Notaries can authenticate bow ties?

In Illnois, 250 people got together to tie a bow tie together, attempting to break a world record. A newspaper reported a notary public "signed off" on the achievement.

I looked at the Secretary of State's web site to see if notaries in Illinois adjudicate contests but the site has little information.

Can you guess why a Pennsylvania notary got her commission suspended? Same old reason: not requiring the person to appear personally. I'm not sure why that requirement is so hard.

A North Carolina license plate agency has been closed by the state. Its 3 employees are charged with a total of 84 counts of aiding and abetting notary fraud.


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Finding trouble

A New Mexico notary faces 300+ felony charges for helping about 3 dozen illegal immigrants obtain driver's licenses through false paperwork.

A South Carolina attorney notarized affidavits supplied by his client without the signers appearing before him. He called them on the phone, verified they signed and notarized the documents. He was given a public reprimand by the South Carolina Supreme Court. The Court is also requiring the attorney to read the South Carolina Notary Public handbook within 20 days.

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Weird info about notaries on the web

Many online articles claim a notary "legally authenticates" or "verifies the validity of" a document.

Huh? I thought a notary certified the signer's identity and maybe administered an oath.

One of the pieces says states "issue the stamp" to the notary. That should be a surprise to all the notaries who ordered their own seals through the manufacturers.

Notarizing by webcam is reportedly illegal in New Jersey.

The one page summer bulletin of the Nebraska Secretary of State is out. It's a Q &A. He says the most serious mistakes notaries make in Nebraska are not requiring the person to appear before them and failure to follow the rules about identification.


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