Notary Basics | How to complete a journal entry

All right, so today we are going to be talking about your journal. Your journal is a very important part of your business. It's like the car to your Uber, right? The jack to your hammer, the. The welding machine to a welder. This journal is one of the pieces of equipment that you need for your business as a notary. Not just an independent notary, but also as a notary signing agent. It's super important. You cannot forget about this. And it's very important the way you fill this out. So I wanted to go through this with you specifically and create a video just for this. If you're new to this channel, this is TJ with Solutions by tj. Thank you for coming. At the end of this video, if you get anything out of it, I ask that you subscribe like this channel. And also in the comments, place any question that you want because there's no dumb question here. There are dumb questions when you're talking to your employer. Put. But no dumb questions here. Okay, so let's get started.

Our number one purpose as notaries is to deter fraud. We are the frontline defense to deter fraudulent activity. When it comes to documents, why do we keep a journal in the first place? Information in notary journals has helped investigators locate and arrest dishonored signers who attempt to commit fraud or forgeries. It contains details of the transaction in the event a notarized document gets lost, altered, or the facts concerning the notarizations are challenged in court. When are we to make a journal entry? The journal entry should be recorded while the signer is in your presence and before you complete the notarization. Let me say that again backwards. Before you notarize a document while the signer is in your place, complete the notarization. This way, you obtain all the necessary information needed for your journal entry, such as all the signatures and thumbprints, if that's required in your city and state so that you don't forget. So record it before you do the notarization. Now, let's get into how to make a journal entry. All right, so number one, you record the date and time of the notarial act. The date and time indicates when the signer appeared in your presence. Number two, the type of notarization performed. For example, an acknowledgement or jurat or verification by oath or verification of citizenship. Oath of citizenship. Those are just some examples. And number three, the location where the notarization took place. Now, in that place, it says, my office. Yeah, not so much. So write in the date. I mean, write in the exact Address of the of where that notarization takes place. Don't just say in my office, you might have three offices during the length of time and you might not remember. So instead of putting in my office, write in the exact address. Number four. The title or type of document or transaction. For instance, is it a deed, a personal letter, an affidavit of identity? That's what you write in that space in number four. And the date that's on the document, if any. For example, a date appearing at the top of the document or date of signing appearing opposite a signature line. That's very important. And number five, the printed name and address of each signer. In some states, witnesses names are required for certain documents such as wills, deeds and mortgages. Now let me stop here and say look at the laws of your state. Don't take my word for nothing. Look it up. That is my disclaimer. Every state has different laws, different rules. These are just some generalizations. So for specific information, look at the laws in your own state. Number six, the method used to identify each signer. Do you know them personally? Is it personal knowledge? How you know them? The type of ID or document? Are any credible witnesses? That's what you write in that space. Number six. Now, in the state of Texas, we'll get to this in a moment. But where it says driver's license, you cannot write in that driver's license number. Right? It's prohibited. It's against the law. Seven, what fee did you charge if any? And eight, the signature of each signer. In some states, the they require the signature of the witnesses if used as well. And number nine, the right thumbprint of the signer. California requires this for all real estate related documents and powers of attorney. However, in states where a thumbprint is not required by law for the journal entry, the signer may choose to decline to provide this thumbprint. And then 10, any additional information. Right where it says additional information. If you attach a loose leaf certificate, then you print it there. Any other pertinent information, like John Smith signed as president of XYZ Corporation. That's where you place that information. And 10, just in case you can't see it, is right here. Now here are a few notes that I want you to remember. Okay? Texas and Montana require notaries to record how each signer was identified, such as a driver's license or passport. But they prohibit notaries from recording a signer's personal identifying numbers, such as a Social Security number or a serial number of any identification documents presented. You should always follow your state's laws when entering journal information. Florida does not require notaries to keep a journal. State officials, however, strongly recommend that Florida notaries do so voluntarily. Colorado doesn't require notaries to keep a journal if the notary's employer retains the documents and the notary notarizes in the course of normal business. However, Colorado officials still strongly encourage notaries to keep journals in the event the notary faces a liability claim and can't access previously notarized documents kept by their employer. FYI, Keep your own information. The rule of thumb Keep your own journal. I don't care what state you're in, it's for your own good. Some states require a journal's format to include certain features. For example, Arizona specifies that notaries must keep a paper journal, and Tennessee requires the journal to be a well bound book or appropriate electronic form. If not specified by state by your state laws. The NNA recommends that notaries keep a journal with bound pages and that entries be recorded in chronological order to prevent tampering. Can you use ditto marks when recording multiple documents like loan documents? The true answer is it depends. My answer is I just would not. It is always better to have independent for each document, put it on a different line, a different notarization line, and fill that whole line out for each one. Even if they are, you know, especially if they are all done on the same day at the same time. Put a separate entry into your journal for each. Can I record multiple documents in one entry? Again, it depends on your state's laws. Arizona and Nevada permit notaries to group information about multiple notarizations performed into a single document entry if the notarizations were performed by the same signer on similar documents at the same time. Other states, such as Hawaii and California require separate complete entry for each individual notice notarization. And that is what I, Latonya Johnson, personally recommend. I recommend that you create a separate complete entry for each individual notarization. In states that don't say one way or the other, the NNA recommends making a separate entry for each notarial act. This helps keep the information in your journal easy to read while cutting down on the work required to create multiple entries. All right folks, that's it for this video. Now let's chat. If you need me, don't help. Hesitate to contact me on Clarity FM latonyasjohnson. Also, please, if you have questions, write them in the comments. Hit me on Facebook at solutionsbytj or you can email me@tjolutionsbytj.com and always remember, this channel was created to help homeowners because that's what we do even as notaries. We are the fraud detection for when they are signing documents. But even greater than that, I help homeowners who are in trouble and facing potential foreclosure if they've gone through a divorce, lost their job, become ill, can't pay their mortgage, whatever, send them to me so that I can help them out. Be sure before you leave to like this video, share it if you thought it was worthy. And subscribe to my channel so you don't miss anything. All right? Love y'. All. God bless.

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