If the document is not being notarized, why do you take it upon yourself to add a notarization to it?
And. @ashton I think she’s referring to things like the Patriot Act form where the signature line for the notary has “notary public” pre-printed. On those I cross out notary public and print my name, Signing Agent.
In my state (CA)…well, heck, I’ll just quote directly from our handbook here:
“A Notary Public shall not use the official seal or the title Notary Public for any purpose other than the rendering of notarial service.” (Government Code section 8207).
That’s why I write my title as “Signing Agent” on the Patriot Act Form.
Appreciate it! Moving forward …. I’ll start doing that. In Hawaii there is no mention of us not being able to use Notary Public as a title when signing. Just like California I cannot notarize myself. To play it safe I’ll use the SA as a title in the Patriot Act.
Like LynnHann’s state, VT doesn’t have any language in the law about not using the title “notary public” except in connection with notarial service. I can think of a few cases where it would not have been proper to use the title notary public.
Until July 2022, VT notaries were not allowed to make certified copies. If I were asked to attach copies of a driver license to a Patriot Act form, and I used the title “notary public” on the form, that could have been considered a certified copy, which wasn’t authorized. So I usually used the title “signing agent” (unless the borrower was swearing to the correctness of the form).
Sometimes I was asked to witness a document (as an ordinary individual) as well as take an acknowledgement. I only put the title “notary public” in the acknowledgement certificate, not in any other part of the document.
I’m sure Antoinette and many new notaries are very confused by all the different answers. To answer the original question, if the word “title” is underneath your signature line on the notary certificate, you will print “Notary Public”. Some states also require you to print your name under your signature, so check the law for your state. Some lenders add extra notary certificates to the package that are not connected to a document. I throw those out. Any document that asks for your signature, like the Patriot ID form, but there isn’t a notary certificate, you sign and your title is Signing Agent. Always go by your state’s Notary Public law, especially regarding the wording on the notary certificate.
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