Hi, Philip
WA is so odd!
Lots of what I know about my job in general and specifically regarding which government-issued papers can be copy certified and which can't is from talking with the gals at notary division at the SoS.
(Not the DoL - they don't know stuff even tho they issue our licenses. You've seen their forms: no room for a small notary seal even when notarization is required and the notarial text is wrong.)
I called the notary office at the SoS so frequently during the first six months I was here they still recognize my voice 5.5 years later.
Sometimes they call me to ask my opinion or to tell me about possible new legislation that would affect notaries. I almost dropped the phone the first time that happened. (One time they called to let me know that the TCs were trying to push through eRecording of deeds legislation via building on weird Railroad / Transportation laws and regs. eRecording is scary when you think how fast and loose WA TCs are.)
Calling the SoS notary office with a what I thought was a small detail question about copy certification in context of notaty advocate / presentment / honor-dishonor practices is how I discovered last year that the SoS here absolutely forbids non-bank notaries from doing this work even though there is not one word anywhere (codes, online, regs, etc) stating this.
One incident and a notary is sanctioned. She didn't need to tell me what would happen if there was a second incident.
I must give these wonderful gals lots of credit.
One spent a ton of time on the phone explaining the reasons for all this to me and saying this advanced type of protest / UCC work is best left to the top management-level notaries at the big banks. Made sense to me.
That's why I have been posting about notary advocate / presentment / honor-dishonor / mail forwarding / UCC protest strategies lately. You are welcome to add my most recent one to 33325 if you think it is worthy.
All of the gals at the notary SOS office are always pleasant and thorough when they returns my calls asking for clarification. I am grateful they are so generous with their and expertise even if they can't get back to me for a day or two. When I went to testify in Olympia a few years ago, I made the time to visit their office and meet everyone. They are lovely.
Telling you what I have learned might be UPL because I can't point to code this or that so if you have questions, call the SoS notary office. That's why is phrased my answer to the OP as "what I would do." Gotta be careful.
One of my very first questions to this office 6 years ago was that I found 2 contradicting codes that tell me what to do if presented with an expired ID. (The answer is in two differing sections of the five posted online.) One terrific gal gave me the skinny. Otherwise, I would have just been guessing at the right answer. I don't do that.
Several years ago, the notary office at the SoS was positioned to write a plain-English version of all our regs, codes, and practices. (The NNA primer is filled with errors, btw.) Linda and the others were very excited about it. But the economy pushed that project into another decade. Oh well.
Some people on the notary boards have accused me of being a know it all. That stings. I'm not and never will be. I just pick up the phone to get the right answer from someone authorized to advise me.
People joke that Californians are wackos but a gal practically has to be psychic to know her notary job in WA.
I'm not psychic so I just pick up the phone.
Hope this helps, LauraV
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