notary: Notaries and Last Will & Testaments - 06/07/09 08:53 AM
I must sound like the most clueless person in the world when it comes to giving advice about a Last Will & Testament.  I have a good reason:
I'm a Colorado notary -- not an attorney. 
A notary may not give advice about a Last Will & Testament.  Or any kind of legal advice, for any kind of document.  That is, not unless they want to be prosecuted for engaging in unauthorized practice of law, which is a very serious offense.
It's becoming very common for a person to prepare their own Last Will and Testament.  They save themselves hundreds of … (1 comments)

notary: Amendments to Colorado notary law (SB09-111): notary journal - 05/06/09 07:53 AM
I notarized a lease agreement a few weeks ago. I made an entry of it in my notary journal and asked the signers to sign it.
The person managing the transaction asked me if it was necessary to keep a journal.  I told him that Colorado law requires all notaries to keep a journal of notary acts that affect the title of real property. (CRS 12-55-111).  However I keep a journal of all notarizations, regardless of what they pertain to.
 
 
The law has been amended to read that every Colorado notary will be required to keep a journal of every notarial act, … (1 comments)

notary: Power of Attorney acknowledgements - 04/30/09 08:12 AM
A notary signing agent asked a question on a message board this morning about Power of Attorney notarizations, and was chastised by several other notary signing agents for asking the question.
They felt that the notary signing agent should have been able to answer the question on his or her own.  And they are right.
Notary laws vary from state to state.  So there is no point in a notary from one state asking a notary in a different state how to do a notarization properly.  It really depends on the notary's state laws.
Another problem with the question is that, … (3 comments)

notary: Notarizing a Lease Agreement: acknowledgement or jurat? - 04/26/09 01:50 AM
I got a call yesterday from someone in Colorado Springs in need of a mobile notary to notarize a Lease Agreement.  When I arrived I asked to see the notary certificate on the document. 
Instead of the usual notarial wording, all it had was the word 'NOTARY'.
Apparently this was the place where the notary was supposed to do whatever it is that notaries do. 
 
The problem with this is that, notaries may not notarize a document unless it contains a notary certificate.  And a notary may not choose what type of notary certificate to add to a document.  This is … (1 comments)

notary: A 'Cool Hand Luke' moment: conflicting closing instructions - 04/25/09 12:33 AM
I have come to accept that not everything in this business makes sense.  So it comes as no surprise to me when I see important instructions for the closing embedded several pages within the loan documents.
And I learned my lesson a long time ago that you are going to get conflicting instructions.  One company will tell you to do one thing, while another company will tell you to do just the opposite.
I'm doing a closing today in Florissant, Colorado.  The instructions that I received state that the signing should be done in BLUE ink only:

Not just one … (3 comments)

notary: Not 'closed' on Sunday means closing on Sundays - 04/19/09 07:01 AM
I did a closing this morning at 10:30 a.m. in Colorado Springs.
What's so unusual about that, you're probably asking.
It's Sunday.
 
 
 
To a notary signing agent, being asked to do a closing on a Sunday morning is not at all unusual.  For those of us who are available 24/7, it's part of the job.  We gladly provide the service to the mortgage industry.
The disadvantage for the notary signing agent is that, we don't have a "day off".
There is no "Miller Time".
We never know when we'll be called to do a closing, so we have … (4 comments)

notary: Loan closing in Divide, Colorado - 04/16/09 12:59 AM
I had a closing yesterday in Divide, Colorado, located in Teller county, not far from Woodland Park.  After the closing experience I had last week in another part of Teller County (Florissant), I decided that I would use GPS for this trip as well, although it wasn't necessary.  If you're heading west on Highway 24 from Colorado Springs, you can't miss the turn into the location.  It is well marked with a sign that reads: 'Sherwood Forest Estates'.
 
When you make the turn, you will be on a paved road, but not for long.  After about a mile the rest … (2 comments)

notary: Proper notarizations: tips for the consumer - 04/14/09 02:10 PM
I received a call last Saturday from someone requesting mobile notary service.  The document was part of a Colorado Professional License application. This wasn't the first time this person had this particular document notarized. 
Why a second time?
They were doing it for a second time because there was a critical error with the first submission of the application: the notary didn't add their notary signature.  So the teacher's application was rejected, and it had to be resubmitted.
There is no need for this kind of inconvenience.  If the consumer knows what elements to look for in a notarization, they can … (1 comments)

notary: Remote loan closing in Florissant, Colorado - 04/12/09 12:27 AM
I have a confession to make. A few years ago I had a closing assignment in Florissant, Colorado.  On the way there I took a wrong turn and had a hard time finding the borrower's home.  It didn't help that he lived far off the beaten path, and that there was no cell phone coverage so that I could call him and get directions.  I finally located him through trial and error. 
Actually, just about everyone in Florissant lives far off the beaten path.  Florissant, Colorado isn't a city.  It's more like an area.  Wilderness, to be exact.
Things have changed … (0 comments)

notary: Military Officers as Notaries - 01/31/09 09:45 AM
I recently did a closing for a woman who was signing with a Power of Attorney.  Her husband is in the military, stationed in Iraq.  She told me that there was a bit of a delay in getting the Power of Attorney notarized because he had to take a helicopter trip to where there was a notary -- a flight that lasted a couple of hours.
I felt sorry for her.  And I felt even more sorry for her husband who had to endure such an ordeal in order to get the Power of Attorney notarized.
 
I don't know the exact details of the … (2 comments)

notary: Can a person who is 'mentally incompetent' buy a home? - 01/14/09 03:50 AM
Well, it depends on what you mean by 'mentally incompetent', since there are many definitions and interpretations. And in the case of someone buying a home, or someone refinancing their mortgage, that interpretation just might come from someone whom you would least expect:
a notary
One of the responsibilities of a notary, in addition to identifying the person signing a document that needs to be notarized, is to establish whether that person is 'mentally competent' to sign the document.
For example, a sibling may want their mother who is in a nursing home to sign a Power of Attorney.  The mother … (5 comments)

notary: Avoiding UPL, and still being able to 'give advice' - 01/04/09 09:08 PM
'I have a document that needs to be notarized.', is usually how the conversation will start.  I'll ask the caller what kind of document it is, and if it has notary wording on it.
I'm not concerned with the contents of the document. 
But I am concerned if this person has written the document themselves and wants me to notarize it. It's not a simple matter of getting out my stamp and stamping the document, which is the assumption a lot of people have.  A document that needs to be notarized can either require a jurat or an acknowledgement.  Unfortunately the person requesting the … (4 comments)

notary: 'Sorry, a photocopy is not sufficient ID' - 12/30/08 03:47 AM
A remote closing is supposed to be a convenience to the borrower.  But sometimes the convenience will have to be mixed with a bit of inconvenience.
One of the requirements of the notary signing agent is to properly identify the borrowers.  And one of the requests made of the borrower is that they provide a photocopy of their ID.
In a closing I had last Friday, the borrower handed me the photocopy of his and his wife's ID.  Nevertheless, I asked to see the original. 
What?!
This meant that the borrower had to go outside, in the cold, and get his … (0 comments)

notary: NNA conference 2009: make it available to the masses - 12/29/08 09:16 PM
The National Notary Association conference will be held in Las Vegas in 2009 -- from June 9 to June 12. You can read all about it if you received the January issue of The National Notary.  Or visit the National Notary Association Conference 2009 website.  There will be many speakers to listen to, and many workshops to attend.  There will be so much going on over those 4 days that the people attending the conference will certainly miss some events.
 
And many of us will miss all of it.
I wasn't able to attend last year's conference in Los Angeles.  And I … (3 comments)

notary: Foreign language training for notaries - 12/29/08 12:55 PM
I received the January issue of The National Notary, published by the National Notary Association.  In it (on page 24) is an article about opportunities for notaries who know a foreign language.
I agree that knowing a foreign language can be a benefit.  I've even submitted a few articles on this subject in my ActiveRain blog.  Although the article in The National Notary has some merits, there are several things that I have to take issue with.
It mentions the difficulties of learning dialects. For example, Chinese.  It states: "Even to many Chinese, these dialects can be as alien as a … (1 comments)

notary: Microsoft OneNote for Notary Signing Agents - 12/27/08 09:37 PM
Microsoft OneNote is a great tool for organizing all types of notes and information, regardless of your occupation.  I had already been using it for organizing personal information, then decided to create workbooks for my Notary Signing Agent information.
 
The beauty of OneNote is that it is simple to use, yet powerful. 
This is how a workbook appears on the screen. 
To the left you have tabs for all of the workbooks you've created. At the top are the sections in the workbook.  To the right are the pages for each section.  It's like having a 'table of contents' at … (2 comments)

notary: One Deed of Trust -- Two different notaries - 12/22/08 11:30 AM
No, this is not a bout of 'Tag Team Notaries' that I'm about to describe.  It's what can be done when 2 signatures need to be notarized for the same document, but each of the signers are in different locations.
I got a call from the title company regarding a closing I did last Friday.  The person wanted to know why the wife didn't sign the Deed of Trust.  Her name was on it.
I explained that the wife didn't sign the Deed of Trust because she was not at the closing. I had her husband write a note explaining the … (1 comments)

notary: If you can't trust a notary -- who can you trust? - 12/20/08 04:13 AM
How would you feel if you saw an ad in the paper for a business that advertised it was open 24 hours a day -- but when you got there at 11 p.m. the doors were locked, the lights were out, and there was a sign that said: 'Sorry, we're closed.'?
Not only that, but when you looked at a sign on the window that showed their hours of operation, it showed that they close at 10 p.m. 
 
But wait. That's not all.  Right beside the sign that shows the hours of operation, there is a sign that reads: 'Open 24 … (4 comments)

notary: Exercising caution when notarizing at Assisted Living Communities - 11/12/08 04:56 AM
Notaries have to always be on guard when performing a notarization.  But there are some precautions that must be taken when agreeing to perform a notarization for someone at an Assisted Living Community.
I got a call this morning from a woman who wanted me to notarize a Power of Attorney for her father who resides at an Assisted Living Community here in Colorado Springs. She called me because I provided mobile notary service for her in the past, which also involved her father.
 
Nevertheless, I screened the call as I would any request to notarize a Power of Attorney. … (1 comments)

notary: Making notarial certificates - 04/18/08 03:17 AM
I have been making notarial certificates for years.  The main reason for doing so is that I am assured that I am complying with the state notary laws.
Another reason is that it saves time if a lot of the wording is pre-printed, such as the venue, my name, and a few other items of information.
Many notaries choose to purchase notarial certificates.  But it isn't really necessary.  The main thing is that it contains the correct notarial wording, as prescribed by your state.
Also, you can make a notarial certificate in your own handwriting.  According to Peter J. Van Alstyne, … (7 comments)