Notary Signing Agent Training | Loan Signing Agent | How to Notarize an Acknowledgment

Hey, this is TJ with Solutions by tj. And I am so excited that you are here. I'm about to do an episode, few episodes, to let you know what the three most common notarial acts are and how to fill them out. Nobody else on the Internet usually gives you all of the details, but you know how I do. I'm gonna give you everything, so hold tight. There are gonna be, like I said, three episodes because there are three different common types of notorial acts. They are the acknowledgement, which we'll go over here in this episode. Then you have the Jurat and the oath. So please, I'm creating a playlist for this. Just let that playlist play out and you'll be absolutely good. Of course. Let's begin.

The purpose of an acknowledgment is to ensure that the signer of a document is who they say they are and that they're voluntarily signing the document according to their own will. So nobody is forcing them to sign these documents. Acknowledgments are often needed for documents concerning valuable assets like deeds, mortgages, and deeds of trust. To perform an acknowledgment, the signer must personally appear before you at the time of notarization to positively be identified and to declare or acknowledge that the signature on the document is their own and that they signed it willfully or willingly. So with remote notaries, that personal appearance can be on whatever platform you choose for it to be. One notary Doc Verify notarized. Those are still considered by law in some states, personal appearances. And let me make this statement before I proceed. Please, please, please review your state's procedures and laws to make sure that this information goes along with those procedures. Because every state is different. I live in Texas, and that's what I generally go by. And so it's common practice for a client to sign the document in front of us as notaries. But guess what I found out. It is not necessary. The client can bring the document to you already signed and just declare or acknowledge that the signature on the document is is theirs, and that is enough. So I know that a lot of notaries turn people away. If the document is already signed, guess what? That's not necessary. They can sign it and just declare or acknowledge to you that the signature on those documents is their own. How to complete an acknowledgment. Number one, you require a personal appearance. And like I said, that can be where you meet in person with someone, or if your estate allows it, you can do remote notarization. You as the notary, need to review those documents for yourself. Look at the names on the documents. Make sure all of the portions of the document that you need for your certificate are there. If they are not, then you'll attach one of the certificates for an acknowledgement that was created by your state. We generally call that a loose certificate. So I recommend that you have loose certificates in your bag that you carry with you just in case you ever need it. Because there are instances where you'll need to actually add your own loose certificate. And we'll talk more about that. Screen the signer and verify the all that means is see their id. Look at another form of identification. They have to have a state form of identification and it has to be current, it cannot be expired. So that could be a license, a passport, or a state issued id. Record the notarization before you do anything else. Don't even perform the notarization. Record the notarization so that you don't forget the steps. Because there are plenty of times people are moving fast and forget to write the doggone notarization information in their journal. So do this step before you complete the notarization. And the last step is to complete the notarization. So I wanted to take you through a few documents, right? And these are actual acknowledgments that I have found that I have actually done for clients. So I said, let me take them through this. And I took out all of the pertinent information.

This one is a signature affidavit and it is found. I've seen this in every single closing that I perform. The word affidavit simply means that the client is in front of you. They are swearing that the statements within that document are true and correct and it is a written document, right? So they swear or affirm to the notary that the statements in this document are true and correct. So let's talk about the parts of a certificate and where you actually start. As you can see, it starts out the very top. This portion is for the borrower. It says I, the undersigned borrower. That lets you know that top portion is for them. And that's normally called the statement of particulars. After these signature lines, signer 2 has to print their name, sign their name and put a date. That date needs to be, you know, normally written out. So next you have the where portion of your certificate. And this is where the certificate portion begins. State of county of this portion is to be filled out in regarding where you are performing the notarization. The county that you are sitting in with your client to perform the notarization, not the county that you live in. So make sure that you know and always ask, don't assume, what county are we in right now? If you have to look it up before your appointment, please do that because the counties change. So you. For me, I would put state of Texas, county of Harris on this. Then you write the day. So let's say it is the fifth. I put the number five. And then th. On this fifth day of January, just using examples before me, the undersigned and notary public in the state of. That's normally Texas, personally appeared signer number one, known to me or proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the person whose name is subscribed within the instrument and acknowledged. You'll always see some type of clues of what type of notarization you're doing. For this one, it's acknowledged, okay? Others will say sworn, others will say affirmed. But this is an acknowledgement. So somewhere in that document is going to say acknowledged, acknowledge to me that he or she executed the same in his or her authorized capacity, and that by his or her signature on the instrument, the person or the entity upon behalf of which the person acted executed this instrument. So again, that's just saying the person who's signing this is saying that, yeah, this is my signature as a notary. You write out your. Okay, so you sign where it says signature, notary public 4. You put state of Texas on that signature block right on that line or under it. If they don't have a place for me to write out my name. If they just have a signature, I generally still write my name out either on that same line. I print it out so that it's legible. Because. Because my signature is a big lj. So somewhere around there on that line or under it, I print out, write out Latonya S. Johnson. And then I also say my commission expires and I put the expiration date and I affix my seal where it says witness my hand. And official seal. I put that right under that. Witness my hand. So I seal it and I make sure that my seal is good and dark and you are able to see it. Now, one pro tip here. When you get ready to seal something, if you. You haven't done it before, do it on a, like, you know, extra sheet of paper just to make sure that your seal is dark and that it's working properly. Okay, here is another acknowledgment. Same stuff. Borrow a signature. Signer 1 Signer 2, State of County of the county that you're sitting in. And how do we know that this is an acknowledgement? This instrument was acknowledged before me on. Add the date. Those are the Signers names, Signer1 and Signer2. If Signer1 and Signer2 are the only signers of this document, then you don't have to do anything with this line, right? This line is here just in case the company missed a name. Like say, for instance, borrower one's wife will be on the documents. And you'll see that a little later on. And you have to write that in, okay? So right on the line where it says notary public in and for, you'll put the state of Texas, you will sign the line above that with your signature. And like I said, I always write my name out. My commission expires. You'll add the date of when your commission expires. I don't put 2 19, 20, 21. I write out February 19, 2021 for dates. I always do that. And then fix my stamp in this area because there's plenty of room if there is not enough room, if you've done this enough. You know, some of these documents, boy, they give you like less than a centimeter of freaking space. There's nowhere to put your seal. So in that case, you can find somewhere else on this document that looks clear and fix your seal. Or you can use a loose certificate and add that to the package. Again, that loose certificate is just a certificate that is created by your state that you should have in your bag. So in your bag of tricks where, where you have everything, you should have copies of an acknowledgment that are issued by your state. Copies of a jurat. These are blank copies and copies of an oath. Those are the three documents that you need to have copies of just in case you need to pull it out and sign it and fill that document out because there's not enough room on a freaking document that they gave you, okay? So if there's not enough, you'll pull out an acknowledgment from your bag, a loose certificate, fill that out and place it in the package. And if you have to fill it out because there's not enough room, you'll cross this information out on this certificate. So you cross out state of county of. You cross out this line where it says acknowledge before me, and you cross out your notary public lines just to let somebody know you did not sign that. You didn't fill anything out on that Portion, it's filled out on a loose sheet of paper on a loose acknowledgement. Okay, so here is another one. And as you can see again, this portion, the. Your certificate is at the bottom. What is at the top of this document is also known as a statement of particulars. And that's generally for the borrower. So state of your state, county of where you are notarizing the document. This instrument was acknowledged before me. On you add the date by and you write each person's name. If it's a husband and wife, like you see here, Borrower, signer number one. Borrower, signer number two. Signer number one's wife. Okay? So on this line, you will write in the borrower number one's name and signer number one's wife's name. Okay? This is your portion to write in. And then on the next line, you'll write in borrower number two their name. So you don't actually say borrower number two, but you put their name. So let's just give some fake names. John Doe and Jane Doe are married. And then signer number two is Raymond Gonzalez. Okay, so on those lines, on that first line after bye, you'll put John Doe and Jane Doe. On that second line, you'll put whatever nine. I said I don't forgot that. That gum fast. But you know what I'm talking about on that second line. I think it was Robert Mendez. Whatever. You'll put it on that second line. Then of course, notary public, you will sign that, write your name. If they don't have notary public for the state of. You write that so where it says notary public for state of Texas. Okay, Write out when your commission expires and then stamp clearly and legibly in this portion. Make sure that you can see that stamp. And that is dark enough. This one y' all always gets me. So I wanted to add it because this is not a common document in Texas, and let me tell you why. Okay, we're just gonna go through it and then I'll tell you why. So again, this top portion of this document where it says I We realize these represent representations are made to induce the lender to lend money. Blah, blah, blah, blah. That's not our part. Our part of this document is start. The state of the top part is what you call again the statement of particulars. And just to let you guys know the contents of the documents and all of the terms above your certificate are the signer's responsibility. They are not yours. So when they sign their name, they become valid. And they're saying that all of those statements are true. Now, lying on those documents is considered perjury. And it can be punishable by, you know, fines, really stiff fines and other penalties. So you gotta, you gotta, you gotta. When you. Especially when you see an oath, okay? So that's why it's really important to make sure that these documents are filled out correctly. On this one, you have both an oath and then it says instrument and acknowledge, right? So that's why I mentioned an oath and mentioned perjury and all of those things. The only portion that you are responsible for is the certificate. The certificate becomes valid and legal when you complete it. It's your responsibility to sign it, seal it, and complete it. And it binds you to the notarization. So their signature binds them to the truthfulness of the document. And your seal, signature and the completion of this certificate bind you to saying, yeah, this person is who signed it. So let's continue and let's read. So for the state of Texas, county of Harris before me, that your name goes right there before me, Latonya Johnson, on this day personally appeared. Then I'd write in their names. I don't tell them to write this in. I write this in. So appeared John Doe and Jane Doe. Then comma Robert Mendez, known to me, approved to me on the oath of N A is what goes on that line. Known to me or proved to me on the oath of N A or through. Listen at this. Valid. Write in your state's initials and then put driver's license. So for me, it would be or through valid TX driver's license, Valid Texas driver's license. And when I say valid, I'm meaning that the driver's license was not expired at the time of notarization. Okay? So then you go on to be the persons whose names blank. Subscribe to the foregoing instrument and acknowledge to me that. So those two lines. Let me tell you about this. I have had lenders, title companies, tell me different things on those two doggone lines. So when in doubt, call the company that hired you. Ask them, because I promise you. And I even called Mariama. She's done over 1500 closings. She said the exact same thing. Hey, have them call whoever gave them this document. It's not a document that you see all the time, but I just really wanted to throw some hard stuff out at you that I personally have seen and let you know that when you come across something like this, it's okay to call a number of the people that hired you. So the persons whose names subscribe to the foregoing instrument and acknowledge to me that, you know, that could be anything. I mean, I've had, like I said, call them executed the same for the purposes and consideration express given under my hand and seal of this office of office this 7th day of January, 2021. There. Let me tell you something. After your dates and after your names, there is always a period. That period is critical. It is critical if there is not a period on the end of a sentence where they left it blank for the day or for the date or for. If you're adding names, then you add that period to that line. Then you fill in your notary information. So you sign your name, you print your name. Notary public for the state of Texas, write in your expiration date. If they don't have it, you still write it in. And then you affix your seal where it says seal. All right, guys, this is TJ with Solutions by tj and thank you so much. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask those questions in the comments. We're a family. We also have Sunday fundays every Sunday, every single Sunday at 9pm Central Standard Time on this channel so you can come live and ask your questions. But what I really like for you to do is ask them in the comments so that we can gather all of those questions and answer them on the live. This is TJ with Solutions by tj. Please, please, please. If you know somebody who is losing their home or is having trouble, I help those people all the time. So let them know about me. Send them my way. Tell them to email me at tjolutions by tj.com that's tj@solutionsbytj.com and also there are a bundle of documents where I give you even more information that you won't see anywhere else in the description. Thank you. God bless. I love y'. All. Bye.