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Re: All of my Notary Materials are distroyed!
Posted by  JanetK_CA of CA on 2/5/25 3:01am Msg #650065
So sorry to hear about your home!! I'm guessing you're in California, since we had those horrible fires here. (If that's an incorrect assumption, you'll need to check with your state authority.)

This is the closest info in the California Handbook I could find that addresses your issue in the Q&A section:

"Q. I lost my stamp or journal. What do I do?

A. Send a letter immediately by certified mail or any other means of physical delivery that
provides a receipt to the Secretary of State explaining what happened and, if applicable,
a photocopy of a police report. Upon written request, the Secretary of State will send an
authorization so you can have a new stamp made. (Government Code sections 8206 and
8207.3(e))"

For more info about having a new stamp made, you can go to this page (http://www.sos.ca.gov/notary/forms/), scroll down to item 5, and click on "Seal Authorization Request" to get the form for ordering a new seal. (As you may recall, you need a Certificate of Authorization from the SOS to order a seal.) In the past, we had to write a letter to request a new or additional stamp, but apparently there's now a form to complete to make it easier. (Learn something new every day... Wink) You'll need your commission number to complete the form. If you no longer have that, someone at the Notary Division of the SOS office at 916-653-3595, can probably help you. (I keep that number in my Contacts. That's our ultimate source for any notary questions.)

Since there were no entries in your journal, you probably don't need to worry about that, you just need to order a replacement. (FWIW, my favorite journal is the MOJO sold on this site.) Here's what the Handbook says about journals, just in case:

"If the sequential journal is stolen, lost, misplaced, destroyed, damaged, or otherwise rendered
unusable, the notary public immediately must notify the Secretary of State by certified or
registered mail or any other means of physical delivery that provides a receipt. The notification
must include the periods of journal entries, the notary public commission number, the
commission expiration date, and, when applicable, a photocopy of the police report that lists
the journal. (Government Code section 8206(b))"

Since you had no entries to worry about, that may not be necessary. The SOS office at number above can tell you for sure.

BTW, for future reference, here's a link to the official Notary Handbook on the Secretary of State website, which I recommend bookmarking:
http://www.sos.ca.gov/notary/handbook
The table of contents includes active links to each item. When you said you were almost ready to start notarizing, I hope you meant you'd been reviewing the official Handbook. If not, I can't recommend strongly enough that you do another thorough review - and maybe even if you already did. You certainly don't need anymore troubles from a notarization done incorrectly... Wink

I wish you all the best for getting your life back in order! Hope this helps, at least in some small way...
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Messages in this Thread
 All of my Notary Materials are distroyed! - Gary Thomas on 2/4/25 10:53pm
 Re: All of my Notary Materials are distroyed! -  JanetK_CA on 2/5/25 3:01am
 Re: All of my Notary Materials are distroyed! - Gary Thomas on 2/6/25 7:05pm
 Re: All of my Notary Materials are distroyed! -  Cheryl Elliott on 2/5/25 8:26am
 Re: All of my Notary Materials are distroyed! - VT_Syrup on 2/5/25 8:32am
 Re: All of my Notary Materials are destroyed! -  Yoli/CA on 2/5/25 9:16am
 NNA will replace Notary stuff lost in CA fires for free - Lee/AR on 2/5/25 9:47am
 Re: All of my Notary Materials are distroyed! - Gear2Sign/CA on 2/10/25 1:02pm



 
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