Posted by Marian_in_CA on 2/23/10 3:59pm
Msg #323948

It totally happened again...

Hubby had to go get another thing notarized today (ugh). Same place... different notary.

He came back home and said, "It's a good thing you weren't there..."

He proceeded to tell me that the notary didn't issue the oath, as required... and AGAIN, this notary attached loose (NNA style) forms to a document that I made SURE had the proper wording on it! Seriously? What a freaking waste. To top it all off, she did the diagonal signature thing in her journal.



He said he didn't say anything... just wanted out of there because he had to wait almost an hour, but he knew I'd be mad.

Oh, and one more delightful tidbit...

On the signature line of the perfectly adequate notarial block, she wrote:

"See atachd notary."

That's how she wrote it.


No wonder people hate us.

Reply by CopperheadVA on 2/23/10 4:03pm
Msg #323950

Last year I had my signature notarized at my bank - not only did the notary fail to administer an oath on the jurat, she also failed to notice that there was no venue pre-printed on the form and she did not add it.

Reply by MW/VA on 2/23/10 4:04pm
Msg #323951

So much for all those very strict CA notary requirements & laws, and for all the hype of the NNA.
I thought you all had to take a course.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 2/23/10 4:24pm
Msg #323957

That's the sad part....

We DO have to take a class... but as I've mentioned before, most of them take the exam right afterward and don't have any idea what they're doing. It's really sad... there's just no basic reasoning it seems.

I can't believe this person actually used a loose acknowledgment certificate. No wonder she didn't issue an oath -- she wasn't paying any attention. It was suppose to be a jurat, and the wording was accurate for such. She never asked my husband what is should be...just said, "The wording is incomplete..."


I'm a nice person... but they are going to get an earful from me on this. We have to get these re-done... again.

I suppose it's just the perfectionist in me, but dang it... it's NOT a difficult job!

Reply by Notarysigner on 2/23/10 4:44pm
Msg #323961

Re: It totally happened again. wow!..

Funny this should come up; Since I wanted to be the best notary I can. I took my first notary class (after 2 1/2 years of being a notary) and graduated today precisely because of what you just mentioned Marilynn. Strict notary requirements & laws with no guidance. I'm glad I did. Although most of the things I was doing were being done correctly, theY were done as a result of "the school of hard knocks".

It's good to know the "why" you do something instead of the "just do it this way cause that's the way it's done", mindset. I'm glad I took the course because I'm getting close the the expertise level the rest of you have,....kinda sorta!

Reply by MW/VA on 2/23/10 4:58pm
Msg #323964

I'm sure it's no different anywhere else. In VA we have no

course requirements. I took the NNA cert course--hahahaha! and learned a lot of mistakes!
I was one of the gullible in thinking I would get good training there--what a joke!

Reply by Notarysigner on 2/23/10 5:02pm
Msg #323965

Re: I'm sure it's no different anywhere else. In VA we have no

DITTO I promised at the beginning of the year I wouldn't bash any notary ON THIS FORUM but then the NNA doesn't count doe it LOL!

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 2/23/10 4:04pm
Msg #323952

And she used - ACK certificates... not jurats...

as she should have.

I think I'm over being nice.

(And yes... this notary uses NNA loose forms, and her seal is form the NNA.... shocking, I'm sure.)

Reply by GOLDGIRL/CA on 2/23/10 4:39pm
Msg #323960

Re: And she used - ACK certificates... not jurats...

OMG! Marian. What a mess. The same thing happened to me and my husband recently. He had to have some inheritance docs notarized so we went to a UPS store in Sacramento. Two of the docs required jurats - UPS notary did not administer an oath nor was the preprinted wording on the docs CA compliant for a jurat. But neither seemed to bother Mr. Notary. The only thing he did correctly was ID my husband - oh, and collect $10 per. My husband was worried the docs would be no good in Louisiana, where the property was located, cos I was throwing such a fit over this notary ... but I guess it doesn't matter. You're right about these bonehead notaries - it reflects very badly on all of us - I occasionally wonder if the Secretary of State is even slightly interested in clamping down on these idiots. The legislature goes to all the trouble to pass all these laws, yet nobody seems to notice or care. I had a loan signing with a real-live notary recently and gave her the oath for some affidavits and she had NO IDEA what I was doing or why. She was shocked and amazed. And she did loan signings, too, she said. Once I was signing at a RE office, and when I gave the oath to the borrowers, the Realtor and the LO, both of whom were present, started giggling and rolling their eyes. Yikes! What do these people think "Subscribed and SWORN TO" means?

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 2/23/10 7:17pm
Msg #323986

Re: And she used - ACK certificates... not jurats...

No kidding, right??? I'm just appalled at the whole thing.

My husband actually wrote out the complaint on this one... he said said he knew I was going to blow a gasket when I told him what happened. He was just about right!

Amazingly all the bonehead notarial mistakes I see have seal with the NNA1 manufacturer code on them. Funny how I never see any doofuses using the NR01 seals....

Reply by HB/CA on 2/23/10 4:29pm
Msg #323959

I'm so glad to see that I'm not the only one giving the oath with a jurat in CA. Almost everytime I give an oath I get, "That's the first time I ever had to do that, I never had to do that last time, is this something new?"

Reply by GOLDGIRL/CA on 2/23/10 4:46pm
Msg #323962

I get that all the time, too, HB/CA n/m

Reply by KODI/CA on 2/23/10 6:05pm
Msg #323971

Marian, you have the proof. n/m

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 2/23/10 6:08pm
Msg #323974

Re: Marian, you have the proof.

Yup! I just got off the phone with her supervisor, who is also a notary... and apparently they all had a training with the NNA 2 weeks ago. (insert chuckle here)

I went on a mini-rant about the NNA, and this lady seemed surprised at what I was telling her.

Reply by KODI/CA on 2/23/10 6:07pm
Msg #323973

oops, too fast

Marian, how about doing the public a favor and filing a complaint with our Sec of State. No one should have to go through what you and your husband have. In addition, the general public usually does not have a clue and would not recognize the problems. JMHO.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 2/23/10 6:10pm
Msg #323975

Re: oops, too fast

I've already filled out the form...

I'm a nice person, really.... but this isn't just about me. These people are not being trained properly and if we don't speak up, changes aren't going to be made. If my squeaky wheel self-appointed hall monitor self irritates them, I'm not really sure I care.

Reply by KODI/CA on 2/23/10 6:14pm
Msg #323976

Re: oops, too fast

On behalf of the many caring notaries on this forum, as well as the general public, Thank you.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 2/23/10 9:08pm
Msg #324016

Yep!! Wish I had a C-note for every time I've heard that... I could buy myself a very nice vacation!

Reply by Julie/MI on 2/23/10 7:40pm
Msg #323991

Did she check his id?

I'm going to print all of the CA notary complaints in the event Michigan legislators think notary classes make a better notary.

Thankfully my state states that notary error does not invalidate a document.

As long as the person is identified through identification, the rest of the fancy schmancy notary wording doesn't really mean a hill of beans nor does it weed out imposters or fraud by the signer.

What a waste of CA notarys' $$$ and time.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 2/23/10 8:12pm
Msg #323997

Re: Did she check his id?

Well, the education helped me.... but then, I didn't take a seminar class.... and I studied my rear-end off before taking the exam, and I did a lot of research on various forums.

I think the "really" bad ones are the ones who "have to get their license" for their jobs... those people seem to be the ones who are the most clueless.

Today, this person's supervisor told me that everything I was telling her she'd need to talk with their NNA liaison to verify.

I believe the next sentence I uttered had the word "crap" in it.

Don't get me wrong, though... I'm middle ground when it comes to the NNA. I think they have done some good things for the industry... and others not so good. I'm no longer a member... but I do follow them because I think it's important to know what they're putting "out there". For one, I'm thrilled they were able to prevent a certain bill from passing in CA last year about a change in ID requirements. Without them, the bill may have easily passed through.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 2/23/10 8:23pm
Msg #323998

Re: Did she check his id?

"I believe the next sentence I uttered had the word "crap" in it. "

preceded by the word "bull" I presume?..LOL..

Reply by JanetK_CA on 2/23/10 9:17pm
Msg #324020

Re: Did she check his id?

Having classes CAN help make people a better notary. The problem is with those who try to get around the requirements. Some of the online classes (for those renewing) make things too easy. The biggest problem is what Marian said about people taking a one-day class (which undoubtedly teaches to the exam so they can claim a great pass rate), and then taking the proctored exam immediately afterward. That means they actually have less than a full day of education - with probably too many in the class to really provide any individual help, they get referred to the NNA handbook (at least with NNA's classes - so they can sell more stuff), not the SOS official handbook, and they never look at any of it again. They pass the exam and they think they're good to go. I don't care who you are, they isn't going to cut it. Period!!!

The requirement for renewal classes was intended to get to those who have been doing the same thing incorrectly for many years, not knowing any differently. At least there's a chance every four years to try to set them straight.

Reply by Alz on 2/23/10 11:27pm
Msg #324031

People, i.e. Borrowers, Realtors, and

Loan Officers....always give me a weird look whenever I administer an oath. In fact, I had a realtor tell me the other day that he has been in the business for 30+ years and has never witness a notary administering an oath....go figure...