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January 25, 2011

The man who wouldn’t use his middle initial

Filed under: Legal Issues,Technical & Legal — Tags: Identity Fraud, Middle Initial in a Signature, Middle Initials, Refinance signing — admin @ 10:21 pm

Once upon a time, there was a man who didn’t want to sign with his middle initial.

This man was very uncomfortable using his middle initial and protested vehemently.

He wanted to use his regular signature to protect himself from identity fraud. He felt that signing in a slightly different way would make him succeptable to identity fraud.

During the initial signing, he was forced against his will to sign with his middle initial. This was during the time when he was doing a purchase on the property. Then, several years later on the refinance signing, the notary explained how he wouldn’t get his money if he didn’t sign with his middle initial.

No initial — No $200,000 — it’s that simple.

So, after a little coaxing, the signer did what the notary asked, and signed using his middle initial, and all went well.

And everyone lived happily ever after

The End!

Comments (1)

January 18, 2011

Notarizing For a Minor — Identification!

Filed under: Identification For Being Notarized,Legal Issues,Technical & Legal — admin @ 9:17 pm

It is not that common to notarize the signature of a minor, but at some point you might be asked to. A minor who needs to be notarized must be positively identified just like everyone else even thought their signature is not legally binding. But, if you need a notary for a minor — what type of identification can they get? The DMV can issue them a state ID card if they are not licensed to drive yet. If they are old enough to drive, you could get a drivers license. Another possibility is to go to the Post Office and apply for a passport which is another acceptable type of identification for being notarized. One benefit of passports is that they are valid for ten years while state issued ID’s are generally only good for four or five years!

So, if you are asked to notarize a minor, you can give the parents a tutorial about acceptable types of identification for their benefit! And remember — when notarizing a minor, please document in your journal that the signer is under 18 — and you might also document their exact age as well! Be professional when you do an “underage notarization”! Do it right!

Comments (2)

Notarizing an I-9 employment verification document

Filed under: Legal Issues,Popular on Twitter 2011,Popular Overall,Technical & Legal — Tags: Can a notary notarize an I-9?, Immigration Notary, Is it legal to notarize an I-9, Notarize, Notarizing an I-9 — admin @ 8:14 am

Have you ever notarized an I-9 before? If it were me, I would ask an Attorney, the Secretary of State, or Immigration if a notary public could notarize this form. If you are a notary, the most important thing to do is to clarify that you are NOT an Attorney, and can not give legal advice. Also clarify that you are not an immigration expert and can not advise on matters pertaining to immigration either.

But, it is not generally illegal to notarize a signature on a document.

Have any of you had to notarize an I-9 before?
How about a K-9?

Tweets:
(1) Ask an Attorney if a Notary can notarize an I-9 employment verification document.

Comments (5)

December 24, 2010

Notary Public: Just Say No #3

Filed under: Legal Issues,Popular on Facebook (A little),Popular on Twitter 2010,Popular Overall 2010,Technical & Legal — Tags: acknowledgment certificate, Certificate wording in a document, just say no, loose certificates, no3, notarize a photograph, Notary Certificate, stapling notary certificate, You can not notarize a photograph — admin @ 8:40 am

Just say no 3
Notaries need to know what to do and what not to do. Although rules change across state lines, here are some basic rules to think about.

Staples anyone?
Many states require that the notary certificate be attached to the document. Many companies will get mad at you for stapling their deed of trust together. But pages can easily be switched without a staple. Attach is one particular formal way of saying staple. There doesn’t seem to be any other way to “attach” a certificate to a document.

Leaving loose certificates
Once again, certificates can not be sent without the document they correspond to. If you notarize a document, the certificate wording should either be embedded in the document, or on an “attached” form. If you are asked to send another “Jurat” (by this, people really might mean acknolwedgment certificate) in the mail. You need to ask the company to send the document so you can attach it. They they say, “Oh, come on”. Tell them that if they want their “jurat” you need the original document otherwise they could attach it to anything.

New pages in a document?
If a signer had a document notarized and has a new page that they want notarized, you need to notarize the document all over again despite their whining. You can not notarize individual pages of a multi-page document.

Notarizing a photograph?
You can not notarize a photograph. If you have a document regarding a photograph, you can staple the photo to the document and notarize the document. You could even put an embosser halfway through the photo with the other half going through the document as its attached to the document.

Notarizing before the signer signs?
Don’t save time by filling out the notary forms before the signer shows up. If you affix your notarial seal before the signer has signed the document and your journal, you have committed a crime. Just wait until all the other necessary steps are complete and then fill out the wording and affix your seal.

Beneficial interest?
If you are mentioned in a document, or are closely related to a person who is mentioned in a document, that can constitute beneficial interest. If you derive a benefit from a document being signed, that is definately beneficial interest. One of our notaries informs us that if you only get paid as a notary if a particular document gets signed, then you have beneficial interest. Get your travel fees at the door before you figure out if you are doing to notarize a document. If the ID is not good, or the signer is drugged at a hospital, you will feel motivated to try to find a way to notarize that person if you haven’t been paid. That is actually a very common type of beneficial conflict of interest that invovles notaries on a daily basis.

Notarizing yourself?
Don’t notarize yourself. You can not notarize your own signature no matter what in any state. The whole purpose of a notary is that they verify other people’s signatures.

Tweets:
(1) It is illegal to notarize something without making sure the certificate is attached!
(2) If you are adding a new page to a document, do you need to notarize the whole thing all over again?
(3) Some notaries save time by notarizing before the signer signs! This is illegal!

You might also like:

Notary Etiquette from A to Z

Just say no article 2
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=225

13 ways to get sued as a notary
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19614

Compilation of posts about Notary fraud
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21527

Comments (2)

November 29, 2010

Just Say No Article #2

Filed under: Just Say No!,Legal Issues,Technical & Legal — Tags: Immigration Documents, Immigration Notary, just say no, just say no2, unauthorized practice of law — admin @ 12:02 am

Assisting with Immigration issues
If you are not an immigration expert, don’t answer immigration questions and don’t advertise yourself as an immigration expert. However, notaries are allowed to notarize many types of immigration documents. Just don’t give advice.

Assisting with legal advice
If asked for legal advice, if you are not an attorney, please refrain from giving legal advice as it might constitute unauthorized practice of law. Drafting legal documents, i.e. documents to be used in court or submitted to a judge or attorney could constitute legal advice or service (unauthorized practice of law) in many states. Don’t even offer to recommened particular notary procedures for their document, as that also could constitute unauthorized practice of law.

Backdating
Putting a date on a document’s notary certificate section that is previous to the current date is considered backdating and is illegal. Don’t backdate. Many signing companies will ask you to backdate when they are in a pinch and will lose their lock on the borrower’s loan. That is their problem, not yours. If you backdate you could lose your commission if you get caught. It is a misdemeanor in many states to ask a notary to commit fraud, so you can report a company that asks you or coerces you into backdating.

Don’t make notarial recommendations
Customers always ask what type of notarization they should get. You are not allowed to tell them in many states. You can describe the attributes of the various types of notarizations and ask what the document custodian would like too. Just don’t make recommendations.

Letting your boss review your journal
Your boss can not inspect your journal on their own. However, if you are present, then its okay if your boss inspects the journal. The notary should not let the public see journal entries unrelated to their specific business. Its best to make a copy of the journal entry that blocks out other entries to protect the privacy of the others who you notarized. If not all of the notarizations are related to your boss, it would be better if you make a copy of the journal entry in question rather than letting the boss look at the whole journal while you are there.

Blanks?
Don’t notarize a document with blanks in it. The blanks must somehow be filled in or crossed out. Otherwise you must decline from notarizing that document.

Lock up your seal and journal
Not all states require a seal and journal, but these instruments are the exclusive property of the notary and must be kept under lock and key. Don’t let others use them or you can get in big trouble, and so can the person who used them.

Don’t notarize parts of documents
If you are handed page three of a long document, you can not notarize it as a separate entity. Documents must be in their complete form to be notarized. Don’t only notarize the last page of a document — the page that contains the certificate wording either.

Failure to emboss?
Its not required by law to emboss pages, but if you choose to emboss every page of every document you notarized, it becomes difficult to substitute pages of documents without getting caught. Embossers leave a raised seal that can not be photocopied, so you will be detering a lot of funny business using an embosser.

You might also like:

Notaries that fail and what they did wrong!

Everything you need to know about journals

13 ways to get sued as a notary
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19614

Comments (0)

August 2, 2010

Typical things notaries do wrong

Filed under: Just Say No!,Legal Issues,Notary Mistakes,Technical & Legal — Tags: just say no, things notaries do wrong, wrong — admin @ 4:17 am

Typical things notaries do wrong.
Notaries do many things incorrectly, particalar inexperienced, or unschooled notaries. Clients will ask you to do all sorts of things. Some things are merely unorthodox, while others are purely illegal. Here are some things that notaries do wrong.

Copies of vital records
From time to time, a notary is asked to notarize a certified copy of a vital record such as a birth certificate, marriage or death certificate. This is not legal, and not recommended. It is legal, but not recommended to do what is called a copy certification by document custodian. This notary act is a glorified Jurat, where the individual who is in charge of the document swears to the authenticity of a copy of the document.

Going to hospitals and jails without asking the right questions.
Many notaries don’t want to go to hospitals and jails because they are afraid. There is nothing to be afraid of, but there are pitfalls. Many signers in hospitals are elderly and don’t have ID. Inmates NEVER have ID. So, the notary must first be sure the signer or their family members / associates have their ID and it is wise to have them read the ID# and expiration date to the notary, so the notary can be sure that they really have the ID and that its current.

Leaving seals and journals unattended.
As a notary public, you and only you are responsible for safeguarding your seal and journal. Even if your boss or co-workers want to use your seal or inspect your journal, its completely illegal. Only the notary can do a journal query, or use their seal. Carelessly leaving your seal in an unlocked area is also a very serious notary error. Seals and journals must always be kept under lock and key.

Not having the signer present.
Its common for a client to request that a notary notarize a document when the signer is not around. This is completely illegal. The signer must be in front of the notary during a signing. This means within a few feet and able to communicate directly with the notary.

Having an interpreter
Many immigrant families have older members who don’t speak English. They often attend to their business with their children along to explain things and translate. When they call the notary over, they often don’t explain that the signer can not speak English, since its not a problem due to the fact that they can translate. But, the notary must be able to communicate directly with the signer. If the signer only speaks Uzbek, and the notary doesn’t speak Uzbek, then the signing is off. On the other hand, if the document is in Chinese, and the notary only speaks English, that is okay, since the notary is not liable for the contents of the document.

Overcharging
The maximum notary fees vary from state to state. California and Florida are “generous” offering $10 per acknolwedged signature, while many other states offer as low as 25 cents or two dollars per signature which is hardly enough to make a living. It is tempting for notaries to charge more than they are supposed to to make it worth their while. This is illegal. Also, many states have restrictions for what notaries can charge for travel fees. Many notaries overlook these restrictions.

Journal thumbprints and notes
It is critical that notaries get the right thumbprint of the signer in their journal, especially for deeds and powers of attorneys. This is a great way to deter fraud, and will keep a notary out of court in many instances. Additional notes are important to keep in a journal too. If a notary goes to court, they will never remember a signing that took place years ago, unless some notes are kept about anything unusual at the venue of the signing, or anything that is unusual about the signer.

Also see:
Everything you need to know about thumbprinting
http://www.123notary.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4019

Backdating
Almost all signing agents will be asked to backdate at one or more times during their career. Don’t do it. Backdating is illegal. Backdating means putting a date prior to the actual date of the notarization on a notary certificate. The date of the notarization is when the signer signs the journal, although the signer can sign a document before the notarization of an acknowledged signature. Here is some more information about backdating.

You might also like:

What do you do if asked to backdate?
http://www.123notary.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4029

What is backdating?
http://www.123notary.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3920

Signing agent best practices: 63 points
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=4315

10 risks to being a mobile notary public
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19459

Comments (3)

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