Posted by Hugh Nations Signing Agents of Austin on 6/26/08 1:26am
Msg #253000

Variety is NOT the spice of life for notary attestations

Every packet I get has a wide variety of notary attestations. There may be 10 types of jurats, and an equal number of acknowledgement variations. However, the same documents tend to use the same variety of jurat or acknowledgement, regardless of the lender or the title company.

I gather that there is some sort of document preparation program that is used, and a large number of lenders and TCs employ the same program. Can someone explain who provides that program, and how did so much variation creep into what should be a fairly standard instrument? It seems to me to be quite self-evident that standardization would be most beneficial; in fact, I can’t think of a single downside to having the same jurat used on every document throughout a package. The same goes for acknowledgements.

Can someone who has actually been involved in document preparation enlighten me?

I of course realize there are states that impose their own requirements on attestations. I assume that in those states you don’t see the mish-mash of jurats/acknowledgements that we see in Texas.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 6/26/08 2:19am
Msg #253003

I see quite a mish mash, just not as many docs to notarize as I see in Texas!!

Reply by PAW on 6/26/08 7:12am
Msg #253009

There are many software documentation preparation programs on the market. Usually, the name of the "prep" software is printed at the bottom of each of the pages (like DocMagic, for example). Additionally, the title plant has their own prep software. Put them all together and you get a wide variety of styles and content, even when the base document is the same.

As I was told, forms are rarely corrected, once they are approved by the legal beagles during the form development. Different attorneys do things differently, as I'm sure you are aware. So if John Doe, esq. does one form and Dave Smith, esq. does another one, the notary certificates could be (and often are) different. It's a fact of life. Most attorneys, unless they specialize in notary law, haven't much knowledge in the preparation of a notary certificate. Add to that, each state has their own way of doing things. Unfortunately, the software makers don't see it economically feasible to make state specific parts of forms, so they go with whatever the legal department throws at them as a generic form. (Only exception is for state specific forms, such as rate lock notifications and mortgaged or deedd of trust, which usually is correct for the state the preparer enters.)

Reply by davidK/CA on 6/26/08 12:05pm
Msg #253083

Understanding what PAW has carefully explained, nothing justifies the frequent failure of lenders and title companies to prepare documents that conform to the current laws of the state where the documents are being signed and notarized.

California has had very specific and absolutely mandatory language for both Jurats and Acknowledgements since January 1, 2008, yet many loan documents still contain language that a California notary Public is prohibited from using in performance of their duties. Why?

Isn't six months enough time for the lawyers to make a few simple corrections with their word processors so that the Notary doesn't have to fill out and attach a Jurat or Acknowledgement with the proper wording on various boilerplate documents scattered throughout the loan package? I guess not.

We certainly can't expect a lender like Countrywide (just one example) with so few employees and such little money to be responsible for something like that when the burden can so easily be shifted to the Notary. Their lack of professionalism just make me want to scream, but I bite my lip, cross out the incorrect language, mark "See attached California Jurat (or Acknowledgement)" over the space designated for notarization and reach into my case for yet another Jurat or Acknowledgement form that I should by all rights not have to attach if the title company or lender had prepared the document in accordance with existing law.

And then when I see the amount charged for "Document Preparation" by the title company on the HUD-1 I really get upset that they have the nerve to charge the borrower such large fees but they can't correct the documents to comply with the language mandated by the law.

Reply by Tess on 6/26/08 7:58pm
Msg #253190

It wouldn’t take much time to set up templates and file them per state. Especially now since they are not real busy !!

Reply by JanetK_CA on 6/26/08 8:35pm
Msg #253198

I think it's safe to say that, in this market, anyone who might have been sitting around twiddling their thumbs, has long since been relieved their job. Those who are left probably ARE busy. I'd guess it's the old story of fewer and fewer people being asked to do more and more work. That's how many companies are surviving the current slow-down. Just a thought.