Posted by Debbie Roberts on 5/15/13 12:13pm
Msg #470058

Notarizing out of state grant deed

I will most likely be notarizing a grant deed for a nursing home patient today. The deed is from Arizona.The patient is in California. As I understand it, I will most like have to attach an acknowledgment Certificate for California. Is it necessary to line through the Arizona notarial wording? Any confirmations of my process would be appreciated. I am New.....

Reply by jba/fl on 5/15/13 12:31pm
Msg #470065

Please send me your credit card number with expiration date and I will walk you through this procedure for $150.00.

Honestly, you should know by now how to attach a CA compliant certificate to the document you are to notarize. Your language is so specific you should not even worry about what is coming from AZ and just have your own available.

Reply by Yoli/CA on 5/15/13 12:32pm
Msg #470067

Personally, I always put a diagonal line through, write "see attached" and initial. Some notaries write "see attached California-compliant certificate" and initial.

Taking it a step forward: You state deed is from Arizona. Does that mean document will record in Arizona? Property is in Arizona? If so, regarding Acknowledgments, the California notary Handbook states, "A notary public may complete a certificate of acknowledgment required in another state or jurisdiction of the United States on documents to be filed in that other state or jurisdiction, provided the form does not require the notary public to determine or certify that the signer holds a particular representative capacity or to make other determinations and certifications not allowed by California law."

Reply by John Tennant on 5/15/13 12:37pm
Msg #470071

I put a line through the original ack and stamp it with "please see attached California compliant ack (of jurat)." Never had a problem doing it this way.

Reply by GOLDGIRL/CA on 5/15/13 12:37pm
Msg #470072

My MO is to draw a single diagonal line through the preprinted verbiage and initial, though I don't know if that's "necessary," but it makes sense to me so that people aren't looking at a blank ack wondering why it wasn't filled in.

Then, in your case, write "APA attached" (or something similar), the date and staple your ack to the GD. I use a stamp I had made that reads: "California compliant certificate attached," but that was because I got tired of writing it on all the docs with non-compliant verbiage.

In any case, there's no reason you can't use the AZ verbiage as long as it's not asking you to do anything CA doesn't allow, like certify capacity, etc. You could just cross that out and correct the venue ... though there have been alot of posts recently about (blockhead) cranky county recorders rejecting crossouts in certs (but those have just been in CA.)

Just as easy and probably better to attach a CA ack so you know you did everything right.

Reply by Buddy Young on 5/15/13 3:39pm
Msg #470114

I had a stamp made that says: california compliant certificate attached.

I had that stamp made after a TC yelled at me for drawing a line through the improper certificate initaling and writing see attached.

Always use an ack that is legal for your state, there arn't any states that won't accept another states ack that I know of.

Reply by LKT/CA on 5/15/13 5:01pm
Msg #470123

Something no one mentioned: When you complete an out-of-state acknowledgment, it must be compliant for *that* state. We have THAT responsibility too. We're not required to know all other states notary laws/rules, but we do have a duty to complete only compliant certs - including those outside of CA. That's why I only use compliant CA acknowledgments (unless I get written instructions to the contrary) - I KNOW what CA acknowledgments are supposed to say.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 5/15/13 7:08pm
Msg #470138

Uh oh Lisa...I disagree with you.. :)

"When you complete an out-of-state acknowledgment, it must be compliant for *that* state. We have THAT responsibility too"

Disagree with this. Your only responsibility is to make sure that the cert does not go against anything you're prohibited from doing (like, for you in CA, certifying capacity). Compliance should be with your own state laws as that's where the notarization is taking place - the notary laws of the other state are of no import at all. Now, Witness requirements, on the other hand, are an entirely different animal.

Reply by VT_Syrup on 5/15/13 7:39pm
Msg #470147

Re: Uh oh Lisa...I disagree with you.. :)

I'm pretty sure all the states will recognize notarizations that satisfy the laws of the state where the notarization took place, but I'm not sure if they are allowed to refuse to record documents that have an embossed seal that isn't inked, because it isn't photographically reproducible. Kind of like Vermont requiring that if a deed mentions a survey, and the survey isn't already on file, the survey must be recorded on the deed. Each town clerk has a list of sizes that will fit in that clerk's filing cabinet, and the survey must be one of those sizes.

I also know that a few steps can be taken to avoid rejections that might be technically be a case of the recorder overstepping his/her bounds, but would be a big pain in the neck for all concerned. For example, I am not required to use a seal, but I do because those out-of-state folks make a lot less noise when I use a seal.

Reply by LKT/CA on 5/15/13 10:01pm
Msg #470172

Re: Uh oh Lisa...I disagree with you.. :)

NOOOOoooo Linda, don't disagree (heeheehee!!!)

I usually only complete out-of-state acknowledgments if there's a written request. Otherwise, I attach a compliant CA one. If a notary chooses to complete an out-of-state acknowledgment and it turns out that the acknowledgement is not compliant for that other state, and the doc won't record, doc is rejected, notarization challenged in court - the notary could be held liable for the consequences of the transaction. I know notarizing doesn't make the doc legal, but notarization does affect whether a doc is *accepted*.

The notary could argue that they aren't responsible to know other state's notary laws. Overall, that's true....but what a notary places their signature and seal on may be held to the *letter* of the law, regardless of the notary's state of commission. And this is why I always encourage CA notaries to only complete CA acknowledgements since we know what they're supposed to say and only complete out-of-state acknowledgments when the request is in writing.

Reply by Exclusive Mobile Notary on 5/15/13 11:19pm
Msg #470178

If the property is in AZ and is being recorded in AZ, use the AZ ack. Simple answer.

Just like for us in CA, if we see a Deed created for a property in CA and its going to be recorded in CA, we would ensure the ack is correct for CA.