Posted by Anonymous on 5/2/05 5:59pm
Msg #35383

Grantor Acknowledgement

This is a very simple question, but I'm new and I need a little help. I'm in California and I'm notarizing a Deed of Trust from Missouri and the form that was given to me was a Grantor Acknowledgement form. I have never seen a form like this so it is a little hard to understand. The form has a lot of "fill in the blanks" and it does not mention anything about authorized capacities, but does state within the document "executed the same as he/she/their free act and deed. Now my question is, is the "free act and deed" the same as saying authorized capacities or should I just use and all purpose acknowledgement form?

Reply by ERNA_CA on 5/2/05 6:06pm
Msg #35385

Just my opinion.
I always use the form that conforms with my state and laws.

Reply by Anonymous on 5/2/05 6:06pm
Msg #35387

Thank You

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 5/2/05 6:09pm
Msg #35389

When in doubt - toss it out and use one of your own state approved certificates

Reply by Anonymous on 5/2/05 6:18pm
Msg #35390

Thank You very much. Now here's a funny question. I started to fill out the Grantor Acknowledgement form and then got to the "authorized capacity" point where I got confused and I stopped. Now do I "X" through that form and attach my california acknowledgement form to it or can I just throw the old form out completly to save people from any confusion.

Reply by ERNA_CA on 5/2/05 6:21pm
Msg #35391

Re: Grantor Acknowledgement Fill out????? surly not.n/m

Reply by Anonymous on 5/2/05 6:23pm
Msg #35393

Re: Grantor Acknowledgement Fill out????? surly not.n/m

I'm sorry I don't quit understand

Reply by Anonymous on 5/2/05 6:26pm
Msg #35395

Re: Grantor Acknowledgement Fill out????? surly not.n/m

Do I "X" through it or throw the old form out?

Reply by ERNA_CA on 5/2/05 6:32pm
Msg #35397

Re: Grantor Acknowledgement Fill out????? surly not.n/m

What I meant is only thing you fill in is your notary part of any form, apart from filling in the date on the right to cancel form.
All I can say without seining the form, here in CA we are not to notarize a form that has blank spaces that can be filled in later. I cant tell you what to do but I told you what I always do.

Reply by Anonymous on 5/2/05 6:40pm
Msg #35402

Re: Grantor Acknowledgement Fill out????? surly not.n/m

Thank you for your help. Here is the form:

State of ___, _____ OF ______)ss.

On this ____ day of _____, before me appeared______ to me known to be the person(s) described in and who executed the foregoing instrument, and acknowledged that____ executed the same as______free act and deed.
To me personally known, who, being by me duly sworn did say that s/he is the ________
(title)(s) of________(name of business or Entity) and that the seal affixed to foregoing instrument is the corporate seal of said corporation or association, ans that said instrument was signed and sealed in behalf of said corporation.............there is a lot more to this form, but I don't have the time to type it all out. So should I just attach the california form and cross this one out?

Reply by Anonymous on 5/2/05 6:50pm
Msg #35406

Re: Grantor Acknowledgement Fill out????? surly not.n/m

I know these questions are silly, but I'm just confused on how to handle the situation. Do I throw out the old form or do I "x" it out and initial it and then attach the ca form.

Reply by Sam I Am CA on 5/2/05 6:55pm
Msg #35411

Re: Grantor Acknowledgment? Or is it a Jurat???

***being by me duly sworn***

If they are being sworn by you then IMHO it is a jurat form they need - not an acknowledgment.

Sam

Reply by ERNA_CA on 5/2/05 7:01pm
Msg #35414

Re: Grantor Acknowledgment? Or is it a Jurat???

I repeat. I can not tell you what to use, you have to decide that for your self. I did tell you what I do wich is. I only use forms that conform to my state and notary law. The form you have has Jurat wording along with a lot of other wording wich I have never seen.

Reply by PAW_Fl on 5/2/05 8:12pm
Msg #35424

Re: Grantor Acknowledgement Fill out????? surly not.n/m

I submit that this certificate would be invalid in any state, since the wording is ambiguous as to whether you are taking an acknowledgment or giving an oath. The certificate states that the signers are acknowledging they executed the document and then state that they were duly sworn. You can't have it both ways in one certificate. And, you can't determine which is the correct form either. You need to call the title company and see what they want.

Historically, from previous experience, grant acknowledgments, deeds and mortgages have an acknowledgment on them. If this is a corporate deed, then there quite often is two certificates, one an acknowledgment of execution and one that the signer states that (s)he is an authorized agent of the company and has the authorized to sign on behalf of that company.

Reply by Reenie/CA on 5/2/05 9:57pm
Msg #35455

Re: Grantor Acknowledgement Fill out????? surly not.n/m

You must use a CA Acknowledgement form.

Reply by Reenie/CA on 5/2/05 9:59pm
Msg #35456

Re: Grantor Acknowledgement Fill out????? surly not.n/m

Oops! My mistake. The word "sworn" is always your clue to Jurat! Disregard my last post. What I do if there is a jurat or acknowledgement that is not in line with CA state law, I place a line through it and make a note to "see attached" and then attach the CA jurat or acknowledgement.
Good Luck!

Reply by Anonymous on 5/3/05 9:48am
Msg #35497

Re: Grantor Acknowledgement Fill out????? surly not.n/m

Thank you all for your help, but I'm pretty sure this is an acknowledgement do to the fact that the form that was given was called a Grantor Acknowledgement. Would I be correct and thinking this would be an Acknowledgement?

Reply by Jon on 5/3/05 10:30am
Msg #35503

Re: Grantor Acknowledgement Fill out????? surly not.n/m

Bottom line.

The form you typed is not clear about which type of act they want. You must call title to get clarification if they want a jurat or acknowledgement. You should never decide which form to use(in this case it is better not to think), always get direction if the pre-printed wording is not EXPLICITLY clear about what they want. Finally, you should attach a loose certificate for this document because the pre-printed wording does not comply with CA statutes, and I doubt it conforms to any other states laws either.

Reply by Art_MD on 5/3/05 10:51am
Msg #35505

Re: Grantor Acknowledgement - a 2 in 1 special !!

This form doesn't appear to be legit anywhere in that it. (JMHO)
1. First line would require you to know the signer. (..to me known..)
2. First 2 lines are acknowlegement wording.
3. starting at line 3 again "... to me personally known.."
4. you would be close to certifying as to capacity - which you can't do in CA.

5. IMHO, If the information from line 3 on was in the body of the document, and then there was proper jurat/acknowlegement wording, you could notarize. Otherwise - don't notarize it !!!

Art

Reply by PAW_Fl on 5/3/05 11:13am
Msg #35513

Re: Grantor Acknowledgement - a 2 in 1 special !!

"To me known" (and similar wording) is standard notary certificate wording due to the fact the person becomes known to you by presenting proper identification to you, personally, or through a chain of identification (credible witnesses). Therefore, the first line is correct and the notary does not need to have previously known the signer.

Reply by Art_MD on 5/3/05 11:21am
Msg #35517

Re: Grantor Acknowledgement - a 2 in 1 special !!

Paul,

How about the "personally known" part ?

Art

Reply by PAW_Fl on 5/3/05 11:46am
Msg #35523

Re: Grantor Acknowledgement - a 2 in 1 special !!

I thought I had addressed that. The person becomes known to you by presenting proper identification to you, personally. It means that you personally know who the signer is, because you personally and properly ID'ed him/her. Therefore, the signer is "personally known". It doesn't mean that you have any relationship with the signer other than a professional one: notary/signer.

To simplify things, try this. If you meet someone on the street whom you have never met, you couldn't say they are known to you to be who they are. However, if they present you with proper ID and you "reasonably" determine that they are who they say they are, then you can say you know them (to be the persons they say they are). If you could identify them or if you meet them again in a casual setting, then you "know" them (to be the person they say they are).

Reply by Anonymous on 5/3/05 12:34pm
Msg #35532

Re: Grantor Acknowledgement - a 2 in 1 special !!

The Deed of trust that I was notarizing is for personal property. They are not signing on behalf of a company/entity, so most of that acknowledgement form that was giving to me was N/A to the person signing. The person signing told me that it was a pretty standard form she received many times and has had it notarized many times without any problems. So, I feel pretty confident in notarizing it due to my own judgement. I hope everything goes ok....wish me luck and thank you for all your help!