I don't have the exact cite handy anymore. Reading the NY law and regulations it's that any PRINTED text as part of the document (including handwritten notes or fill-in-the blanks) must be in black ink. The law doesn't state a signature must be in blue ink; i.e., fill-in-the-blanks in a document, complete notarization certificate, and date in black ink then signer, any witnesses and notary are allowed to sign in blue ink. LOL under your signature when you print your name that must be in black ink.
My reading the law and speaking with various attorneys personal education goes back many years when I was giving NY-MA-CT notarial talks to various interstate businesses. A few years later a number of NY notaries and I were attending an XYZ conference with a session on NY notarization law given by a sweet, young XYZ employee, who read straight from the XYZ handbook that SIGNATURES on NY documents must be in black ink. We quietly gasped, then politely pointed out her error regarding signatures. She disagreed. During the break we spoke with her (a few of us brought our copies of various laws, thinking we would learn something new, for reference and we'd never seen the XYZ NY handbook), told her which areas to read; she left the room. After the break when she came back and noted to the attendees that she "misspoke before" and "NY signatures could be in black or blue".
Bottom line: If it's NY, it's easier to do everything in black ink than deal with a "clerk" or "check the box reviewer" who doesn't understand the distinction. LOL I worked with many NY attorneys who would sign their own name or have the notary sign in blue ink, particularly when differentiating the original signed or initialed pages from photocopies was very important. |
