Roger, again, I understand what you're saying. I even agree with what you're saying. However, California notaries are bound by, and somewhat limited to, California notary law. California notaries are not concerned with the contents of the document, only the completeness of the document. We are notarizing signatures, not documents.
"Foreign Language
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."
Does your state allow a notary to notarize when document it is in foreign language that is unfamiliar to the notary? If so, how does the notary handle that?
Using the OP example, if the body of the document states, "The undersigned being first duly sworn, on oath, deposes and says that . . . " but the notarial certificate verbiage is for that of an Acknowledgment, then I will use a California compliant Acknowledgment. If the notarial certificate verbiage says sworn or under oath or anything similar to Jurat verbiage, then I will use a California compliant Jurat. If the notarial certificate verbiage has a melange of Jurat and Acknowledgment wording, then that document gets both certificates from me.
When you're notarizing for an AIF and you come to a document that has a Jurat, how do you handle that? Can the AIF swear/affirm to the truthfulness of that document? Have you noticed that most packages being signed by AIF, have Acknowledgments for every notarization, including affidavits? I believe there's a reason for that. Lenders/TCs usually have legal counsel on staff or retainer and these documents have been reviewed by legal counsel. It is not up to the notary to determine the legality of a document. In fact, a notarization does not make that document legal. It just means the notary identified the signer by proper means and witnessed the signing or took an acknowledgment and gave an oath/affirmation, if required.
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