2/9/23 watching the news before going to bed and topic MV Realty using language in agreements that is fraudulent and only a lawyer could understand. They are being sued in several states and under investigation in 3 other states. News topic showed signing took place in Orting WA which is not to far from me in Bonney Lake WA. To add fuel to the fire person that signed docs just got out of hospital with many illnesses and was on 30 medications +/- each day. The Mom and partner of signer stated Notary guy went outside on porch for signing. They both said he was not competent to sign anythig. Mental competency is part of WA State Law when you can refuse to perform signing if your opinion signer is not in competent state of mind to perform task. I have walked away from hospital and full care facility signings for this reason. Not all Notaries in WA use Journals which is so unresponsible. This Notary now could be part of law suit if signer was not competent. Sharing information too close to home.
@alice2uworld Thank You for sharing! 
That business entity => MV Realty - has been a frequent topic within the Notary Cafe forum.
Here is a listing of 11 threads about them:
https://forum.notarycafe.com/search?q=MV%20Realty
There is a big gray area here though. The family can claim mental incompetence due to medications but there is such a broad range here. I have been on meds before that i woukd say made me more easy going and could possibly see myself doing something like this if needing the money. No one else unless they knew my normal character would have known the difference though. Was that particular situation a situation that yhe person showed true impairment or a situation where the meds just clouded judgement.
That said, don’t get me wrong, what MV is doing to people is awful. However, there is a difference between someone doing things out of character and being impaired. Families may stretch this a bit during interviews. Maybe a link to the actual story here with a better description of the signers behavior at the time would be better.
You are right ~ gray area and personal decision allowed in State of WA. Questions I generally ask are can you tell me your full name, do you know where you are, and then I look around surroundings and ask if they can describe an area or item. I keep it simple and if people can’t comprehend these simple items make my determination. Posted this item to remind newbies especially to be aware of this situation.
If you accept a lot of General Notary work assignments, part of your pre-qualifying questions to the caller has to be what is the competency of the signer. Most surprises can be eliminated this way. Once in front of the signer and you feel you were misled by the caller don’t shy away from asking for your convenience fee.
Enjoy reading your comments. Creating my FAQ sheet that I share with people when requesting general notary work has eliminated majority of competency situations but they can still happen. People are informed because I provide information in print. After that people will either higher me or not. I have had some people call me back and tell me after reading my information sheet they realize just waited too long to obtain POAs, etc. Heard this a lot during height of COVID. Sad situations. Hopefully, those reading this information have their POA’s in order. Recent deaths in my family last month one person 44 and other 66 and just retired did not. DNR not an option then.
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