I recently was scheduled for a Texas signing that involved a purchase of a Louisiana property. During my preliminary review of the documents, I ran across a phrase on the signatory page of the Note that I was unfamiliar with, specifically “NE VARIETUR for identification with an Act of Mortgage passed before me this____day of ____________.” Upon further research, I was able to determine that this Napoleonic clause, which has the notary certifying that the Note belongs to the Deed, may NOT be signed by any notary other than a Louisiana notary without incurring significant legal exposure (the NNA has a document that explains this in great detail. Write me if you’d like a copy.)
This said, Louisiana has a little known revised statute that provides for a legal end-run around the ne varieture paraph (signature) requirement. Review revised statute 9:5555 (http://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/2011/rs/title9/rs9-5555). It allows for an affidavit to be signed in lieu of the ne varietur paraph. Based on this statute, I was given an affidavit to sign in lieu of the ne varietur, but unfortunately it was worded such that I was notarizing my own affirmation, a notary no-no. We had the title company remove any reference that identified me as a notary signing this affidavit, and we were good to go.
