Posted by JanetK_CA on 10/21/10 12:58am
Msg #357542

Question for New York Notaries

I got a call late this evening from a person who had a document notarized here a while back and sent it to New York. He didn't say what the document was, but he said the notary added "their paper" and put a stamp on it. The document was rejected, saying that it needed a "seal", not just a stamp. Didn't I read that a stamp isn't even a requirement in New York? He said he would fax me a copy of it tomorrow from his work so I can try to get more of an idea why it might have been rejected. (I asked him if he meant an embosser, but he didn't seem to know what that was.)

Does this make any sense to anyone? I wish I had more info for you, but he clearly wasn't a notary and I had just walked in from a couple of appointments and had other stuff to do. I'll provide an update if I hear back from him.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 10/21/10 8:03am
Msg #357552

"He said he would fax me a copy of it tomorrow from his work so I can try to get more of an idea why it might have been rejected"

Shouldn't he be taking that up with the New York person who rejected it in the first place? And I thought there was reciprocity between the states - if it's notarized in CA it's acceptable in NY providing the recording requirements (if applicable) are met.

Reply by MikeC/NY on 10/21/10 9:36am
Msg #357562

New York does not require either a stamp or a seal - the required information can be handwritten below the notary's signature.

It's possible that the document was for some foreign government that requires a crimped seal as part of the notarization. If that's not the case, I'd really be curious to know what the deal is because there is no requirement for a seal here.

Reply by James Dawson on 10/21/10 9:48am
Msg #357565

I'd be interested in what type Doc is was too Janet. I've notarized two Docs for the NY Transit authority (for Senior fare discounts) and there was no problems. Please let us know.

Reply by ikando on 10/21/10 10:23am
Msg #357578

Here's another idea. Maybe it was an apostille or a bank seal (can't remember the term right now) that can only be done by a bank authority.

Off-the-wall calls like that I refer back to the person who actually helped them before.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 10/21/10 2:29pm
Msg #357649

I haven't heard anything back from this guy and I'm guess I probably won't, although I did leave him a message.

Just to answer a couple of comments posted here, I got the impression that he had already spoken with the previous notary (here in CA - it was the document that needed to go to NY) and he didn't get any help. One of the first things I asked him about was whether or not it was being sent to another country, but that's not the case. The destination is in NY and it was someone there who told him that he needed a "seal".

This guy was not the most articulate person I ever met, but then he was dealing in an arena outside of his every day world. I'm guessing that it's the person who received the document at the other end and rejected it who is confused - to put it kindly.

If I find out more, I'll let you all know. Thanks for the responses.

Reply by MikeC/NY on 10/21/10 5:23pm
Msg #357686

That's very bizarre - I can't imagine why anyone here would demand a seal. We can use one if we want (I have one), but I think a lot of NY notaries don't bother with it since it's only ever required occasionally for documents going out of country. I had a call once from someone who was desperately trying to find a local notary with a crimping seal for a document that was going to India; at the time I didn't have one so I couldn't help her. She said she had called over a dozen notaries, and no one had a seal.

Linda made a point about the Full Faith and Credit clause, but that doesn't apply in this case - a CA notarization actually exceeds NY requirements.