Posted by Marie Gilbertson on 1/1/09 12:27am
Msg #273246

Notary Journal?

Ok, I was wondering if someone could tell me what we do with our journals once they are filled. Do we hold on to them? Also, this may sound like a dumb question, but say you notarize two Deed of Trusts for the same person, do you need two separate journal entries? It seems like I am doing so many entries! Do you have to do a separate entry for each item you notarize or is there a way to condense it? Thank you for your help!

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 1/1/09 3:00am
Msg #273250

Well, there really is no such thing as a dumb question. But, there are some questions that have answers that you should already know...especially if you're already commissioned. But that's okay by me. THe others may not be as kind.

The first question is one of those... read pages 11 & 12 of the CA handbook. The answer to your question isn't specifically addressed as such, but answered indirectly in several places:

"A notary public is required to keep one active sequential journal at a time... The journal must be kept in a locked and secured area (such as a lock box or locked desk drawer), under the direct and exclusive control of the notary public... The sequential journal is the exclusive property of the notary public... Within 30 days from the date the notary public commission is no longer valid, the notary public must deliver all notarial journals, records and papers to the county clerk’s office where the oath is on file."

In other words, when a journal is full, it's still YOURS and you have to keep it/them locked up. I suggest a locking file drawer if you have a lot of them. I know one notary who keeps hers in a locked file box in a safe. The journals remain yours until you resign your commission or let it expire, then you have to turn them in to the county clerk. The clerk will keep the journals on file, usually for up to 10 years or so, depending on the county and the space they have for storage.


As for the second question... the answer depends on the journal you're using. Not all journals are created equal. The Modern Journal of Notarial Events (MoJo) available here at NotRot is really great because it allows you to check off multiple documents for a single line entry. It also has space for extra notes for other documents. If you don't already have one of those, I suggest you buy one and check it out. I've looked at tons of journal formats, and the MoJo is the best one out there.

You don't have to fill a journal completely before switching to a new one, just make sure you close out the old one in a way that no new entries can be added.

Reply by LKT/CA on 1/1/09 12:07pm
Msg #273276

Here are message numbers to a prior discussion. Use the orange search button and look up the following msg numbers.
258917
258943
259028

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 1/1/09 2:58pm
Msg #273285

All the handbook tells us is that we must keep a sequential journal of all acts performed. Now that I think about it for a bit... given that each notarial act is separate (ack/jurat and seal), it is probably due it's own line. I've never liked the diagonal line treatment and have never felt comfortable doing that.

What I've been doing is that in a single line, I notate the order in which each act was performed. So if I have three acts in a single transaction, instead of a check mark, I indicate them with A1(:08), J2(:19), A3(:25) over the two check boxes and I write, specifically, "Three Documents Total, Two Ack, One Jurat" in the notes. The minutes after indicate at what point in the hour that particular act took place. That way, I know how many and in which order they were done. In my mind that still stands as sequential, but I can totally see and even agree with the argument on one line per act, period. And if two people are signing the document, my method is no longer strictly sequential... nor would anyone else's using the NotRot format.

Of course, there is no law that we even need to use any of the pre-printed journals out there... just that we need to maintain one. We're free to make up our own or just record them in a simple notebook. For all we know, a journal could be as simple as a Moleskin pocket notebook and the notary writes everything by hand. I mean, why not? So long as all the elements are recorded... it works. Of course, t comes off as less professional perhaps... but it's no less legal. And I can see the wisdom in using a notebook that doesn't scream "notary journal" for security.