things to
know about: notaries
what is a notary?
An Arizona Notary Public is a public officer commissioned by the Secretary of State to perform notarial acts, is an impartial third-party witness who verifies identity, deters fraud by confirming authenticity of signatures, and that those persons are signing under their own free will. When a document is notarized this indicates that a notary public has taken all reasonable steps to verify a signer’s identity before notarizing that person’s signature. In addition there are times when signers are required to swear/affirm to the truthfulness of their document.
notary CANs
Real Estate
Notary Signing Agent, or Loan Signing Agent, facilitates the signing of loan documents for buyers and sellers. This means I will print and organize your documents, oversee signing and notarization of documents, and return to the loan package to the lender. Common types of real estate documents include:
purchase loans (buying/selling a house, land, VA home loans, etc)
refinance
HELOC
reverse mortgage
commercial
construction
Acknowledgements
These are the most common form of notarization. An acknowledgment is the signer's statement that it is their signature on the document. This certifies that a signer personally appeared before and their identity was verified by the Notary.
Verification on Oaths and Affirmations (Jurat)
This type of certificate means that the signer is placed under oath by the Notary swearing (solemn promises to a Supreme Being) or affirming (solemn promises on one's own personal honor) that the information in the document is true. The document is then signed in the Notary's presence after the oath or affirmation is performed. Like acknowledgments this notarial act certifies the signer appeared before and was properly identified by the Notary.
Signature Witnessing / Attesting a Signature
"signature witnessing" or "attesting a signature" is a notarial act and is different than witnessing a signature. Simply put it is certifying that the individual who signed the record is who they claim to be. The signer must personally appear before and have their identity verified by the Notary before signing the document. This is the notary's statement that the individual signed in front of the Notary. Signature witnessing or attesting a signature is not legal in all states.
Copy Certification
Attesting that a photocopy is true, complete, and correct copy of a record or item. These do not include public records.
Acting as a Witness / Document Witness
Witnessing a signature, known also as a "document witness" means one person watching another person sign a document. This in NOT a notarial act. If a notary is acting as a witness they are doing so as a private citizen and not as a Notary Public. This is different than "Signature Witnessing" which is a notarial act. I know, the language is confusing. It is not recommended that a Notary act as a private citizen to witness a signature and also as a Public Notary on the same document(s).
notary CANNOTs
A Notary Public is NOT a lawyer and cannot give legal advice, including immigration assistance and advice, draft legal documents, make judgments on the legality of a document, or otherwise practice law.
Copy Certify public records such as Marriage Records, Birth Certificates, Death Certificates, Divorce Records, Court Records, and Real Estate Deeds.
Notarize incomplete documents. Documents with inappropriate blank spaces or improperly filled out are considered incomplete. If a space is left blank intentionally please refer to the distributor of the document for instructions on how to fill in the spaces appropriately.
Process or close loans, draft or prepare loan documents, offer opinions and/or advice on loan documents.