Posted by Mario Gutierrez on 2/13/06 5:57pm
Msg #96825

Loan Officer/Notary in California

Hello everyone,

I'm a new notary and new to the board. Hopefully someone can help out with this. I was actually having a conversation with another notary, and this came up. As a loan officer and a notary, can they notarize their own docs? I say yes as long as the loan isn't for the actual loan officer. The other notary says no since their name is on the docs. If someone could help that would be great. Thank you.

Reply by patricia on 2/13/06 6:04pm
Msg #96827

if you mean can the loan officer notarize their customers documents the answer is yes.

Reply by Mario Gutierrez on 2/13/06 6:15pm
Msg #96830

Yes that's what I meant. Thank you I appreciate it.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 2/13/06 6:21pm
Msg #96832

Your state notary handbood defines what is considered "beneficial interest" in a transaction and you should be familiar with this info. While the circumstances you describe might not be strictly illegal in California, my personal opinion is that it is always a bad idea. There is still the potential for at least a perceived conflict of interest. For example, someone with a commission at stake might be more lenient with an ID issue than they perhaps should be. Again, jmho... Also, this was an issue several years back with the HFC/Beneficial law suit. They are prohibited from having any of their LOs do their loan signings, even if it is for someone else in their office. I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being the case for Ameriquest, too, once the dust settles. (I don't know if they do any of their own signings in house or not, however.)

Please continue to study your notary handbook (the one issued by the SOS, *not* the NNA!). Getting your commission is only the beginning and doesn't mean you've retained all you need to know. I still frequently come across errors made by other notaries. If you plan to do loan doc signing, you should know your state's notary laws inside and out! Also, you may want to check out message #33325 on this board. There is info there that could answer many questions for you and save you lots of time.

Reply by Anonymous on 2/13/06 6:35pm
Msg #96839

Thanks again, that was helpful. It seems like you're better off not signing even if it's not illegal.

Reply by Calnotary on 2/13/06 6:47pm
Msg #96849

I ve just came from a signing I did for a Real EState/Mortgage Broker. I told him, you should
have one of your notaries notarize your loan, instead of me comming to your office, he said
that the lender told him it was conflict of interest.

Reply by patricia on 2/13/06 6:56pm
Msg #96854

I agree, it seems like a conflict of interest to me but the law does allow it. I know of many
lenders and mortgage brokers who still will not allow it.

Reply by Calnotary on 2/13/06 7:31pm
Msg #96863

Where are you located Mario?