Posted by DD/OR on 10/29/06 10:31am
Msg #155934

Question

A husband and wife signed loan docs. Both their names were on the docs, he as co-borrower. He was signing as her husband (spouse). During the course of the signing, she told the notary that he was not her husband but her fiancee. What should a notary do in that situation, if anything?

Reply by REE_NJ on 10/29/06 10:39am
Msg #155935

He is the co-borrower, he still must sign the loan documents. Thereafter, the notary should contact the title company during the signing to see how they want the first page of the Mortgage to read since it should not read, Jane Doe and John Doe, husband and wife. More than likely, they would advise to put a line through husband and wife and have both parties initial. Note: The notary should have inquired prior to signing since if they are not married, the loan documents should reflect Jane Doe's maiden name.

Reply by dickb/wi on 10/29/06 12:47pm
Msg #155975

but of course in this day and age the wife may not take the husbands name......

Reply by Susan Fischer on 10/29/06 10:50pm
Msg #156059

Maiden name? What if her legal name is something else? Watch your language, there...

Reply by Les_CO on 10/29/06 10:47am
Msg #155938

I don't know Oregon law....but it they weren't "Common Law" they probably are now. Did you point out that on some of the docs they were (probably) by signing, swearing to the info as a fact?

Reply by DD/OR on 10/29/06 10:58am
Msg #155941

I heard about this from another source. Just wanted to get opinions.

Reply by BP/WV on 10/29/06 11:33am
Msg #155956

Since when is a notary required to check marriage licenses? Its not your problem. You do nothing.

Reply by Ndwa on 10/29/06 11:37am
Msg #155959

My wife and I bought our home before we married. Anything wrong with that?

Reply by Susan Fischer on 10/29/06 11:10pm
Msg #156062

For me the issue is their legal identity. While notaries do not check marriage licenses, we are charged with confirming identies. If the IDs reflect different names than on the documents, my questions start there. If I could not assure myself of their identities, I would alert the lender of the discrepency and terminate with the signing. Engaged to be married is not married. Couples who by their homes prior to marriage do not hold title as married, but as two people. Married people often have different names. However, the 1003 is an oath under federal jurisdiction, and if they are untruthful on that form stating they were married, I could be at risk for not reporting the ID discrepency to the lender/title company. Mortgage fraudsters love notaries who do not question ID discrepencies and believe stories about 'common law' marriages, lost wallets, and shaky credible witnesses.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 10/29/06 11:12pm
Msg #156063

I meant *buy* their homes, please excuse typo.

Reply by ReneeK_MI on 10/30/06 4:44am
Msg #156075

Whether or not they are married carries implications and consequences. Depending upon the state, there can be some pretty heavy complications to their title interests, for one thing. This is on top of potential identity issues and jurats that might be attesting to a falsehood.

What your responsibility is as I see it - is to pick up the phone and contact someone responsible for making a decision, and advise them of the conflict of info you've become aware of, and getting instructions from them.

**More info than you need to know, but in MI if two unmarried people purchase property, and title vesting is NOT specified, the default assumption is that vesting is as "tenants in common". If they ARE married, and vesting is NOT specified, the default assumption is as "joint tenants w/full rights of survivorship". Just to lay out some of the complications that can result from not providing someone with CORRECT info so THEY can make whatever decisions/corrections need to be made.