by admin on March 5, 2010
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.”
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by admin on March 5, 2010
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.
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