Mistakes Can Render You Notary Business-Less & In Deep Trouble

The National Notary Association (NNA) just published this article written by Professor Michael Closen, a high-profile Notary Law Expert, from John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois, titled A Notary Mistake Can Be Criminal. After reading the article we highly recommend you purchase his book Professor Closen’s Notary Best Practices: Expert's Guide to Notarization of Documents. One of the very first statements made in the article is one of our own sentiments that we stress here at Notary Stars daily- time savers and cutting corners can lead to Big Trouble! One of the biggest examples given in the article is Notaries cutting corners by not having the signers present for the entire Notarial Act to be performed. And, we hear about this all too often at Notary Stars where Notaries pre-fill out Acknowledgements and Jurats for Loan Signings to save time at the actual signing. At Unlimited Ink Notary (our Parent Company) we often see Notaries who take the risk of editing documents within a PDF using Adobe so their Acknowledgements and Jurats look cleaner and neater when returned. Often in these instances, we have to have the Notary re-complete the document as an error because it proves they didn’t do these entire Notarizations in front of the signers. It also shows that they used a program that often connects to the Internet which could compromise the signer's signatures. We’ve been warned by Attorneys from more than one Title Agency who have helped us get the word about this, but somehow we still see some Notaries taking risks. Another very important sentiment of the article was the age-old question: Do I need to administer an Oath or Affirmation for every Jurat within my Loan Signing? Even just asking this question does not fulfill your duties completely and could land you in hot water. Just read the real-life example in the original article linked above. And please forget what you hear in "Facebook University" about how Mr. & Mrs. Jones conduct their signings. There really are no good ways to perform a sensitive task such as notarizing a document except by performing it in accordance with your state regulation. The National Notary Association did not let up this month after Professor Closen’s article. They continued on with more information for Notaries which leads us to believe October might be Notary Public and Loan Signing Agent Lawsuit Awareness Month. The next article they pushed out via email to all Notaries was 5 Sound Practices That Steer You Clear Of Lawsuits And Costly Errors which included these 5 Key Points:

1. Always Require Personal Appearance

2. Master Identification Requirements

3. Avoid Pressures to Rush

4. Scan And Complete Certificates Properly

5. Know How To Handle Emotional Signers

It's funny writing this article as a Signing Agency Owner. Some of you may roll your eyes and think that these are simple things that every Notary should know. But I can assure you they are not- or they are not always adhered to. Unlimited Ink Notary, our sister company, sees more transactions in one month than most Notaries will see in 5 years of signings and we see each one of these items being dealt with daily. In fact, many Signing Agents either fail at one of these items or use them as an excuse. That is not to speak ill of our Notary brothers and sisters at all. Our jobs as Notaries and Loan Signing Agents is tough at times and we are often rushed and have to deal with emotional signers. It’s just that they are not valid excuses to do something wrong in our jobs. We still HAVE to do our job right. At Notary Stars we put together an annual Mistakes to Avoid at the beginning of each year and update it with more information. That list doesn’t increase too much annually but the National Notary Association is still just scratching the surface of the problems we can face in the previously mentioned article. This is exactly why we believe in continuing education. Not just because we need to know how to properly present, to describe, and execute every loan document, but because it can help us avoid a lawsuit. Please check out the two articles mentioned in this post and comment below if you have any thoughts to add. All comments are welcomed, especially if they can benefit another Notary Loan Signing Agent. If you are a newer Signing Agent please check out our video about Mistakes To Avoid as a Loan Signing Agent to help you and consider training with us at www.notarystars.com/membership_information to help protect your Notary Business. The more you know, the more you grow!

References Closen on April 5, M. (2022, October 11). A notary mistake can be criminal. National Notary Association. Retrieved October 26, 2022, from https://www.nationalnotary.org/notary-bulletin/blog/2018/04/notary-mistake-can-be-criminal#.Y1SSZXqAT1g.gmail NNA Staff on April 27, 2016. (2022, October 19). 5 sound practices that steer you clear of lawsuits and costly errors. National Notary Association. Retrieved October 27, 2022, from https://www.nationalnotary.org/notary-bulletin/blog/2016/04/5-sound-practices-steer-clear-lawsuits?utm_campaign=20221024nnabulletin&utm_medium=email&utm_source=nnabulletin&utm_content=BodyCTA5PracticesLawsuitProtect&content_type=2&position=1&NNAID=158066250