Posted by Sylvia_FL on 5/11/10 4:40pm
Msg #335906

Incompetent notary!

Bruce and I had an appointment today to sign a couple of documents.
The notary on staff came in to the room. Bruce and I signed the documents and the notary got out her seal and signed and sealed the document.
I said "wait a minute, this is not the correct way to execute a notarization". She looked at me and said she is a new notary and this is how she was taught and she asked me what was wrong.

I pointed out that the notary certificate said sworn to or affirmed, and she did not put Bruce and I under oath. She said she never does that! I pointed out that there is no venue on the certificate - she said what's that, the name of the office? I explained to her that the venue was State of Florida, Brevard County.
She said she never does that. I told her she needed to add the venue to the certificate. She said she has to do it the way they do it in that office, and they don't do that!

I asked her has she ever read the Govenor's manual, she said No, she never has. She has never seen a notary handbook either.

So, the certificate does not have the venue, and although it said subscribed and sworn, we were not put under oath!
Bruce and I did insist on swearing to the truthfulness of the facts in the document though

Reply by Teresa/FL on 5/11/10 4:43pm
Msg #335908

Will you go to another notary with new docs to have them notarized properly?

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 5/11/10 4:44pm
Msg #335910

Report her Sylvia..her AND her office!!

Along with a complete description of what happened...

"I told her she needed to add the venue to the certificate. She said she has to do it the way they do it in that office, and they don't do that!"

Good Grief!!! If you weren't doing the telling I'd suspect this was a fairy tale!!

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 5/11/10 5:00pm
Msg #335918

Amen to that! Report. There's no excuse

for that kind of incompetence.

How do these people get their commissions?? Good grief.

Reply by desktopfull on 5/11/10 4:46pm
Msg #335911

Why did you let her get away with that instead of bringing it to the attention of those in charge and making the notary do her job correctly? I would have made the notary put the venue on because it's invalid without it, I would have insisted on speaking to someone in charge of the office and made them perform correctly.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 5/11/10 4:49pm
Msg #335913

But she did it the way they do it in the office!!..Ugh n/m

Reply by desktopfull on 5/11/10 4:54pm
Msg #335915

That's why I would have had the person in charge

in the room and being educated on the proper procedures for notarization.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 5/11/10 5:05pm
Msg #335919

Re: That's why I would have had the person in charge

I did this recently at the local AAA office. I called the supervisor and told her how something was *supposed* to be done. She said, "really? That's not what the NNA rep told us at our recent training. I'm going to call him and see if that's true."

I later faxed her the information as printed right off the NNA website. Fortunately, this time... what the NNA had posted was accurate.


Of course, I know from personal experience that it's not just the NNA. There are other instructors out there (in California) who teach incorrect procedure.

Reply by jba/fl on 5/11/10 8:10pm
Msg #335956

Re: That's why I would have had the person in charge

A lot of times people hear the correct information, but they just don't remember hearing it correctly and second guess what they are to do and arrive at an incorrect interpretation.

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 5/11/10 5:09pm
Msg #335920

DTF
The manager was right there in the office!!!

Reply by Notarysigner on 5/11/10 5:33pm
Msg #335924

Oooh Oooh! wait until NR finds out!

Reply by janCA on 5/11/10 6:04pm
Msg #335929

My husband and I signed refi docs a couple of weeks ago for a rental property we own.

I knew the signing agent only by his/her profile and he/she has been an SA a few more years than I have. I've been signing loans for eight years.

First off, my DL says "Janet" and the loan docs had "Jan", which would be acceptable. The agent wanted to see something with just Jan. My DL is signed with Jan, but he/she wanted to see something else. Well, okay, then. We were never given an oath. There was only one document which required an oath, and NONE of the acknowledgments, there were probably four or five, were filled out at all at the table.

When the agent left, I told my husband I was very surprised as to how this signing was done because this was an experienced SA. I was leaving for the midwest on a 6:00 am flight the next morning so if something would have happened to those docs with no certs filled out, we would have been screwed.

Reply by Shoshana/AZ on 5/11/10 6:12pm
Msg #335930

Truthfully speaking, Jan and Janet are two different names. I would also have a problem with that.

Reply by janCA on 5/11/10 6:22pm
Msg #335933

Jan is a form of Janet and is acceptable plus I signed as Jan on my license. Now Elizabeth and Peggy or Beth, or William and Bill, something which is totally different, would not be acceptable.

Reply by Notarysigner on 5/11/10 6:31pm
Msg #335936

what about Janteshia or Janekia? Sorry, just had to take advantage of the opportunity. LOL

Reply by Shoshana/AZ on 5/11/10 8:06pm
Msg #335954

Jan is a name in its own right.

That's why I would need more proof. That's just my opinion.

Reply by parkerc/ME on 5/11/10 6:47pm
Msg #335940

Agree. What about Janice? n/m

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 5/11/10 6:13pm
Msg #335932

When we did our refi last year I insisted on them e-mailing me the docs so I could print them out and get my own notary.

Our very first refi in the 1980's, we signed all the docs. There was no notary there - and of course way back then we didn't know any different! But looking through the recorded docs online the last few years we saw where our signatures had been notarized - and we have no idea who that notary was!

Reply by Notarysigner on 5/11/10 6:32pm
Msg #335938

NR

Reply by Notarysigner on 5/11/10 6:27pm
Msg #335935

Today I was turned down from a job because another notary agreed to do it. It was simple, a visa application but the client wanted me to go to the Dr. office and notarize a blank health statement from their Dr. and said Ooh, he'll fill it in later. I said, no that Dr would have to fill it in first and then I witness their (Dr.) signature and ID. They said, but his is a Dr......someone else did the job.

Similar to me asking a criminal court judge who was acting as a credible witness for a prisoner for his I.D. and him saying, but I'm a Judge. So?

Reply by NMS/FL on 5/11/10 5:57pm
Msg #335927

As you know, there is a lot of that out there! Like the company who came out to do some work and needed me to sign a notarized document. I did and asked the sales person if they were going to notarize it and they said, oh no, I'm not the notary, she'll fill it out back in the office!!!!!!!!!!! A similar process was used at the pool company before we had it dug. In the office, filled out the paperwork, including a paper that needed to be notarized...oh, they just put the papers on her desk and she'll go through an notarize them!!! I think people who do it by the book are a rarity. I decided to put together a brochure I created at the beginning of the year and hand it to the signer to read. Had one doctor read it while I completed his notarial certificate and he broke the silence with, "I never knew any of this about notaries public"! Yep! I even copied a double-sided version of the FL Handbook, bound it, and and gave it to a notary who only completed 4 elements of the required 9 on a financial document I needed notarized. She does all company notarizations for a 250 unit housing unit!!!!
You probably heard of the FL notary that got sued when his notarization on a candidates form in the 2008 election year was determined to be incomplete?

Reply by BrendaTx on 5/11/10 8:14pm
Msg #335958

Notary Sued? Do you have a link for that?

*You probably heard of the FL notary that got sued when his notarization on a candidates form in the 2008 election year was determined to be incomplete? *

I did not think that the notary was sued. I thought the appeal court judge allowed the candidate to run and said that the application was unfairly and harshly judged.

Reply by Robert/FL on 5/11/10 6:34pm
Msg #335939

Typical, typical, typical n/m

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 5/11/10 7:29pm
Msg #335948

Re: Typical, typical, typical

I don't think it is "typical" - but then I don't have such a jaundiced view of notaries like you obviously do Robert. I have more faith in my fellow man!

Reply by Robert/FL on 5/11/10 8:35pm
Msg #335959

Sylvia, I'm just being realistic

I've never seen another notary administer an oath. Never.

I've never seen another notary correct a pre-printed certificate to comply with the law. Never.

In all instances that *I* have seen, the notary fills out the form that is provided, signs and affixes their stamp. They have not been trained to check for the required elements and don't know how to administer an oath. No, it's not right. Yes, our education system sucks. But that is, unfortunately, how most notaries are doing their jobs.

I don't know your background, Sylvia, but anyone who has ever worked in a title agency office, bank, or law firm, will tell you that notaries generally do not take their jobs very seriously and constantly cut corners.

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 5/11/10 8:52pm
Msg #335962

Re: Sylvia, I'm just being realistic

"But that is, unfortunately, how most notaries are doing their jobs.'

I grant you it is how a lot of notaries are doing their jobs. I wouldn't say "most notaries"

No, you don't know my background Robert, and it really is irrelevant, but I can say that in my lifetime I have seen a lot more notarizations than you have.

Reply by BrendaTx on 5/11/10 9:07pm
Msg #335967

I must agree (somewhat) with Robert.

I was about to say that I totally agreed with him about the acts I have "personally observed" by other notaries, however, I do recall that there is a lawyer/notary who, when going through a will signing ALWAYS has the signers recognize that there is a notary present (another one, not him) and that they must acknowledge that their statements will be truthful throughout the ceremony.

Otherwise, however, I have never observed another notary admonish the signer about the importance of truthfulness, ask that they acknowledge their signature or ask for the signer to swear in the case of a jurat. I have never seen them correct a certificate, and in many cases I have not seen them ask for an ID.

I got an affidavit notarized on Monday. I walked up to the counter.

Notary pulled the community journal out and wrote something in it.

I'm fumbling for my license. He took the affidavit and stamped it and then asked me what day it was. He completed the certificate. I handed him my license. He said, "That's ok." I asked him if he had a stamp and envelope for sale which I could mail the affidavit off in. He did. I asked him how much I owed him. He said, "Nothing."

I was not required to sign the journal. That's fine. Don't have to in Tx.

However, it has been rare when I have gone to that place when I was required to do much more than that.

I did not discuss with the notary. It was not a teachable moment. I knew it wasn't.

Reporting notaries for careless practice like this is a waste of time. The affidavit was one of my own making and for my own purpose, so if I get hauled into court and have to confess that I did not swear to my own affidavit, so be it.

The only time the authorities will do anything about this is when some kind of crime happens as a result.

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 5/11/10 9:29pm
Msg #335972

Re: I must agree (somewhat) with Robert.

"The only time the authorities will do anything about this is when some kind of crime happens as a result"

Not so in Florida.
I know of a notary who had a complaint filed against her with the SOS not too long ago. The SOS sent a letter to the notary along with a copy to the complainant. That notary's commission is on hold right now - according to the SOS notary website.

Reply by Robert/FL on 5/11/10 9:36pm
Msg #335974

That "HOLD" on the notary's commission means nothing

After a few months, the governor's office will send the notary a "slap on the wrist" letter and remove the hold.

Reply by PAW on 5/12/10 6:27am
Msg #335987

Re: That "HOLD" on the notary's commission means nothing

I don't think so, at least not in this case. (Let's leave it at that since I'm involved in this case.)

Reply by Robert/FL on 5/12/10 6:32am
Msg #335989

And the hold does not mean the notary can't notarize while

their commission is on hold. It only means that there is a pending investigation for something.

Reply by PAW on 5/12/10 6:46am
Msg #335991

Re: And the hold does not mean the notary can't notarize while

I disagree. If a notaries commission is on "hold", that means that their certificates are on hold too. Of course, the recipient of the document typical doesn't verify the notary's status, but the SOS does and will reject any document presented for authentication when the commission is suspect.

According to the Office of the Governor, any complaint that is filed and deemed appropriate by that office, they will contact the notary, by mail, and provide a response form. The notary then has 20 days to furnish a sworn written response to the allegations. Failure to respond within that period may result in a reprimand, suspension of commission or some other disciplinary action, as authorized by statute.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 5/11/10 8:06pm
Msg #335955

Holey moley, of all the people to screwup a Notarial Act for

this bozette had to screwup with Syliva and Bruce. (Well, and everyone else bozette preys upon...)

Sylvia, I assume you had a chat with her boss, or the Office manager, or the owner of the Office?

I sure miss Lisa's wooden spoons...

Reply by mwm143 on 5/11/10 8:13pm
Msg #335957

Didn't you post a similar experience a few months back? n/m

Reply by Susan Fischer on 5/11/10 8:45pm
Msg #335960

Missing Lisa's wooden spoons? More than likely. ;)

I remember a thread about split signings, and I've sure seen my share of weird, and wrong certs from the forwarding Notary. I haven't had anything Notarized personally in a while, although I need to get a thing done, and I'm procrastinating.

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 5/11/10 8:47pm
Msg #335961

Re: Didn't you post a similar experience a few months back?

That was the medallion notary at the bank.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 5/11/10 9:09pm
Msg #335968

Whoops, sorry Sylvia, thought she meant my post; I get

confused when someone responds to my posts rather than returning to the recipient's post, and responding to that directly.