A medallion signature guarantee (often incorrectly referred to as a “medallion notary”) is only issued by banks; it is not something notary can or would want to do. By guaranteeing the signature the bank is financially backing the transaction and saying “if this signature turns out to be false, we will pay”. Notaries aren’t even eligible to apply for medallion status; you have to either be a bank officer or an attorney. Also, banks that aren’t part of the medallion program may still be able to issue a generic signature guarantee.
Protests have nothing to do with signature guarantees. Protests are an authorized duty of notaries in many states. A protest is a certificate made by a notary public, on information satisfactory to the notary, which certifies that a check or promissory note was presented to the bank for payment/acceptance and was dishonored by nonpayment/nonacceptance. A lot of tax evaders, sovereign citizens, etc. try to use a very incorrect interpretation of the UCC to issue “protests” (really just nonsensical demands) to government agencies and officials.For this reason I usually recommend that only notaries who work for a bank or an attorney should issue a protest. |
