Invalid Notarizations – What could possibly go wrong?
It seems that everyone can be a notary, and with little to no direction from the state, how can anyone know if a notarization is done correctly if it’s not checked?
The problem arises when a notarization is presented and rejected because it’s incorrect. This causes a hardship for the signer and could cause financial harm. Notaries might not realize this, but the notary can be sued and made to provide restitution to the signer who lost money due to an invalid notarization that was, ultimately, rejected. Let’s go through a few things that went wrong for one Michigan signer.
The signer received a letter of rejection for the deed he was attempting to register.
In this case, there were seven errors on this document. Five of the seven errors are notary errors.
- The name and expiration date of any notary public whose signature appears upon the instrument must be legibly printed, typed, or stamped on the instrument immediately beneath the signature of the notary public.
- A discrepancy may not exist between the name of each person as legibly printed, typewritten, or stamped beneath their signature, and the name as recited in the acknowledgement or jurat on the instrument.
- Date cannot be missing in the notary block.
- The notary’s information is illegible.
- Below the signature it states the notary is commissioned in (county) while the stamp shows (different county). These need to match.
All of these things could have been prevented had the notary had even the most basic education. Many notaries started being a notary just to close loans, during the refi boom of 2020-2021. Unfortunately, that was a title, fill in the blanks, sign and stamp situation. No one really learned how to notarize unless they took extra steps.
If you would like to take your notary business to the next level, join the Michigan Notary Association and become part of the educated and ethical team we have built. https://www.michigannotaryassociation.org/
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