I think I’m done with Amrock’s RON closings. They used to have a signature name addidavit, where the signer could enter different names they go by. That is no longer on their platform. So if I have a signer that is signing their name as Joe Smith and their id says Joe Adam Smith, and the name affidavit on the Amrock platform doesn’t have that name, I have no way of knowing they are the same person. I like earning $65 for a quick closing, but it is not worth the risk of my commission. I don’t understand why they changed the document.
I don’t do notary signing agent work anymore. Back when I did, I never relied on name affidavits. Sure, I checked them to see the signer hadn’t missed any blanks, and that the wording of the notary certificate was correct. But the name affidavit is just a sworn statement by the signer about what names the signer has used. For many notarial acts, my state (VT) has never allowed me to take a signer’s word for it about what the signer’s name is.
I consider “Joe Smith” to be a normal variation of “Joe Adam Smith” and the ID with the later name is sufficient proof of identity. Our state enacted RULONA and the commentary in the version recommended by the Uniform Law Commission has this comment:
2 Likes
@ashton that’s not what she’s referring to. Back in the day of straight paper signings, on the Signature/Name Affidavit, signers could add names that were not listed if they were, in fact, known by that name at some point. With RON signings, apparently, that option is gone.
1 Like
This passage suggests to me that ehamilton23 is concerned that she does not have adequate proof of the signer’s name if the name on the ID is different than the name on the document, and is not listed in the name affidavit. My answer to that part of it is an ID with the name Joe Adam Smith is sufficient proof to complete a notarization with the name in the document being Joe Smith.
If the name in the ID isn’t listed in the name affidavit, is that a problem? I don’t remember the exact instructions I received with loan packages in the past; I don’t know if that’s a problem for the lender or title company. But it isn’t a problem for me when I complete a notarization.
All that said, if I come across some information that makes me think the signer isn’t the right person, I’ll end the signing.
Name affidavit form has nothing to do with your identification of the signer. Your Identification is the only resource you can use. Drivers license passport etc. Title companies and signing services try to talk you into using name affidavit form as ID but I haven’t seen one state that mentions Name affidavit as an acceptable ID.
I wasn’t saying the the name affidavit was proof of id. I know way better than that. The name affidavit or aka affidavit can list other names they are known as. Therefore, they are swearing that they are the same person.
As I think about it, I was overthinking the matter. I am fine with accepting verification when the name on the id has John Adams Smith and they are signing as John Smith. Now I have read that if the id says John Smith and they are signing John Adams Smith, that could be a problem. But I have also read that the not more names on the signature and less on the id can be a problem. For instance John Smith on the id and John Adams Smith on the signature line is not acceptable. But I have also read that is false. It is a judgement call or need additional id.
ID - John Adam Smith and Signing John Smith would be considered undersigning and okay (in my state)
ID - John Smith and Signing John Adam Smith would not be acceptable as how do I know that his middle name is Adam since it is not on the ID.
Keep in mind states can differ on the matter. Example: ID and Signing need to be exactly the same.
Mindasnotaryservice didn’t say which state she is in. I have seen unofficial communications from various state agencies, typically some notary quoting from a phone call the notary had with the SOS office, giving the more not less rule that Mindasnotaryservice describes. But I’ve never seen a law or official rule from any state that says that. I would appreciate it if any one who knows about such a law or rule would point it out.
I had someone who said their name was Joe and on his Id it said some long Italian name like Rualdino or something like that
When I asked about it he said “but everybody calls me Joe”…
had to make a call to title…
1 Like
It depends on the platform and who has done the tagging - the notary or the hiring entity.
Just curious… I don’t do RON; nor do I want to, but am curious about exactly what ‘tagging’ is. From what I gather, the Notary has to go thru the whole document package BEFORE GETTING ONLINE WITH SIGNERS??? and look for each signature line & then–tagging-- them so the program will ALLOW the signer to ‘click-to-sign’…??? Is that what it means? If so, seems time-consuming and I sure hope they pay for this extra work. And, if that IS what tagging means–what happens if the notary misses tagging a signature line?
It depends on the platform. Some companies on certain platforms will pre-tag docs for you and and on others, the Notary will need to tag the docs.
Tagging is placing a block on a field so the right things go in the right place. For example, do you only want signatures in that block, do you only want initials in that block, do you only want dates in that block, etc. etc. etc. If you don’t place tags, you could end up with numbers where the borrower is supposed to sign the mortgage.
1 Like
It seems to me the tagging issue could be trigger finger-pointing. Suppose it turns out a signature line was not tagged. There might not be enough information preserved to tell if title was supposed to tag it or the notary was supposed to tag it.
Thank you both. It’s more exacting than I thought. Sure hope pay is good when you have to tag…I’d be a nervous wreck but suppose it gets much easier/faster with experience.
1 Like
Once,Amrock didn’t properly tag a document that needed to be notarized. That was fun, as that particular platform doesn’t let the notary add or delete tagged fields. Unfortunately, the signer had to resign everything.
Keep in mind VT isn’t yet allowed to do IPEN or RON. Does the Amrock system allow the notary to edit or replace the notarial certificate if it isn’t right for the notary’s state?
I perform IPEN for Amrock. No editing allowed. So far, the notarial certs have been compliant. Amrock’s usually pretty good about that. 
AMROCK only lets you notarize for properties in your state of commission. All notarial certificates for both in person and RON have always been state compliant in my experience as are the ones for IPENs.\
In my experience, I have never had to tag any RON signings for AMROCK. I just have to walk the signers through their packet for both RON and iPEN and apply notary seals where necessary. For other agencies I have to use my subscription RON Platform. In those circumstances I always accept the signing on condition that after seeing the packet and calculating the number of seals and tags required I will make a counter offer for the job. The most recent one was an initial offer of $65. After calculating actual cost, which included the portal use fee, I countered with $150. They accepted my counter at $125, which was reasonable to me for a HELOC. These don’t come up very often, but this is the process and I have never been disappointed.
Trying to understand this. They offer half what it’s worth, You accept, subject to countering with appropriate fee AFTER you’ve seen (this is where I am puzzled…) and, (I guess?) scrolled thru pkg? counting seals & tags needed; you then counter with appropriate high profit fee and they re-counter w/a not as profitable, but acceptable fee…and everybody happy? Seems labor intensive to me on a ‘maybe’. What did I misunderstand or am missing?