Posted by Sylvia/FL on 4/9/2005, 12:03 pm
Message modified by board administrator 5/1/2005, 10:47 am

I am posting this for informational purposes. The certificate must contain: 1) The venue (location of the notarization) 2) Type of notarial act (acknowledgement or oath/affirmation) 3) The signer personally appeared before the notary ("before me") 4) The name(s) of the signer(s) 5) The actual date of the notarization 6) The form of identification used to identify the signer/s 7) The signature of the notary 8) The name of the notary printed/typed/stamped below the signature. 9) The notary seal. The most common error is not printing the name below the signature, assuming because it is on the stamp one does not have to print it as well. But, it must be printed or stamped below the signature as well as it being on the notary seal. And I notice quite a lot, where the notary certifcate does not have all the info preprinted - name of signer etc, the notary is leaving it blank and just signing the certificate and putting the seal on it. The Notary Seal: Florida Statutes 117:05 (3)(a) A notary public seal shall be affixed to all notarized paper documents and shall be of the rubber stamp type and shall include the words "Notary Public-State of Florida." The seal shall also include the name of the notary public, the date of expiration of the commission of the notary public, and the commission number. The rubber stamp seal must be affixed to the notarized paper document in photographically reproducible black ink. Every notary public shall print, type, or stamp below his or her signature on a paper document his or her name exactly as commissioned. An impression-type seal may be used in addition to the rubber stamp seal, but the rubber stamp seal shall be the official seal for use on a paper document, and the impression-type seal may not be substituted therefor. So, the 4 elements of the notary seal are: 1: Your name 2: The words "State of Florida - Notary Public" 3: Your commission number 4: Your commission expiration date. When a signing agents does a signing for me, he/she has to fax me back the notarized pages. I was amazed to see one notary's seal on the documents, it is an improper seal for Florida notaries. It was bought through the NNA. The name and commission number have been blanked out so as not to identify the notary using it. (She does have a valid seal and is going to void out the following one and re-stamp the documents) The words Certified Notary Signing Agent do not belong on a notary seal for the State of Florida.