Notary Journal

I notice some fill out their journals ahead of the appointment. I’m assuming that is to help save time at the table. I personally wait until I’m at the appointment and I have the signers fill out the journal (name/address/signature) while I’m setting up. I’m sure this is a personal preference issue but how do you do it? BTW , I use paper and electronic journals:)

I wait till they are in front of me at the table. I don’t think you really save that much time by doing it ahead.

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I always pre-filled my journal with generic doc info, then filled in borrowers’/signers’ info at table from their DLs. One thing I would never do is let any signer write in my journal, except for their signature. No one gets hands on my journal but me.

JMO

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Me too. You’re doing more than I do. I don’t even do any pre-filling until I get to the signing location.

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It cuts table time - since I used to review the package and prep my certs before I left, I might as well do the journal too - did it while second copy printing.

But I never had the workload that many of you do - and I never made it a practice of print and run. I always required time to review and prep that package first. Being as rural as I am, printing and running was a risk

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I pre-fill the certs info though but not the journal, maybe I should:)

I don’t fill in any information before hand. Your journal is supposed to be in chronological order and you never know if you are going to get an appointment prior to the one you are pre-filling. Also, it’s kind of annoying if the signing ends up cancelling or the signer doesn’t show up (mainly happens with in-office signings) and you end up wasting an entry lol

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True………we all have our own techniques:)

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I see your point about chronological order…but docs are most times not received til about an hour before appointment time…and you can bet once I get those docs I won’t be scheduling a GNW appointment while prepping those docs for a time before the closing

Since a journal is not required here, no issue. If on the chance it’s canceled last minute, I’d note that in the journal in red…when canceled, who canceled, and why

JMO

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BTW, are you experiencing an increase in commercial closing or decreasing? I’m seeing an increase. :thinking:

That is YOUR notary journal. No one else should be doing anything to it but signing their name.
They could put whatever they want, they might not have good handwriting and you can’t read what they wrote. Many reasons, but first and foremost, that is for YOU to recorded the signer’s info AND for the signer to sign.

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Thank You for your input. Seems like your yelling since your using all caps. Are you yelling or are you answering my question?

I highly advise not to let anyone prefill your journal except YOU especially that you have personal info in their. Just food for thought. Not a good idea

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My state law says that the journal must remain under the notary’s exclusive use and control. Also, we are not to use it as a scheduling tool, i.e., fill in anything ahead of time. I do, however, fill in certificates ahead of time (sans signature and stamp, of course) whenever possible. That’s a time saver.

Dear visionmobilenotary, since you asked, this is what I do: once the signer(s) show intent to continue after reviewing the CD and SS, I prepare the journal which takes a few minutes only. If there is SI form in the package, I ask them to fill it out while I am preparing the Journal.
With the cover guard (you can order with the Journal) covering the other people’s sensitive info (very important confidentiality measure) I have them sign and place thumb print. All they can see is their own info only. Thank you for the question. Best.

Thank You for answering my question and your thoughtful response! I will surely look into the covers. Thank You!

I was wondering about this too. I started pre-filling it in for my Solidifi signings because I quickly learned they have a LOT of notarizations.

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I just pre-fill the date and time.

I don’t hold the notary journal as high importance. I fill it in as quickly as I can and get it over with.

Wow. I dont even take a paper journal on assignments. I know Journals vary state to state. Here in PA, we are required to make a separate entry for each notorial act. If I do a package with 8 notarizations, that means 8 entries. I’ve actually switched to an electronic journal which is allowed here because of all the repetitive writing and lines I was filling up. Our journal does not require thumbprints or signatures of signers.