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May 10, 2024

7 Essential Practices to Safeguard Notary Stamps and Journals

Filed under: Best Practices — Tags: , — Tom Wilkins @ 12:00 am

As a mobile notary, safeguarding your notary stamps and journals is crucial to protecting your professional integrity and clients’ sensitive information. Here are some expanded practices and recommendations to ensure the security of your notarial tools:

  1. Secure Storage: Always store your notary stamps and journals securely. This could be a locked drawer or cabinet when not in use. Such measures are vital to prevent unauthorized access and potential misuse of your notarial tools, especially in shared work environments or when you’re moving.
  2. Controlled Access: Maintaining exclusive control over your notary journal is crucial to ensure the integrity of recorded notarial acts, which include details like the names of parties involved, document types, and the signature date. This information must remain confidential and protected from unauthorized access to safeguard your clients’ sensitive information.
  3. Proper Disposal of Retired Tools: When a notary seal expires, or a journal is filled, it’s important to dispose of these items responsibly to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. For expired notary seals, consider methods such as cutting, shredding, or burning the rubber part of the stamp. For journals, follow state-specific guidelines, including transferring them to a designated official or keeping them under lock for a certain period before destruction.
  4. Loss or Theft: If your notary stamp or journal is lost or stolen, report the incident immediately to the relevant state authorities and law enforcement. This can help mitigate the risk of fraudulent use of your notary tools and protect you from potential legal liabilities. You may also need to inform your bonding company and any insurance providers to see if additional steps are required under your policies.
  5. Use of Electronic Journals: Consider using electronic journals that offer enhanced security features such as encryption and password protection. E-journals can be backed up securely and accessed remotely, providing a modern solution to maintaining and safeguarding notary records in the digital age.
  6. Regular Audits and Updates: Periodically audit and update your security practices as necessary. This includes checking the physical and digital security of where your stamps and journals are stored. Regular updates to digital security measures, like changing passwords and updating encryption, can prevent unauthorized access.
  7. Training and Awareness: Attend workshops, webinars, and other training sessions to stay informed about the best practices for safeguarding notary stamps and journals. Also, be aware of new laws or changes in existing laws regarding notary practice in your state. Education is a crucial defense against fraud and theft.

Securing Your Professional Tools

Safeguarding your notary stamps and journals is crucial for maintaining the integrity and trust of your mobile notary service. By implementing these key practices, you protect your professional tools against theft, loss, and unauthorized access. This proactive approach secures your tools and reinforces your credibility and reliability as a notary. Keep assessing and updating your security strategies to protect your notarial practice.

For more detailed guidance on specific state requirements and additional tips on securing your notary tools, always refer to your state’s notary laws or consult a professional legal advisor.

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August 27, 2017

How many journal entries do you use for two signers on three documents?

Filed under: Journals — Tags: , — admin @ 11:51 pm

Many states don’t require a journal. However, your journal is your only evidence if you are investigated. As a Notary, for every 3000 Notary appointments (not acts) you do, you will probably be investigated once based on my personal experience. If fraud is involved on anybody’s part and you don’t have a journal entry, you will have no evidence and could be pulled into court for weeks which would result in your loss of income.

Additionally, we recommend the use of thumbprints in your journal for all critical notarizations, especially those involving Power of Attorney documents Living Wills, or Deeds affecting real estate. It only takes a few seconds to thumbprint someone. A thumbprint cannot be faked, but ID can, so you have no reason not to take thumbprints, and plenty of security related reasons to do so. NNA sells inkless thumbprinters for about $15.

If your state doesn’t require journals, use one anyway for your protection.

Back to the question. If there are TWO signers and THREE documents, you will need SIX journal entries. One per document per signer. What some Notaries do is they create one journal entry per signer and then indicate a list of all the notarized documents they signed. This is wrong and perhaps illegal. Not only is it bad to only create one journal entry per signer, but you might forget to add a document, or if there are cross outs after the fact it will look very sketchy.

However, you don’t need to write all of the info for each journal entry. The signer’s name, address, and ID information can be copied by putting a down arrow or “ditto” quotation marks. However, legally, the signer needs to sign for each document that is notarized and the name of the document, date, time, and type of notary act needs to be indicated for each document.

Additionally, there is an “additional notes” section of each journal entry near the right. If the building looks unusual you can take notes about the building. If the signer is acting weird or looks weird or has a tattoo on his neck or anything else unusual, you should write that in your journal to jog your memory if you ever have to go to court.

I did about 7000 Notary appointments and they all became a blurr to me. The only people I remember were Gary, the guy who blew up his apartment while experimenting with explosives (not a good idea) and a Korean lady who had me notarize the sales of her massage parlors (she paid cash). I also remember Dr. Kwak (pronounced Dr. Quack) who was an acupuncturist. I vaguely remember an impatient rich guy who lived in West Hollywood, did business deals in his pajamas, and played golf. And of course Mr. Yee the Attorney who had me do all of the Health Care Directives each with 80 pages of which I embossed every single page every single time to be prudent.

So, the moral of the story is that if you don’t know how to use your journal like a pro, the NNA has tutorials that you can purchase, and they are highly recommended as they could keep you out of court (or jail.) Or both!

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You might also like:

What entities might want to see your journal?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20902

NNA – what every notary needs to know about notary journals
https://www.nationalnotary.org/notary-bulletin/blog/2014/10/what-every-notary-needs-to-know-about-journals

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September 7, 2010

Everything you need to know about journals

Everything you need to know about notary journals.
Not all states require a journal of official notary acts. However, it is wise for notaries to keep a journal, as it is a record of all notary acts that they have ever done. A notary journal is a bound and sequential book containing records of all notary acts done by a particular notary. If a notary completes all the entry of a particular journal, they can start a second journal.

What goes in a journal entry?
(1) The date and time of the notarization
(2) Type of notarization
(3) Name of the document and document date (if there is one ),
(4) Name and address of the signer
(5) Type of identification ( personally known to the notary, credible witnesses, or ID document )
(6) State/Country, Serial #, and expiration date of the ID.
(7) Additional notes
(8) Signature of the signer
(9) Thumbprint of the signer
(10) Notary fee charged (if any)

The additional notes section is a part of the journal not understood by many notaries.
If credible witnesses are used, their signatures and ID’s should be recorded in the additional notes section.
If any unusual situations arise during the notarization, or there is anything unusual about the signer or the venue, that should be documented in the additional notes section. If travel fees are charged, that too can be documented in the additional notes section.

Journal thumbprints
Not all states require journal thumbprints. However, documents effecting real estate or large amounts of money should have a journal thumbprint accompany their notarization. A thumbprint is the only absolute way to identify a signer if fraud is suspected. ID cards and signatures can be forged, but a person’s thumbprint is unique to that individual. If a notarization is ever investigated due to suspicion as to the identity of the signer, a thumbprint can end the investigation cold in its tracks and possibly save the notary from having to appear in court.

Lock and key
The notary must keep their journal under lock and key. Bosses, co-workers, family members, and strangers alike are not allowed to inspect the notary journal without the presence of the notary. They are not allowed to do notarizations with the notary’s seal and journal under any circumstances.

Lost, stolen, or damaged journals
If your journal gets lost, stolen or damaged, contact your state’s notary division immediately and let them know what happened in writing.

What do you do with your journal when your commission is over?
If you don’t renew your commission, ask your state notary division what to do with your journal. It is most likely that they will need to be submitted to your county recorder’s office.

Where do I purchase a journal?
Notary journals can be purchased from the NNA, or from many other vendors on the internet. Some local office supply stores might have journals too, although that is not a predictable place to buy journals unless you are sure they have them.

How many journal entries do I create?
If one signer signs one document, create one journal entry. If one signer signs two notarized documents, that would necessitate two journal entries. If three signers each sign two notarized documents, thats six journal entries, all of which need to be signed by the corresponding signer.

Where do I keep my journal when I’m not using it?
Keep it under lock and key. You can have a notary carry all bag with a mini-lock, or keep it locked in a desk drawer to which only you have the key. Nobody else should ever be able to access your journal

What if someone has an inquiry about a particular journal entry?
Just ask them what the date of the notarization was and the name of the signer, and look it up in your journal. If you have several journals in your archives, you may have to go through your archives. You can make a copy of the journal entry and send it to the person making the inquiry, but hide information pertaining to notarizations of other individuals on that same page.

Tweets:
(1) A journal entry must include: time & date, type of notarization, doc name, name & address of signer…
(2) Journals must be kept under lock & key and returned to the county clerk at the end of your commission.
(3) Learn the finer points of journal entries: where credible witnesses sign, thumbprints & notes.
(4) Everything you need to know about journals, but were afraid to ask.

You might also like:

Index of posts about Notary journals
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20272

How do I fill out a Notary Journal entry?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=1725

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