When completing multiple notarizations for the same signer — a common occurrence for mortgages and other real estate-related transactions, for example — California Notary Public’s commonly use ditto marks to repeat the same information on successive lines in their journals, and they often draw a diagonal line across the signature spaces so the signer only has to sign the journal two times.
California Notaries who use diagonal lines and ditto marks in their journals when recording multiple entries for a single signer should no longer follow this practice, according to a Notary statute clarification issued by the Secretary of State.
But that should not be a practice for Notaries in the Golden State. The Secretary’s clarification reads: “Government Code Section 8206 requires that the Notary Public’s journal include all the information for ‘each official act.’ Therefore, each act would include the date, time, type of each official act, character of the tool, signature, type of identification, fee, and thumbprint (if applicable) on a separate line for each act.”
THE NOTARY SHALL ACT AS AN IMPARTIAL WITNESS AND NOT PROFIT OR GAIN FROM ANY DOCUMENT OR TRANSACTION REQUIRING A NOTARIAL ACT, APART FROM THE FEE ALLOWED BY STATUTE.
Impartiality is crucial to ensure the integrity of notarized documents. Notarial acts are trusted because Notaries serve as unbiased, third-party witnesses who verify a signer’s identity and willingness. That’s why it is so important Notaries avoid even the appearance of bias when performing their duties, and why impartiality is the cornerstone of Guiding Principle II of The Notary Public Code of Professional Responsibility.
Rules governing Notary Public impartiality help protect the transaction from improper influence. For example, a Notary might be tempted to compromise ethics if asked to notarize a document that provided the Notary with some kind of financial or other benefit. It would be even more difficult, if not impossible, for a Notary to maintain impartiality if asked to notarize a document that specifically names the Notary in a transaction.
Trust in a Notary’s fairness in impartiality is a cornerstone of the notarial technique — and that is why it is important that Notaries avoid even the appearance of potential self-interest when notarizing signatures on documents.
Even the appearance of impartiality can cause problems with a document. State laws do not always forbid a Notary from notarizing a document for a spouse, parent or other close relative, but this doesn’t stop someone from calling the Notary’s impartiality in to query if the document is challenged in court. That is why the Code urges Notaries to decline to notarize in any transaction that may call in to query the Notary’s propriety — even if allowed by state law.
Notaries who have failed to follow best practices, or who have “slipped” on paying attention to detail, have inadvertently launched a little, but growing trend of mortgage lenders implementing their own requirements and rules for the Signing Agents they hire.
A little number of lenders have implemented their policies to protect themselves because hazardous practices on the part of some Notaries have cost them significant sums of money and put their transactions at risk. Some of the rules place a greater burden on Notaries and, if the trend continues, Signing Agents could be awash in new rules and regulations for each individual company, and for each assignment they perform.
One lender, for example, now requires Signing Agents to complete a “Notary Identification Verification Form” for every loan signing assignment. The requirement is the direct result of fraud cases in which a Notary’s seal was used on a loan package by someone other than the Notary Public. Notaries are supposed to keep their seals in a safe and secure location so they can not be used for fraudulent purposes.
Settlement Agents typically are licensed representatives or employees of title companies who finalize the loan closing. They perform duties that fall outside the purview of NSAs — such as preparing the abstraction of the title and recording the title documents. NSAs are not “Settlement Agents,” and they do not have the authority to sign a document as the Settlement Agent.
Another company now requires all Signing Agents it hires in Missouri to possess title insurance producer’s licenses. They also must produce a photocopy of their driver’s license as well as a secondary form of ID before being hired for an assignment. These requirements stem from the losses the company incurred after a couple of Signing Agents inadvertently signed the HUD-1 Settlement Statement under the line that read “Settlement Agent.”
While this trend represents a hefty, additional burden on Signing Agents, both cases stand as examples of how mortgage companies might react when the Notaries fail to follow professional standards of care. You ought to never let someone borrow your seal, and always call your employer if there is any query about how to proceed.
