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Common Terms - 1

Acknowledgment

This is the correct spelling of acknowledgment -- there should not be an e after the g. An acknowledgment is a notary act where the signer acknowledges signing a document before a notary public.

Affidavit

A document that contains a statement, made under oath or affirmation, signed by the affiant and a jurat certificate signed and sealed by a notary. The most common type of affidavit that gets notarized is an...

Affirmation

A solemn statement, equivalent by law to an oath, but without religious significance or reference to a Supreme Being. Wording for Oaths and Affirmations is up to the notary, but common wording could be, "Do you...

Apostille

An Apostille is an authentication document used in countries that are Hague Convention members. To get an apostille in the United States, one generally needs to contact the state notary division from the state...

Appear Before

Notary acts require the signer or affiant to appear before the notary public. There was a case where a person in jail was in a window of a room fifty feet away. The notary could not clearly see the signer, therefore,...

Application

To become a notary, it is necessary to file an application with your state's notary division. Each state has its own requirements, so please check with your state's notary division. Contact information is available at http://www.123notary.com/statecontact.asp

Asset

An asset is anything of monetary value that is owned by a person. Assets include real property, personal property, and enforceable claims against others (including bank accounts, stocks, mutual funds, and so on).

Bilingual Notary

A bilingual notary is a state commissioned notary public who is able to speak a language other than English fluently. Bilingual doesn't necessarily mean Spanish speaking as roughly 50% of bilinguals on 123notary.com...

Birth Certificates

A Notary generally can not certify a copy of or notarize a birth certificate. This would be subject to state laws. However, it is common for a signer to swear an oath that a copy of a birth certificate is a true, correct,...

Blank Spaces in Documents

A Notary should not notarize a document with blank spaces. If a notary notarizes a document with blank spaces, the signer or other party could fill in anything in those blank statements after the notarization, thus changing...

Bond

Many states require notaries to carry a surety bond to protect others from any misconduct or mistake. Should the Notary be liable for monetary sums, the bonding company would be liable to pay whatever was...

Certificate

A certificate is a written statement, signed by an official, describing acts performed in an official capacity. A notary certificate would generally include a venue which would indicate the state and county where the...

Certification

Formal proof, generally in the form of a certificate verifying that something is genuine or true, such as title to a property. Many notary websites offer signing agent certification which...

Certified

A document or fact that has been verified, proven correct, or attested to. To have passed a test that verifies that an individual meets a particular standard of knowledge.

Certify

To verify or attest to the correctness of a document or a fact. For a notary public to attest to teh correctness and completeness of a document. For an agency to formally recognize the knowledge or capabilities of an ...

Commission

A document describing the notary's appointment and term of office is a notary commission. A notary commission is good for several years, but the exact duration varies from state to state. A California...

Credible Witness

A believable witness worthy of confidence who can identify a signer who's signature is being notarized. Some states require one credible witness while others require two if the signer does not have proper...

Deed of Trust

The Deed of Trust is the security instrument in a loan. It gives the lender a claim against the borrower'(s) home if they default on payment. This document is often initialed on all pages. The Deed of Trust is used...

Document

A notary public's job includes notarizing signatures on documents. There could be endless variations in the types of documents that a notary could notarize. It is not the notary's responsibility to understand the...

Escrow

An Escrow company is a neutral third party who carries out the instructions of both the buyer and seller to handle all the paperwork of settlement or "closing". Escrow may also refer to an account held by the...

Notary Fee

The fee that a notary charges for their notary services. Notaries who travel to the location of their customer often charge a travel fee in addition to their notary fees.

Identification of Signer

State laws differ on what constitutes satisfactory identification of a signer. Generally a government issued identification such as a drivers license, identity card, or passport will suffice. Its generally beneficial if the...

Notary Job

A job involving a notary public could be called a notary job. Notary jobs could include the notarizing of a single signature, or could involve the completion and supervision of a lengthy loan signing...

Journal Entry

An entry in the notary's bound and sequential notary journal. Each signature on each notarized document is required to have an accompanying journal entry...

Jurat

A notary act that requires the signer to swear under oath that the statement in the notarized document is true and correct.  Laws for Jurats can differ from state to state. Some states...

Loan

A loan is a contract where a borrower agrees to borrower a certain amount of money from a lender at a specified interest rate, or...

Marriage Certificates

Notaries in most states are not permitted to notarize certified copies of marriage certificates. However, it is possible for the notary to have the signer sign a certified copy by document custodian form which certifies...

Mortgage

This document is used to secure the payment of a loan. Many states use a document called a Deed of Trust in its place. Many Mortgages include riders which are documents with terms for specialized situations relevant to the loan.

Notarial Act

A notary act is any act that a notary public of a particular state is authorized to perform, and includes taking an acknowledgment, administering an oath or affirmation, and taking a verification upon oath or affirmation...

Notarization

The act of having a notary act performed. The act of having a signature on a document notarized. A notarization involves a notary public and at least one signer who must be present before the notary public.

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