notary laws, attend refresher courses, and always adhere to the best practices of your profession. Furthermore, utilize resources like the FedEx drop-off service for secure document handling, ensuring that your notarial acts are completed with legal integrity and efficiency.

Ensuring Legal Integrity in Every Transaction

Elevating your notarial expertise involves being vigilant about common notary mistakes and taking proactive steps to avoid them. By thoroughly verifying identities, meticulously maintaining your notary journal, correctly using your notary seal, staying within your legal boundaries, ensuring the completeness and accuracy of every notarization, understanding state-specific laws, and respecting the signer’s willingness and awareness, you safeguard the legal integrity of every transaction. Homeowners and business owners alike depend on this diligence for the seamless execution of their most critical documents. Remember, knowledge and attentiveness are your best tools for avoiding these pitfalls and upholding the trust placed in you as a notary.

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January 9, 2022

Which rules are laws, Lender practices, or best practices?

Filed under: Loan Signing 101 — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 9:24 am

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Notary Rules or Industry Rules?

It is confusing with all the standards in the Notary business. When 123notary teaches Notary practices, we are not teaching laws, but solid practices. Many Notaries argue with us about our practices because they are not required by law. That is the whole point — we are not teaching law because we are not authorized to, and because we don’t know it. We do know solid notary practices, and teach it as you can get into trouble for not knowing your basics. However, notaries have many misconceptions about the rules of the industry. So, let me clarify.

1. You can always over sign — industry practice (not a law)
Is this a Notary law, industry practice, or what? This statement means that you can sign a document with a name that is longer than the name typed in the signature line. However, that does not make it legal to notarize that longer name unless you can prove the name with an ID. Pleasing the Lender is one aspect of being a Notary. Obeying the law is a much more important one. If you displease the Lender you get fired. If you get in trouble with the law you can end up in jail. Pick your poison.

2. The name on the ID has to match
Please keep in mind that there are four names we have to keep track of:
(a) The name on the ID
(b) The name typed on the signature section of the document.
(c) The name signed on the document
(d) The name on the acknowledgment.

In theory these names could all be different variations, but it is cleaner if they are identical. The critical points are that:

(e) The name on the Acknowledgment must be identical or matching but shorter than the name on the signature line of the document. If the signature on the document says John W Smith, you can put John Smith or John W Smith in the Acknowledgment to please the law, but the shorter name might not please the client.
(f) The name on the Acknowledgment must be provable based on the name on the ID, but does not have to be an exact match. The ID could say John W Smith and you can put John Smith in the Acknowledgment if you like.
(g) The name signed on the document can be identical or matching but longer than the name typed on the document to please most Lenders, but legally notarizing the longer signature or shorter signature is dependent on proving all of the components of their name with an ID.

3. The Lender is the boss of the Notary Public (true for signings, but not for the actual notary work)
The Lender is your boss as to the general assignment, and what happens with loan documents. They are NOT your boss about Notary issues and you should not ask them for Notary advice ever as they might have you do something illegal out of ignorance or greed. You ask your state’s notary division if you have a Notary question and perhaps the NNA hotline and that’s it. The Notary can ask the Lender their preference in how something is notarized if there is more than one legal way to do it, but you can not ask a Lender how to do your job. You are the appointed Notary, not them. If they want to do it their way, they should come over with their stamp and do it their way which hopefully is legal — but, it is their commission at stake if it is not legal. Don’t risk your commission depending on the Lender or Title for Notary advice.

4. The Notary is the boss of the Lender?
The Notary is a state appointed official who represents their state, although the state is not the entity that pays them. If there is a discussion between the Lender and the Notary as to how a Notary act is done, the Notary dictates how it should be done. If there are multiple legal ways to do something such as fixing a mistake by crossing out and initialing vs. attaching a loose certificate — then, the Notary can ask for the Lender’s preference, but not for advice. However, there are liability issues with doing cross outs and initialing. It looks like tampering and you don’t want to end up in court. So, once again, it is the Notary’s discretion as to how problems are solved when there are multiple methods to solve. You can ask the Lender what they like or you can dictate to the Lender what you are going to do. But, the Notary is the boss of Notary work. If they don’t like it, they can find another Notary. It is best if you explain the reasons why you want to do something a particular way. If your reason sounds prudent, there is a chance you might get some respect for your decision. Most Notaries don’t think issues out carefully and do not have well thought out reasons for anything they do. Read our course more and become reasonable! Your commission might depend on it.

5. Send me a loose certificate or jurat in the mail (illegal)
Acknowledgment or Jurat certificates must be stapled to the documents they are associated with. If there is one floating around, you cannot create another one until you destroy the original yourself. Some states do not allow creating new certificates for botched notarizations and require you to do the notarization all over again. Consult your notary handbook on this issue, especially in California where there are many new rules created in the last few years that I have heard about but not actually read to my satisfaction.

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January 6, 2022

A tale of four notaries in hospitals

Filed under: Hospital & Jail Signings — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 8:09 am

This was originally published many years ago.

 A tale of four notaries and their adventures at hospitals.
 
Hospital notarizations are very tricky and there is a lot that can go wrong. We have several resource pages regarding hospital notarizations to steer notaries away from pitfalls.  The characters in this story are NOT based on real characters, but each one of them has either a single attitude or attribute that is similar to a real person that I am acquainted with.  This silly story will show how each notary fared and how their way of thinking worked in the long run.  The various notaries include an Arkansas notary, an Illinois notary, a Florida notary, and a Pennsylvania notary public.
 
(1) Jeremy Blunt, a notary in Arkansas was called to do a hospital notarization in Little Rock on the following day.  Jeremy, with his blunt, but thorough manner told them, “Make sure to tell the nurses not to drug the patient within eight hours of the signing.”.  The caregiver, who was happy to have a thorough notary, overlooked Jeremy’s blunt manner and was very willing to coordinate a temporary lapse in morphine, so that the signer (an elderly relative) would be able to sign the papers.  Jeremy called an hour before the signing to have the caregiver read the ID information to him, and had the caregiver verify that the signer had not been drugged recently, was awake and able to conversate, and wouldn’t be drugged until after the notarization, and that the nurses had been informed.  The caregiver was standing next to the bedridden signer to MAKE SURE that no intravenus drugs were given.
 
Jeremy arrives at the signing with his notary bag, records the ID in his journal, gets a signature in his journal and the document(s), fills out the certificate form(s), stamps them, affixes his official Arkansas notary seal, staples the documents together, and is done.  Jeremy gets his fee, thanks everyone in a very blunt way, and leaves.  The signers say, “That Jeremy gets the job done — he’s a bit blunt, but polite, and he saved our rear ends big time!!!  That OTHER notary let us down.  Thank god for good notaries!”
 
(2) Linda Liberty, a notary in Illinois was called to do a hospital notarization in Chicago the following day.  Since she had a strict policy of not butting into anyone’s medical business, not asking questions, and minding her own business, she omitted to ask the caregiver if the signer was on medication.  After, all thats NONE OF MY BUSINESS!  The next day, she gets to the hospital, the caregiver says, “Thank you for coming”.  Linda politely says, “Its my pleasure to serve the public wholeheartedly”.  Linda goes to the hospital room where the patient / signer is.  The patient is high on morphine and in a stupor, barely able to keep his eyes open. Linda says, “Sorry, but according to Illinois notary laws, I am not authorized to notarize someone who is not capable of thinking or communicating coherently.  I can not notarize this person in this condition, ID or no ID.  The caregiver (the daughter of the signer) said, gee, thats too bad.  Linda says, my travel fee is $60 for hospitals please.  The daughter says, “BUT, YOU DIDN”T DO ANYTHING”.  Linda Liberty says, “Excuse me, but I drove an hour and a half here in traffic, paid a toll for the bridge, sat here talking to you for twenty minutes, paid $15 for gas, and have an hour drive home. I did quite a bit and I want to get paid!!!”  The daughter said, sorry, but we can not pay you.  We are very sorry.
 
(3) Ralph Machiavelli, a notary in Florida (no relation to Niccolo… at least not by blood), got a call to do a signing of a power of attorney in a hospital in Tampa.  The power of attorney would be for the signer’s son in law to take over all of his banking and real estate transactions. Ralph had lots of experience and thought ahead.  This Florida notary public had had his fingers burned a few times and knew the techniques for keeping out of trouble and getting paid.  Ralph told the client that he collects a $75 travel fee at the door BEFORE he sees the signer.  He, then charges $10 per for stamp for an acknowledged signature which is the maximum allowed fee in Florida.  The son in law of the signer agreed, and they set the appointment for the next day at 10am.
 
Ralph gets to the appointment.  Collects his travel fee in CASH, and says, “Thank you very much”.  Lets see the signer now.  The two of them proceed to walk down the long corridor, around some bends, up an elevator, down another corridor, past a nurse station, to the left, to the right, and then into a room.  They found the signer was drugged, sleeping, and in no condition to sign or even talk.  The son in law tried to wake the signer up.  The signer eventually woke up after twenty minutes of blinking and saying, “mmmmmmm?”.   Ralph said, can you ask dad to sign this form?  The son in law said, I’ll try.  After twenty additional minutes of wasting time (a result of the medication), the son in law said, its no use, they drugged him this morning.  Maybe I have my $75 back?  Ralph says, “I’m sorry, but in addition to traveling, I spent forty minutes here waiting for your signer to sign something.  This was a complete waste of time.  Next time please make sure your dad is ready to sign at the appointed time. That means…. NO DRUGS”.  Ralph returns home with his money.  He pleasures himself with a nice baby back rib dinner, and then returns home.
 
(4) Sharisse Washington, Pennsylvania Notary Public at large, doesn’t stand for this type of nonsense or bluntness that happened in the above three stories.  She has thirty years of experience, and carries a handheld database of how to handle each situation with all its variations and pitfalls.  Sharisse minds her p’s and q’s, dots her i’s and crosses her t’s.  She informs everybody in a polite way, and doesn’t put herself in a position that anything will go wrong either.   This notary in Pennsylvania gets a call to go to a Philadelphia hospital to do a notarization the next day.  She politely asks the client if they have an ID for the signer.  She asks if they could read the ID to her, so that she can verify that they have the ID, and that its current.  She asks if the patient EVER recieves medication or is likely to receive it during the day of the signing. She asks if its possible that they could provide a “WINDOW OF TIME”, where they could be sure that the signer wasn’t going to be drugged.  She asks what the name and type of the document is.  She asks if it is in their possession and if they can read the document to her (so, she can verify that they really have it).  After she asks all of the questions on her database’s check list, the cordially thanks the client for answering her questions and assures them that she will be at the hospital lobby at 10am the following day. 
 
This Pennsylvania Notary calls at 9am to verify that they have the identification handy and that the signer is not drugged. Sharisse shows up at the hospital at 9:55 just to be on the safe side.  The client is there, thanks her for being early.  They go up to the room.  The signer is awake, sober, and conversational.  The signer signs the document and journal. Its a bit if a struggle being old and being weak, but the signer does it… because she is sober and awake… and sober…not drugged.   Sharisse does all of the remaining necessary paperwork, thanks everybody, collects her fee, and is off to her next appointment which she allowed a sufficient amount of time to get to.
 
Now that you have read how each of these four notaries handled a hospital job, its up to you to decide how you want to handle this type of job. Remember, that hospital and jail notary jobs and many more potential pitfalls and things that can go wrong than a regular office or home notary job.  Do your homework, be polite and stay out of trouble, and that way, you will be able to make a living. Otherwise, it is you who will be sorry.

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Power of Attorney in a nursing home
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Do you like your job? A story of being kept waiting forever at a hospital.
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=617

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January 1, 2022

Who is the authority at a Notary Loan Signing?

Filed under: Loan Signing 101 — Tags: , , — admin @ 10:13 pm

Originally published several years ago.

Notary Public Authority

We often ask questions about authority to signing agents, and the results are horrifying. Most Notaries do not know who is in charge of what. So, this article will sum it up clearly.

Notary Public
A Notary Public is a state appointed state official who is paid by customers, but whose “boss” or authority is the state Notary division. Many Notaries Public seem to be confused as to who their boss is, the one paying them or the one commissioning them. The problem is further complicated by the fact that the ones paying them often pay them for more than just Notary services as travel, pick up, drop off, and supervision of non-notarized signatures and packages seem to be part of the deal if you are a Signing Agent.

The Notary is the sole authority regarding what goes in a Notary certificate such as an Acknowledgment, Jurat, etc., what goes in the journal, what is allowed or not allowed, and how a notarization should be done.

It is common that Notaries have questions during a loan signing and direct those questions to the Lender or Title representative. This is okay for Title or Lending questions, but not for Notary questions where the Notary may only turn for help to their state Notary division, official Notary handbook, or perhaps the NNA hotline.

Notaries should NOT ask the Lender for Notary advice because:
1. The Lender is probably not a Notary
2. If the Lender is a Notary they might be in a different state
3. If the Lender is a Notary and in the same state they might not be knowledgeable.
4. If the Lender is a Notary, in the same state, and knowledgeable, they might (are likely to) give you advice that would make the job go more smoothly for them, yet have tremendous liability for you.
5. You are the one appointed to the job, so even if the person you are asking for advice is a Notary, they are not the one whose commission number gets put on the certificate, and you are the one going to jail if something goes wrong. Therefor, you have to know your laws and what you can and cannot do, etc.

Who can initial and where?
Any initials on a Notary certificate are done exclusively by the Notary Public. It looks like tampering if the borrower or anyone else makes marks on a Notary certificate. The borrower may initial documents, but not the Notary certificate or Notary section in or attached to a notarized document

The Lender
The Lender is the “boss” of what happens with loan documents. If the Lender authorizes a change, initialing, cross outs, etc., on an actual loan document that is NOT in the notary section, that is up to them and they are the authority on that matter, not the Notary. The minute the issue becomes with a Notary certificate, then the authority swings over to the Notary (even if the Notary doesn’t have a clue what to do.)

The Title Officer
The appointed Title company might be a good source of information about how to handle any issues that might come up with Title documents or recorded documents. You can ask them if you have questions, but don’t let them answer Notary questions.

Issues of Preference can be asked to the Lender
Sometimes there is more than one legal way to handle a situation. If there is an error on a preprinted Acknowledgment, and your state allows a choice of crossing out & initialing vs. using a fresh Acknowledgment form, you have a choice. The Notary has the right to make that choice on his/her own and choose the option that he/she feels is more prudent or ask the Lender. However, this is a situation where the Notary can ask the Lender not for advice, but for preference. If the Lender would prefer a loose Acknowledgment stapled on to the document rather than crossing out & initialing the original form, the Notary can proceed accordingly.

The Borrower
The borrower has the right to sign, not sign, tell you where to park and more. Their preferences matter as well.

Your State
Your state Notary division decides what the laws are in your state, how they are explained or document in your official Notary handbook, etc. They are your boss, so you do whatever they say. Additionally, if you are weak on your Notary knowledge, that can lead to ending up in court as a witness, having your commission revoked, suspended or terminated. Additionally, it is possible to be convicted of a crime if you are thought to be involved in property related fraud, or if you filled out a form stating that an Oath was taken when in fact it was never taken which is a daily fraud that most Notaries engage in that is unacceptable.
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http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19483

13 ways to get sued as a Notary
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November 18, 2021

Notary almost loses commission over botched Oath

Filed under: Notary Mistakes — admin @ 8:50 am

A Notary in Maine was talking to me a while back. She said that she gave an Oath rather than giving a choice of an Oath or Affirmation. The Maine Secretary of State threatened to take her notary commission away if she made that mistake again.

I learned this because I gave her a phone quiz. I asked her to give me an Oath for a document that said, “I love starbucks double shot” (which incidentally is not sold in stores currently due to supply chain issues.)

She offered me a choice of an Oath or Affirmation after I had requested an Oath. That is similar to a customer ordering coffee, and then the waiter asking if he wants coffee or tea. He just said that he wanted COFFEE.

The signer has the legal right to choose the Notary act, not the Notary. So, if someone chooses an Oath, then give them their Oath. Most signers are clueless and don’t know what to choose – in that case, offer them a choice.

Would you like an Oath or Affirmation?
Affirmation

Would you like cream or sugar in your affirmation?
Soy milk please.

See how easy that was.

What most people do, including in court these days is to say, “Do you solemnly swear or affirm that…..” This verbiage includes both acts in one, so you don’t have to offer a choice. However, if someone asks for an Oath, and then you say, “Swear or affirm” you are overriding their choice of an Oath, and still offering them a choice after they very clearly made their choice.

But, take this seriously, because if you goof, you could lose your commission.

SUMMARY
1. Give the signer a choice of notary acts if they haven’t chosen.
2. Don’t override their choice if they already chose.
3. Bring soy creamer just in case.

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May 6, 2021

Can a person swear on behalf of another person

Filed under: Technical & Legal — admin @ 10:45 am

If John has power of attorney for Sue, can he swear under Oath for Sue? No, he can’t. But, he can sign documents on Sue’s behalf.

To sum it up, he can swear at Sue, for not swear for Sue.

This is an issue doing loan signings involving Powers of Attorney. Most of these signings have Affidavits that need to be sworn to. So, the agent swears to them. And that is that.

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May 2, 2021

What to do if your seal’s impression was not good

Filed under: Technical & Legal — admin @ 10:18 am

There are various ways and reasons why a seal’s impression might not be perfect. Please note that county recorders are sometimes very picky about a seal being perfect with no missing corners and not too light or dark, or God forbid smudgy.

If you over-ink your stamp it could get smudgy easily. And if you are running low on ink, your stamp might be too dry. So, find that happy medium inking your seal.

There are several ways to remedy a smudgy or bad seal impression.

1. Get a fresh certificate form and start over.
This is the cleanest. But, if your client wants the original document notarized on original paperwork and no stapled certificates, you can always… (see next option)

2. Re-affix your seal below or near the original seal. Make sure the seals do not overlap. I mentioned this to the seals basking at La Jolla Beach in San Diego — they were lounging on top of each other. I told them that is against Notary law. They said, “We’re not that kind of seals — ar ar ar…”

3. DO NOT try to fix or repair the original seal impression. It will look tampered with and that would constitute tampering. It would look very suspicious and odd.

4. Do a practice exercise on a spare piece of paper and shred it once you are done. That way you can make sure your seal is not too runny, and that your wrist has the right technique.

5. Print out a new document, shred the original, resign and re-stamp. That is yet another option.

So, now you know how to solve one of the earliest problems known to mankind. If you know which came first — the chicken or the egg, and how to fix a botched stamp, then grasshopper, you are ready to go out into the world.

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April 30, 2021

Jeremy’s guide to different types of signatures

Filed under: Technical & Legal — admin @ 10:09 am

In my career I saw a bunch of odd signatures. Most of what I saw was normal though. Here are the types of signatures I saw.

1. Regular looking signatures
Some had a middle initial or name(s), some did not.

2. Odd scribbles

3. Scribbles that were as tall as they were wide — reminds me of Arabic calligraphy. My comment was, “What IS this?”

4. Hieroglyphics
I once went to an Egyptian restaurant. The menu was in English, but I’ll give you a hint as to what language the inflated bill was written in.

5. Chinese characters
The signature on the ID matched the ID although his English name did not match the characters. I think I am at an advantage as I can recognize Chinese characters, but not all of them. Anyway, the signer was one hell of a character himself speaking of characters.

6. The Israeli Job
Remember that action movie, “The Italian Job.” I did an Israeli job. This guy was in the film business and his signature was a horizontal line that turned into a check mark and then a weird dot above the end of it. How bizarre. He insisted that he signed million dollar deals with that signature. If I knew any Hebrew I would say, “Ma-Zei?” (what is this?)

7. The childish signature
Some people write out their signature in very clear letters like children do. I have seen old folks do this too. Very bizarre and illiterate looking. But, then the new generation doesn’t know cursive anymore so I’ve heard.

8. The X
Incapacitated people and illiterates sometimes sign with an X. They need subscribing witnesses to help with that procedure and you better study up before you try it.

9. A thumbprint
I have never heard of this. But, I heard that a Notary in Florida accepted a thumbprint as a signature during a signature by mark signing. Not sure if that is legal there, but I heard they did it.

10. The artwork signature
Other signatures look like some sort of artwork you would see in embroidery. This is unusual, but if it happens it will most likely be a woman’s signature.

11. The bubbly dots on the i’s.
Teenage girls and young women sometimes do this. This is how I caught someone who forged my signature. It only happened once, but the bubbly i’s gave it away. This woman didn’t cross her i’s and dot her t’s, she bubbled her i’s and forged her t’s.

12. The large initials
I am not sure how legal that is, but if it matches the ID, I guess that works

13. The 1800’s wax seal
In the old days they would use a personal stamp and candle wax to make their seal. I’m not sure if they would sign it as well. Wax can fall off a lot easier than a signature. Those were the days.

14. The Arabic signature
He signed the wrong direction, but in their culture, right to left is the right direction.

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April 18, 2021

Ooops! Errors that Notaries make that courses don’t cover

Filed under: Technical & Legal — admin @ 8:06 am

Here are a few dumb mistakes Notaries make that courses might not address.

1. Missing signatures, dates or initials.

2. Sending the package back to the wrong Mortgage company.

3. Forgetting to send the package and finding it in your trunk three days after the fact only to find out that the borrower lost their lock as a result.

4. Forgetting to confirm the appointment and finding nobody home when you get to the destination.

5. Not making sure all signing parties are there only to find out that the wife is at work an hour away.

6. Not printing out the whole package.

7. Not having the correct printing or downloading software downloaded.

8. Telling the signer you will be there in 10 minutes and then showing up two hours later with some lame excuse

9. Answering all questions with a snow job trying to cover up the fact that you are new and know almost nothing. This just makes you look annoying in addition to being new. At least you could be a straight forward new person with dignity.

10. Not reading the directions sheet (if there is one) at the top of the package. You could get fired for that.

Common mistakes the borrowers make include letting their cat or dog scratch you or bite you. when they put their dog on the other side of a closed door, have you ever noticed that door always seems to open several minutes later only to create a scene? Some borrowers also read forever and didn’t go over the critical facts with their lenders. Other borrowers don’t have a table to sign on — and that is a serious issue.

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April 16, 2021

Trick questions — you already gave them a choice

Filed under: Technical & Legal — admin @ 8:00 am

I have a trick question in one of my email quizzes. In the question, the affiant requests an Oath for a document about whether he likes Starbucks or not. It is a sort of a nonsense Oath, but goes over some critical knowledge about Oaths as silly as it sounds.

The answers have to do with the first words the Notary should say when administering the Oath. Some of the answers include:

1. You should ask if the signer wants an Oath or Affirmation
2. Do you swear or affirm that…

These particular answers (and there are about seven total answers to this question to see who really knows their stuff and who is guessing or fudging.) reveal a lot. The signer already request an Oath, so you have already fulfilled your obligation to let the signer choose what type of notarization they want. So you don’t have to ask again what type of Notary act they want. If you answered 1 or 2, you are being redundant and those answers are therefore not good answers. You should then say,

“Do you solemnly swear that you love Starbucks?”

They should raise their right hand and say, “yes” or “I do.”

The purpose of this question is to see who thinks straight and who does not. People who have illogical thinking are not the best people to hire. On the other hand, I recently learned that people who ignore emails are even riskier to hire because they are negligent by definition!

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