IL: Need advice asap: I have a signer that has a generational suffix on his ID (John Smith III), but the seller docs indicate his name without the suffix (John Smith). ALTA for cash sale of out-of-state property, as well as the Warranty Deed, shows John Smith, along with Emily Smith (who signer said does not live with him but will be present).
Seller claims to have possession of a current warranty deed for the property with his name as John Smith without the suffix and Emily Smith.
To my knowledge, I cannot notarize because he is not John Smith, he is John Smith III. John Smith would be John Smith III’s grandfather. Are there other documents I can utilize to prove his identity? He states he has the certificate of taxes due, but it is not addressed to his current address/the address on his ID.
It probably goes without saying that SS is telling me its all good to proceed because the docs are less than, not more than, his ID.
I appreciate any advice asap.
As a side note, how on earth, (if he did) did he buy a property in the name John Smith??
On the one hand, the suffix does indicate there are or were an original John Smith and a John Smith Jr, who might or might not have anything to do with the property.
On the other hand, people with suffixes don’t always use the suffix. And when buying or otherwise acquiring property, people only care about the ID if there’s going to be a mortgage. If you’re paying cash, nobody asks for ID.
Suffixes are not very firmly attached to names. See this US State Department document about how suffixes are dealt with on US passports.
a. Name suffixes (Jr., Sr., II, III, etc.) may be added or dropped based on the applicant’s preference on form DS-11, regardless of whether they appear on the applicant’s evidence of citizenship/nationality or ID.
So it’s up to you. If you decide to go ahead, I’d look at the deed to see if it mentions when the Smiths bought the property. If it was bought before the signer was born, that’s a problem.
Grey areas.,. .judgement call or state-specific rules? In my state it’s a judgement call…so I’d ask for multiple forms of ID and yep. I’d want to see that Deed & pay particular attention to date…and understand the relationship between the 2 parties (who don’t live together?) Ummm…is the 3rd Emily’s son? who is colluding with Mom to sell property held by Mom & Jr?
Thank you for your replies. You guys are knowledgeable!! Great information. Title was appreciative of my vigilance and further researched the transaction. They updated all docs to add language to title signer as “John Smith III, who acquired title as John Smith” and added a name Affidavit. Since docs now reflect John Smith III, I proceeded with notarizing.
It was indeed a cash purchase from 2021. Emily was his estranged wife.
Good job, gal! Glad title got on the issue and fixed it.
Excellent! It’s my understanding that this is a huge source of fraud, so good for you. It IS a judgement call, btw.
This topic was automatically closed after 90 days. New replies are no longer allowed.