Posted by Cheryl Anderson on 3/26/08 12:00am
Msg #240745

Stuck on this one...

I went this evening to a signing, and the borrower, at the end of the signing- pulls out an older quit claim deed for the property and showed me that it was sent back to her from the recorder's office. She asked me to notarize it again for her...HOWEVER...the doc was notarized by a previous notary on Jan. 18, 2008-in CALIFORNIA-with an old acknowledgment...and the notary's stamp was so heavily inked that it bled through to the other side covering doc. info and then onto the second page...and was also smudged. The person quit-claiming is now out of state-in Florida, mind you, and is terminally ill, and isn't espected to live very long at all and apparently cannot even speak on the phone-according to the borrower. A letter from the recorder's office was written to the previous notary explaining IN GREAT DETAIL how to fill out a proper 2008 acknowledgment, including a copy of one in that particular package-that is if the borrower could get a hold of this previous notary. Of course I couldn't notarize the doc't for her, but am wondering if there was anything that could be done about this person's unfortunate scenario.

Reply by CJ on 3/26/08 12:21am
Msg #240746

If it's that important . . .

If I were the borrower with this problem, I would personally get on a plane to Florida, put the person in the car and drive them to a notary. Or, call up my favorite SS and pay out of my own pocket for the notary to go over there, with a letter explaining everything. Or have the Notary meet me there.

Or, of course, you have to find that previous notary. I know they can sure find us when WE make mistakes. I don't know how to find previous notaries, but that person must have been paid by someone. Can the borrower get out their old loan docs and see who title paid, or whatever?

Reply by Cheryl Anderson on 3/26/08 12:36am
Msg #240748

Re: If it's that important . . .

Unfortunately, (and I had forgotten to put this in my previous post), the signer went to a local bank which is no longer there...however, she has the copy with the notary's comm#, and she is commissioned in county...

Your post reflected exactly what I was thinking...hmmm...probably can't suggest much for her except to do exactly that...I did try and look up this particular notary-to no avail...however--probably not much anyone can do at this point anyway. The unfortunate eminence of death of the other party perhaps will be her only recourse...that is too bad...but thank you so much for your reply.

Reply by CJ on 3/26/08 12:52am
Msg #240752

Re: If it's that important . . .

How can the previous loan fund, if the title is incorrect due to the unrecorability of the QC? If the person dies, won't that mess things up even more?

When we tried to get Mom's living trust signed, brother (in another state), kept procrastinating siging his part. He wanted to think about it more and more. He would not tell us what he was worried about, but he refused to sign it. He is just not a paper person. Mom was slipping more and more into Altzheimers, which was an important factor. The trust followed the will exactly, so that was not the problem. We begged and pestered explainted over the phone for a year. (We had signed our part.) Finally, we got on the plane, flew from California to Oklahoma, but his butt in the car, drove 2 hours to Oklahoma City, got to the attorny's office, put the pen in his hand, and he signed it. (I forget now why HE had to sign it, but I do remember that his signature was holding everything up.) I was so scared that he was not going to sign it, (jeapordizing his inheritance as well as ours) but I thought, "Well, if he doesn't sign it, at least he will tell us what he is nervous about". But the attorney explained it (just like we had), and he signed it.

Then when we got back in the car, (me, my husband, and the brother), I thought, "The first thing out of his mouth will be what was REALLY on his mind the whole time." so I was eagaerly listening. He said, "Welp, I'm hungry. Let's get a burger".

So I vote for fly out and get it done.

Reply by CJ on 3/26/08 1:27am
Msg #240755

P.S.

About my story:

Don't worry about mom, everything in the trust is set up to take care of her. No one inherits anything until she is gone. The trust is to make sure the transition goes smoothly, without the government getting any of it.

Reply by desktopfull on 3/26/08 8:31am
Msg #240766

She has the commission# and can't go the SOS's

office and look up the name and address of this notary with that info? If you have the commission # you can look up any notary on the web in Florida. They should be able to call the SOS and give them the number, explain the problem and get the info they need.

Reply by Marlene/USNA on 3/26/08 9:08am
Msg #240772

California doesn't have an online lookup, but. . .

. . .call the Notary Public Section at (916) 653-3595 (the phone tree is awful, but keep pressing) and they can tell you about the notary.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 3/26/08 8:59am
Msg #240769

Shouldn't this have been taken care of by title or lender

before the loan was cleared to close? They should have been aware there were two people on title, and the loan docs should have reflected that - the QCD signer is still an owner of record since the QC deed never recorded. How many names were on the docs? There should have been two SOMEWHERE in there.

Reply by ReneeK_MI on 3/26/08 10:12am
Msg #240785

Like-minds, Linda

Doesn't add up to me, either. I'm left wondering if this was something the borrower was misunderstanding - if what she received kicked-back was some kind of COPY and if the original kicked-back to a title agent that already had it fixed/recorded? I don't know - just doesn't add up.

Reply by ItsMe123 on 3/26/08 2:18pm
Msg #240812

Re: Like-minds, Linda

Have her contact the title company that insured that transaction, say a few words about contacting the lender and that will get fixed real fast ---

Reply by MistarellaFL on 3/26/08 3:21pm
Msg #240817

Or, hire a mobile notary in FL

To go and have the doc re-signed/notarized.

Reply by sue_pa on 3/26/08 3:40pm
Msg #240819

just curious as to why you care. They have a title company, they have a lender and if it's enough of an issue they can get an attorney. TOTALLY not our business to help them with this kind of situation - once you said you cannot notarize the doc that should be the end of it. Don't know about your state but finding the original notary probably doesn't matter - there is no thing such as "reacknowledging" although plenty do it - it must go back to the signer and be acknowledged again and a new notarization performed.

Reply by Cheryl Anderson on 3/26/08 4:08pm
Msg #240827

Re: Stuck on this one...Thank you, Sue...

Thank you, Sue-your info was definitely helpful...and I truly am not making this my problem, however, I do care-it is my nature. I think that is what sets some apart from others...ALTHOUGH-I will not break my back fruitlessly. But if there was any direction I could have provided without stepping over my very bold line...and believe me-I know quite well where my line is drawn, then I would HAVE LIKED TO HELP...and of course I am aware of the inability to re-ack and have no intentions to do so. This woman's sister is out of state, and is very ill...if I had any more appropriate resources, other than having her contact her lender or an attorney, have a notary in Florida acknowledge the sig, which I already had suggested to her, then I would have given that. I was merely looking for feedback. I suppose that is the end of that...and thanks so much, again-and have a great day-to you and all who have responded!