Hey fellow notaries,
So I get a frantic GNW call this evening from a young lady who needed a notary right away because she was selling her vehicle here in Texas and the title (from North Carolina), needed to be notarized. Cool, no problem - I’m on my way I told her.
She explained to me that the buyer was on his way to pay for the car in cash and needed a notary ASAP. Again, no problem - I’m on my way! 
I pull up to the house and I see the young lady, her husband and the two buyers. Since it was nighttime, they were standing next to the vehicle by the light of a cell phone. I quickly assessed the situation. One of the buyers was trying with all his might to get this transaction done with no paperwork - he’s paying cash and he wants to go. And the poor young lady was frazzled and looked like a deer caught in headlights. The gentleman buyer was clearly in a rush! He couldn’t understand why he couldn’t just take the car and leave. It seemed like he didn’t want the title because he was going to scrap the car for parts. And I’m like, here we go! The poor young lady kept apologizing because it was quickly turning into drama.
So I had to interject calmness and a firm hand. Everybody just settle down! Because when people are rushing a notary, my spidey senses start tingling 
! The buyer didn’t want to sign the title. And if he needed to sign, he wanted his wife, who wasn’t even there, to sign on his behalf. He kept edging why can’t he just take the car and leave. He and the guy with him kept talking in Spanish and goodness knows what was being said 
, but I got the sense that my presence there was a fly in their ointment! So I explained 
to him: this is a process. And the reason why I’m even here is to serve as a witness to the signing and to prevent fraud by keeping things on the up and up! So what’s the rush, is what I wanna know?! The young lady was so appreciative that I was there (as an impartial witness) because she also sense something was amidst and having a notary there was not only comforting, but offered a flair of authority. (I was very no nonsense 
).
Long story short, both seller and buyer signed the title. As a notary, if you are being rushed into notarizing a document or there’s mass confusion at the signing table, take charge and let everybody know: we’re gonna do this by the book! Notaries serve a great purpose in fraud detection. We witness signatures and verify identities. And if anybody stands in the way of our duties, all we have to do is slow everybody’s roll!!
Have a great night!
