Risky Questions Signers Ask Notaries During Notarizations

National Notary Association
National Notary Association
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Published 2022-01-05
Your duties as a Notary are strictly regulated by state law. In this video, we’ll talk about three examples of risky questions signers may ask you, and why they are potentially dangerous. For more information, visit the Notary Bulletin: bit.ly/RiskyQsNotarization

THREE RISKY QUESTIONS SIGNERS ASK NOTARIES — AND HOW TO ANSWER THEM
Risky Question #1: “Can’t You Just Bend The Rules To Help Me Out?”:
When signers need notarizations, it’s often urgent and they’re in a rush, so they may ask you to ignore proper procedure such as notarizing a document without the signer present, or not asking for proper identification. Always refuse any request to bend or break the rules or ignore proper procedure. If the signer won’t accept that, don’t proceed with the notarization. It’s better to have an unhappy signer than lose your commission or get sued.

Risky Question #2: Can you help me prepare this document?:
Many Notaries don’t realize that answering questions about a document, preparing it, or simply choosing the type of notarization on a signer’s behalf is against the law. Notaries who are not qualified attorneys, can be subject to civil or criminal liability for providing unauthorized legal advice. If a signer wants answers about a document, explain that answering could put their document at risk of being rejected because you are not an attorney and this would be the unauthorized practice of law. No one wants that.

Risky Question #3: Can you accept a copy or picture of my ID?:
While every state has its own rules when it comes to Notaries identifying signers, it’s important to only accept the original ID, not a copy or photo of the ID. The risk is without the original ID, you don’t know if the copy or photo has been altered or changed. Plus, a copy doesn’t include the security features that help prevent fraud, such as holograms or raised text. If the signer doesn’t have an original ID, refuse the notarization and invite them to return with satisfactory ID.



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All Comments (8)
  • @Dae_Dae13
    I just love the NNA the organization is always looking out for all Notaries. Thank you for the upload.
  • @nadirahcroom1938
    A woman contacted me today to notarize her daughter's birth certificate because they needed to correct a misspelling of her name. I told her that I'm not allowed to do that and she said thw court clerk told her the notary can sign the back of the birth certificate. She ended up finding another notary to handle the task for her. I'm not sure why they would tell her that. 🤔 I'm in Pennsylvania.
  • @purpleness64
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