Yes, that identification section is a life saver. thank you!
yolicue, you mean pretty straight forward that no notarization is possible under that clause (2).? Because most passports don’t have a physical description.
You missed the part about, in California, a foreign passport must have a physical description, and usually they don’t.
As usual, you loan signer guys are misreading the California Notary handbook. It’s not A and B and C. It’s A or B or C. I can’t read a Chinese passport, but I sure can read that US entry stamp. it should be noted that all passports, no matter what the language, have expiration dates.
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Unfortunately, it turned out to be this way. On the bright side, I have learned a lot from this. As long as I am learning, I am winning even if I am not getting paid.
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Looking at the CA handbook page 9 and 10, item 2 under the “Identification” section, it says “provided that it also contains a photograph, description of the person, signature of the person, and an identifying number:”
So nothing under item 2 can be used unless it has, among other things, a “description of the person”. So none of the things in item 2, including foreign passports, can be used if they lack a description of the person.
A example that would apply to me is that my Vermont radio operator ID card, issued by Vermont Public Safety, wouldn’t work with a CA notary because it’s in that same item 2, and lacks a physical description.
I agree there’s no need for a notary to be able to read the language of the country that issued a passport. There’s enough English words on the picture page to figure out the name of the person it’s issued to and the expiration date.
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So let’s play this out, Ashton. The notarization withstands the test of time until someone in the DOJ decides to investigate mortgage fraud. No matter It is stated in black-and-white on the Patriot Act form that a Chinese passport was used as identification. Not satisfied, lawyers for the DOJ subpoena the signature line in the notary’s sequential journal and verify the signature, ID number, expiration date, description of the document, the date it was signed and thumbprint. But wait, Ashton says that there’s no description of the signer on the passport. Does that now void all notarizations worldwide that used a valid passport as an ID? I think not.
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If the notary does not do exactly what the state law says while IDing the signer, and the mortgage is being paid, and no one is filing a lawsuit to quiet title and eject the present occupant of the property, probably the notarized documents would be accepted.
But what if someone complains about another notarization that’s on the same page on the notary’s journal. While investigating the complaint, a CA DOS investigator is looking at the journal, and notices the notation about the Chinese passport not having a physical description. Or maybe the investigator knows from experience that Chinese passports don’t have physical description. Would the notary be punished for violating the notary law?
What if the notary asked the title company what to do, and they told the notary to use credible witnesses for the notarization, and fill out the journal accordingly, but also add a comment to the journal about the Chinese passport, and list the Chinese passport on the Patriot Act form. Anything wrong with that?