Thursday, February 19, 2009

When is it too late to notarize a person's signature?

When a person is ill and can not communicate with the notary, it is too late for notarization. Even if the person makes a mark on the document, the resultant notarization is invalid since the person could not communicate with the notary despite the the fact that the person had a valid id. Some lawyers thinks notaries are dudes with a stamp. I resent this disrespect of a public official who has a direct appointment by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. I have been accused by more than one lawyer of being a very involved notary. I plead guilty.

In the above case where the client is too ill, a person who has a valid power attorney who is not a beneficiary may sign. However, the notary clearly notes that John Smith has power of attorney for Betty Jane when John Smith signs for Betty Jane. Some documents require the notary do a jurat for John Smith in addition to doing an acknowledgement

I strongly recommend not to delay calling in a notary when the person is confined to a nursing home or medical facility. Delay may result in it being too late for any notary to notarize the person signature due a change in the person's condition!!!!

The Notary is not the other witness!!!

The notary sometime is asked to be a witness in additional to being the notary. The notary is the notary and not the other witness!!!!Politely decline and suggest the call a neighbor or friend. Though I am not required to check id of the witnesses, I do record all the witnesses information and their signatures in the book which I am not required to have. I do not charge for this service!!!When confronted with blank no witness, the client puts a line so it is clear that no witnesses gets added later. Sometimes the language of the document indicates that you are in fact notarizing the witnesses. Clearly, the notary can not notarize his (her) signature. In summary, the notary is the notary and not another witness.!!!!!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Satisfactory Evidence of Identity in VA

From the Virginia Notary Handbook:
"Satisfactory evidence of identity" means identification of an individual based on (i) examination of one or more of the following documents bearing a photographic image of the individual's face and signature: a United States Passport, a certificate of United States citizenship, a certificate of naturalization, an unexpired foreign passport, an alien registration card with photograph, a state issued driver's license or a state issued identification card or a United States military card or (ii) the oath or affirmation of one credible witness unaffected by the document or transaction who is personally known to the notary and who personally knows the individual or of two credible witnesses unaffected by the document or transaction who each personally knows the individual and shows to the notary documentary identification as described in subdivision (i).

VA Notaries can do Notary Protests but should not!!!

VA code does authorize notary protests. A notary protest is allowed in some states and involves financial transactions. Even in states where it is allowed, the notaries are discouraged from doing a notary protest unless the individual has extensive experience in financial matters.After reading Oregon's protesting commercial paper http://ww.filinginoregon.com/notary/currenttopics/protesting.htm and the National Notary Article Notarize a Protest http.www.nationalnotary.org/news/index.cfm?text=newsnotary&ne...,I have concluded VA notaries should not do notary protests unless they are directly supervised by a lawyer very familiar with banking law!!!!!!!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Extending VA Notary Hospitality to North Carolina

Extending VA Notary hospitality to North Carolina is possible. North Carolina requires that the notary's name be printed under the notary's signature. VA Notary Handbook states:
"If a notary’s handwriting is not legible, it is good practice to add his/her name, in printed form, under the signature. Please note that dark blue or black ink is preferred for recording purposes in court."

Consequentially, VA Notaries can extend notary hospitality to North Carolina on documents notarized in VA and going to North Carolina.

VA Standards for Copy Certification

This is from the Va Notary Handbook:
"Copy certification" means a notarial act in which a notary (i) is presented with a document that is not a public record; (ii) copies or supervises the copying of the document using a photographic or electronic copying process; (iii) compares the document to the copy; and (iv) determines that the copy is accurate and complete.
Va notaries can not do the following: The VA Notary Handbook states:
"Virginia notaries are not authorized to certify true copies of birth, death, or marriage certificates. Only the Division of Vital Records/Statistics may perform such a certification."
Do not expect me to certify an exact copy that I did not make or was not supervising the copying!!!!!!Do not call me if you are not prepared to follow the dictates set forth by the VA Notary Hand book!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Mystery Shopper Scam Alert for all people

I personally was confronted with on Craiglist dc I was sent 4 money orders made out for $850 each. I turned them over to the Fairfax Police Department VA. The sender wanted me to wire $3000 to them and evaluate the wire service and make a purchase at walmart. I determined that the money orders were not real!!!!!!!

National Notary Now » Article
National Notary Now

Watch Out For Mystery Shopper Scams


National Notary Now Issue # 114 — January 2009

With times being leaner for everyone, many Notaries are looking for new kinds of work to supplement their incomes. However, the Nevada Attorney General’s office recently warned consumers about ads claiming to hire “mystery shoppers” that are actually a scam to cheat applicants.

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto recently issued an advisory about the scam, which hires victims to evaluate a money transfer service as “mystery shoppers.” The grifters send authentic-looking business or cashiers checks with a face value of up to several thousand dollars, then ask victims to deposit the checks into their accounts and wire a portion of the “funds” to a designated address while keeping the “balance” as payment. When the check inevitably bounces, consumers are out both the money they wired and any fees for the overdraft.

Examples of genuine mystery shopping involve activities such as visiting a business to perform normal activities like purchasing products and then providing feedback on the experience. To avoid scams, the Mystery Shopping Providers Association has a Web site (www.mysteryshop.org) with information on how to locate legitimate companies for work opportunities. The MSPA states on its site that legitimate companies will never promise large sums of fast cash or require consumers to pay an up-front fee to become a mystery shopper.

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