This is probably too lake to help ChosenNSA, but I'll post for future reference.
When getting a call for an appointment, it's important to get a clear idea of who is doing what, and what the notary's role is.
When the notary is actually performing a notarial act, the notary is an officer of the government and impartial. If hired as a signing agent, the NSA may have obligations to one party, such as printing and delivering documents.
It is critical for the notary to read the laws and notary manual of his/her state to understand what state of mind the signer must be in to perform his/her part of the notarial act. Does the signer have to be, in the judgement of the lay notary, mentally competent? Acting voluntarily? Does the signer need to have a general understanding of the documents? In my state, there are no specific laws about this, but my practice is that the signer must appear to be acting voluntarily, appear in my non-professional judgement to be mentally competent, and seem to be generally aware of the purpose of the documents.
It is the responsibility of the seller to regard the buyer and the bank that is lending money to the buyer as potential adversaries. The seller must guard against anything being put in the documents that would be to the seller's disadvantage. The seller must also satisfy him/herself that he/she will actually receive the payment. In most places, it's the seller's responsibility to write the deed that transfer's ownership to the buyer. Naturally, this is beyond the ability of most sellers, so they usually hire a lawyer to take care of it.
If the seller isn't an attorney, or otherwise qualified to handle this sort of thing (perhaps a real estate agent) and the seller didn't hire an attorney, that's a red flag. If the seller had hired an attorney, I'd expect the closing to be in the attorney's office, with the attorney or the attourney's secretary doing the notarizations. The fact that the seller is calling me is a red flag.
If during the appointment phone call it came out that the only professionals involved are the lender and the title company hired by the lender, my presumption would be that the seller doesn't understand the documents, so I wouldn't be able to notarize the documents. The onus would be on the seller to convince me he/she understands the documents. I wouldn't try t quiz the seller on the documents themselves, rather, I would ask the seller about his/her qualifications, such as real estate agent, title company employee for some other tile company, judge, etc. Most likely I would be turning the assignment down. |
