Notary News

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.

Illinois became the 47th state to legalize Remote Online Notarization last week.

They unveiled their new e-notary system, which allows residents to notarize documents remotely.

You could still previously use RON to sign documents, but there were too many pitfalls. Everyone had to be within the state, and it still required a wet signature from the notary. The new rules require the notary to be in Illinois, but the signers can be anywhere.

“In keeping with our ongoing effort to modernize the Secretary of State’s office, E-Notary serves as a game-changer for Illinoisians by now providing a convenient way to notarize documents without leaving their home or office,” Alexi Giannoulias said. “Enabling commissioned notaries to work virtually makes the process faster and more secure for individuals and businesses alike.”

As of now, there are just about 250 notaries approved to be e-notaries in the state, though that number is probably going to explode as we move forward.

The E-Notary system facilitates electronic signatures from both the customer and notary, along with electronically attaching the notarial certificate and seal to the document.

Following the Illinois General Assembly’s 2021 legislation authorizing electronic notarization, Secretary of State Giannoulias prioritized its implementation.

This involved securing state approval for administrative rules, developing an E-Notary application, vetting technology providers, and training staff for processing applications.

WREX

Notaries may charge up to $25 for an e-notarization.

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Another day, another win for notaries in pop culture. You may remember Notary Publix, the shorts from 2015 were the last time we told you about notaries in pop culture. That time a streaming series of shorts featuring former Saturday Night Live actress Kate McKinnon.

Well, welcome to the music world. In April, Mister Goblin has a new album coming out called Frog Poems. And part of that is a track called “The Notary”, which was released on Youtube a few days ago.

The song talks about how the singer wants to become a notary so the singer can have some practical use in life.

“The idea for this one came up during pandemic lockdown when I was brainstorming excuses I could make to get out and see people without violating the social contract,” Sam Goblin said of ‘The Notary’ in a statement. “One of the ideas being that I could become a notary and stamp shit for my friends. Never did get around to it, but I did write this song. Joe (the other guitarist on the record) had to sell me a little bit on the shoegaze-y whammy bar part he wrote, but I’m so glad he did because now I think it really makes the song.”

ourculture

Check it out below.

Attention Notary Professionals

Witness requirements in Florida for real estate documents are changing in January 2024. It is important to take care in fulfilling these new obligations so your documents are done correctly.