A notarial protest is an archaic process that was used in the 19th Century to guarantee payment of a debt. Nothing more, nothing less. Period, full stop.
Its usage was pretty much restricted to notaries who worked for a bank. Person A incurred a debt to Person B and refused to pay it; the notarial protest was intended to show that the debt was valid. All you have to do is look at the fee allowed for a protest (in TX, $1 vs. $6 for a notarization) to realize that this is not a common notarial activity.
The "sovereign citizen" movement has latched onto it as a way to AVOID payment of a debt - the opposite of its intent - and they try to rope unsuspecting notaries into helping them. They often refer to the UCC as "proof" that what they are doing is legal. It's not. What they're trying to do is avoid paying a debt they legally incurred. Very few notaries have ever, or will ever, be involved in such a protest - and you may be putting yourself in legal jeopardy by doing so because the courts do not have a sense of humor when it comes to stuff like this. Do some research - I'm pretty sure you will not find an incident where such a bogus "protest" was upheld by a court, and people HAVE gone to prison because of it.
You have been caught up in a scam, and your best bet is to walk away from it and not look back. Do with this information what you will. |