Category: Notary News and Advice

For those of you doing business in Dekalb County, Georgia, there are some updates to notary law coming soon. The new measures will be put into effect on January 1st, 2025.

It always seems to start with new notaries. They will now have to pass an educational training course to get their commission. It will now be part of the application process.

But, veterans, don’t fret, you aren’t left out. Among the provisions are required their notebook requirements. This is put in place to protect self-filers.

Here are some of the changes to the law.

A notary public shall maintain a written or electronic journal for each notarial act performed at the request of a self-filer for real estate documents.

A notary public applicant is required to complete an educational training class prior to the applicant’s initial (new) appointment.

A notary public applicant is required to complete an educational training class prior to the applicant’s renewal of a current appointment A notary public applicant will be provided a certificate upon successful completion of the training course.

A notary public applicant must include the certificate of completion with the notary application to the Clerk of Superior Court

On Common Ground News

Here are a couple of links related to the subject.

Notary Training Course

New Notary Bill

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It appears the bill passed through the New York legislature has hit a roadblock. Governor Kathy Hochul has vetoed a bill that would have relieved some burdens for notaries.

The bill dealt with how physical records are treated and stored.

We came across this bill a couple of months ago, and have been excited about its potential. Unfortunately, it did not make it across the finish line.

The COVID epidemic introduces new challenges and new laws for notaries. Among them were bookkeeping and record-keeping changes that were onerous for notaries. This caused many New York attorneys to stop being notaries, as a ten year minimum on records was deemed too big a liability.

Hence, New York Bar stepped in and introduced a bill to remedy the situation.

Here is a statement by Domenick Napoletano, president of the New York State Bar Association.

“For more than a century, New Yorkers commissioned as notaries public have been able to effectively implement their responsibilities – simply noting their name and notary identification number when doing so. When the legislature adopted new statutes enabling notarizations to occur electronically, there was an understanding that new standards should be imposed to protect consumers who were availing themselves of technological advancements, but there was no record to justify changing the standards imposed on in-person notarizations. Yet, when adopting the new rules, the state implemented rules establishing onerous record keeping requirements burdening attorneys practicing in New York State. The disclosure aspect of the superfluous rules also encroach on attorney-client privilege, as lawyers often notarize documents by clients that contain privileged information. Although it is understandable why those offering electronic notarization should be held to a higher standard to prevent fraudulent acts, I am disappointed in the governor’s veto of a bill that would have removed onerous and useless record keeping requirements burdening attorneys who perform in-person notarial acts. We will continue to advocate for a fix to these rules that make the practice of law less efficient and puts clients at risk.”

While the statement applies to lawyers, it would affect all notaries positively. Unfortunately, after the veto it appears dead in the water.

Recording a Notary Commission Just Got Simpler in Philadelphia

We all love when things get easier.

For Notaries in Philadelphia, an important step was removed from the notary commission process. Previously, the commission had to be double recorded, first with the Philadelphia Department of Records, then again with the Office of Judicial Records.

The recording with the Office of Judicial Records has been removed. Notaries only need to file with the Department of Records now.

It is streamlined, more efficient and time saving. And who doesn’t like that.

Notary Called to the Stand During Medical Cannabis Trial

So, they are trying to get medical cannabis on the ballot in Nebraska. A Hall County man was charged with submitting fraudulent signatures.

Besides the circulator himself, as well as a forensic examiner, the notary had to testify at the trial.

It didn’t look good for the notary.

During examination, the notary was “advised to invoke his fifth amendment, against self-incrimination” on nearly all questions asked by the plaintiff attorney Justin Hall, requiring Judge Susan Strong to weigh in on each instance of pleading the fifth.

While there were a few questions where the fifth amendment was not invoked, overall it did not look good for the notary.

Questions included the notary’s involvement with the ballot initiative, as well as text interactions with organizers of the petition.

A simple reminder we do not post notary names and always give them the benefit of the doubt.

One third on deed rejections in Michigan are notary related. This is not the notaries’ fault, but the fault of the laws governing notaries in the state.

Provenance

Did you know there are ten David Smith’s who are notaries in Michigan? And on official documents, it can be hard to tell which David Smith notarized the document. The truth is, it opens up the possibility of fraud in the state.

The state’s legal problem are so bad they have an effect on all Michiganders. The notary stamp is not required by state law. By that we mean wet signatures. They don’t even require notaries’ to keep a journal or use an embosser.

There is not numbered identification symbols for notaries. This can make figuring out which David Smith notarized a document a chore.

Notaries

There are 113,000 notaries in the state of Michigan. Confusion surrounds them. The lack of identifying numbers is a big problem. Michigan courts invalidate too many notarizatons because of it.

Notaries don’t have commission numbers.

If your documents are ever called into question, it can end up in chaos. It would be another layer of fraud protection that is not there. And they can come back to bite you years later.

Training

Nowhere in Michigan law does it require notaries are trained.

No requirement to be trained.

It leads to too many poorly notarized documents that experienced notaries tend not to make. (We know a lot of you are pretty much error free, but everyone misses something on occasion.)

Conclusion

It is home selling season and there is no reason to be completely sure your document may have the right provenance.

It is time to change Michigan notary law.

How does the public have faith in a system like this?

In 2022, New York passed a bill that updated record keeping for notaries. But, the new rules were too burdensome for notaries. Fortunately, the state legislature has acted to amend that bill to ease record keeping rules for notaries.