Posted by Marian_in_CA on 8/12/12 4:15am
Msg #430169
How do these people manage to get a commision?
Had a call today from a lady needing to visit her brother at a detention facility because the facility's Notary refused to help because the document is in Spanish and the Notary couldn't read it. It's not because she couldn't communicate with him...he speaks decent English... it was because the document itself is in Spanish.
For those not in CA, we are allowed to notarize documents in a foreign language. It's pretty prominently noted in our handbooks:
"A notary public can notarize a signature on a document in a foreign language with which the notary public is not familiar, since a notary public’s function only relates to the signature and not the contents of the document. The notary public should be able to identify the type of document being notarized for entry in the notary public’s journal. If unable to identify the type of document, the notary public must make an entry to that effect in the journal (e.g., “a document in a foreign language”). The notary public should be mindful of the completeness of the document and must not notarize the signature on the document if the document appears to be incomplete. The notary public is responsible for completing the acknowledgment or jurat form. When notarizing a signature on a document, a notary public must be able to communicate with the customer in order for the signer either to swear to or affirm the contents of the affidavit or to acknowledge the execution of the document. An interpreter should not be used, as vital information could be lost in the translation. If a notary public is unable to communicate with a customer, the customer should be referred to a notary public who speaks the customer’s language."
I call over to the prison and ask to talk to the notary. This particular facility has never let me in because they are privately run and have a notary on staff. They have always refused requests for me to enter, even if I'm there accompanying the inmate's attorney. They do not recognize a Notary visit as a legal visits, unlike the other jail facilities I've gone to. I let them know, once again, that I'm being asked to go in and explain why. She asked me if I spoke Spanish. I told her no, not very well, but this man speaks English and the language of the document doesn't matter. On a side note, I know enough that I can usually grasp general nature of the document...but again, that really doesn't matter. She says, "It's against the law for me to notarize a document in a language I can't understand." I tell her that's not true and refer her to page 18 of our handbook. I even read it out loud to her over the phone.
She says, "Well, I'm calling the [xyz] to ask," and hung up on me.
I then emailed the sister a link to the handbook and suggested she take it up with the warden at the prison and, if that didn't work, she could always file a complaint with the Secretary of State.
Seriously... 70% to pass the California exam is way too low. I've always felt it needed to be 85% or higher. How do they manage to go through the training and pass the exam and NOT know something this basic? It's always amazed me.
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Reply by Notary1/CO on 8/13/12 12:07am
Msg #430245
Here is a Craigslist ad, posted by an attorney/notary in Denver.
"Spanish-speaking Notary
A notary can't notarize something they can't read or understand. If you have Spanish docs that need to be notarized, give us a call at 720-xxx-xxxx. We also provide translation services."
Notary training and an open-book exam are required for new notaries in Colorado, since May 2010. Apparently this notary slept in class.
I have notarized docs written in Spanish, Russian and Dutch. The signers spoke English.
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Reply by JanetK_CA on 8/13/12 3:28am
Msg #430252
Well, it doesn't amaze me at all, sadly. It's been many years since my teacher training, but I do remember reading some statistics about how much info people forget and how quickly. I don't trust my memory on this, but without further study or exposure to the material, most people will forget a very substantial amount of information they've read within about 3 days. I want to say somewhere in the range of 70%, roughly.
That's the main reason I agree with you that the test shouldn't be the same day as the class. Also, once they've taken the test, most people don't see any reason to go back over the material and read it again. So some of it gets blurred in their heads (to put it kindly) and other bits get forgotten altogether.
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