Posted by Grammy824/NC on 3/15/06 5:56am
Msg #105087

Name Affidavit

My loan package contains two Name Affidavits--one for husband and one for wife. The first line states: I, __________________, hereby certify under penalty of perjury that:

B.Jones

are one and the same person.

Then Mr. Jones has a signature line to sign his name. Two questions: who is certifying, the notary, or Mr. Jones? Secondly, Mr. Jones says he has never been known as B. Jones and he will not sign that he has. I have the same situation on the wife's Name Affidavit and she will not sign. They want to line through the names that are typed and put their correct names. Is this permissible?

Reply by Brenda_NC on 3/15/06 6:57am
Msg #105095

You appear very new and unsure with all of the questions you're asking. Don't you know you are the notary therefore, Mr. Jones can't notarize his own sigs? I suggest you study more before you just jump into this.

Reply by Grammy824/NC on 3/15/06 11:14am
Msg #105207

New?--no. Unsure?--yes. That's why I asked the question. I have not seen a Name Affidavit like this one before. I was not asking if Mr. Jones could notarize his own signature. I asked if he was certifying, or if I was, since I am the one who verified his name. I have not just "jumped into" doing closings and am very serious about the work that I do. That's why if I am unsure, I ask questions.

Reply by PAW on 3/15/06 7:21am
Msg #105102

Typically, notaries do not certify facts or details of a document. The "affiant" does. Therefore, in this example (a Same Name Affidavit or similar document), Mr. Jones' name must appear in the "I, _____ certify" portion, and he must sign it. Then you, as a notary public, are charged with notarizing his signature, either by acknowledgment or jurat.

As for not signing, you need to tell them that any document that is not completed may result in a delay in the processing of their loan or even the possibility of the loan not funding at all. With name affidavits and AKA statements, if a borrower refuses to offer a signature sample for a name variation, and the variation is really way out in left field, you can have them write something to the effect that they have never used that variation. However, if the variation is similar to their actual name, it may have been found during the credit search or title search. It really needs to be signed in that form so if there is any question about the signature associated a given variation, signature samples can be compared. This is to prevent forgery and fraud. It has nothing to do with actually using a name variation for the purpose of this loan.

Reply by Grammy824/NC on 3/15/06 11:16am
Msg #105209

Paw,
Thank you so much for the information. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge and expertise with me. Now that I know the answer, I won't have to ask this question again.