Sometimes people who have documents that require notarization are unaware of the proper photo identification they need. The governing body that regulates California notary publics is the Secretary of State. They determine what forms of photo identification are allowed. Following are acceptable forms of current identification (or issued within five years) to notarize documents according to the Secretary of State’s Notary Public Handbook 2010 (some wording modified for easier reading):

1. US passport;
2. California Identification Card (is similar to California Driver’s license. It states “Identification Card” instead of “Driver License”)
3. California Senior Citizen Identification Card (same as above);
4. A passport issued by a foreign government that is stamped by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service or the US Citizenship and Immigration Services;
5. A driver’s license issued by another state or by a Canadian or Mexican public agency authorized to issue driver’s licenses;
6. An identification card issued by another state;
7. A US military identification card with a photo, physical description, signature, and identifying number;
8. An inmate identification card issued by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation;
9. An employee identification card issued by an agency or office of the State of California, or an agency or office of a city or county in California;

Please note the original photo identifications must be presented to the notary public before your documents are notarized. Copies of your photo identification or expired original photo identifications are not acceptable. The fine for notary public’s not properly identifying someone is up to $10,000. In addition, it is to protect you. Please understand the responsibility notary public’s have in identifying you before they notarize your documents.

Stay in touch, join my Facebook Fan Page www.Facebook.com/ChampionMobileNotary. You will also learn more about the daily happenings of a mobile notary public and loan signing agent in the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula and South Bay and Silicon Valley.

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Realtors do you ever wonder how a mobile notary public may help you and your clients?

Here are a few ways as a mobile notary public I help Realtors and their clients:

1. When the title company is out of the area. The title company couriers the documents to me and I meet with you and your clients to sign off.

2. When your clients are elderly and are unable to leave their homes. I meet with them to sign off the documents in the comfort of their homes.

3. When your clients have young children. Minimize stress for parents to sign off in their home. They avoid the hassle of finding a babysitter or bringing the kids to a title company office.

4. When there is a Quitclaim Deed, Power of Attorney or Grant Deed and your clients are unable to meet with the escrow officer during business hours. I meet with people who have medical challenges or with former spouses who want nothing to do with each other.

5. When the loan documents are with an out of area title company and there is not enough time to courier the documents to sign off and close on time. The escrow officer emails the documents to me. I print them and meet with you and your clients.

When your clients are unable to sign off at the title company, do you have a trusted mobile notary who can meet with them at their work office, home, your office or wherever to sign the final closing documents?

Join my Facebook Fan Page www.Facebook.com/ChampionMobileNotary to learn more about the daily adventures of a mobile notary public & loan signing agent in the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula and South Bay.

This is a common question I hear from people. I believe the best way to answer it is by sharing some of my recent notary appointments, as it will show the types of documents I notarize and the various types of people with whom I have the privilege of working.

* A law firm in Springville, Texas, needed an affidavit from a General Counsel at a company in Sunnyvale, California. I worked with the paralegal at the law firm in Texas and the paralegal at the company in Sunnyvale, California to schedule the notary appointment to notarize the affidavit.

* An attorney in Redwood City, California wanted a couple of consent forms for text messages notarized with his client.

* A former husband in Seattle, Washington required a quitclaim deed and court settlement document to be notarized with his former wife working in Santa Clara, California. He called me to meet with his former wife to travel to her office to notarize the two documents.

* A business in Redwood City, California is opening bank accounts in Great Britain. A commom requirement with opening foreign bank accounts are copies of utility bills, passports, and or drivers licenses. I met with a couple of their business executives to notarize their copies of identification documents.

* A business in the construction industry located in San Jose, California, called me to bring notary services to them to notarize a progress payment form. This form states the final payment in a particular phase of the project.

* A business located in Redwood City, California contacted me to travel to their office to notarize power of attorney documents for a product they developed to expand into foreign markets (they are helping our trade deficit!).

* A couple in San Jose, California called me to bring notary public services to them. They had a pension election form that required notarizations.

* A title company in Palo Alto, California contacted me to complete a refinance mortgage loan signing with a couple at their home in Milpitas. The wife just had surgery, so the convenience of executing their loan documents at their home instead of the title office in Palo Alto was important.

* A fiduciary person (aka registered guardian) in San Jose, California 95128 contacted me to meet with her client in Sunnyvale, California to notarize a power of attorney.

* An estate planning attorney in Santa Rosa, California contacted me to meet with her and her clients at the husband’s office in Menlo Park, California. The attorney worked with the couple to do their estate planning and had a few documents requiring notarization (trust, grant deed and durable power of attorney).

* A former wife at the Family Court in San Jose, California 95113 called me on short notice. She was in the midst of a divorce and needed to file an interspousal transfer deed. The supervisor of the court is one of the people who signed it and I notarized it. The former wife also signed it and was notarized.

* A wealth management firm in San Francisco, California contacted me for traveling notary services. They had clients in Los Altos Hills, California and in Cupertino, California. The forms requiring notarizations were trust certification forms.

* A sister with a brother at O’ Connor Hospital, San Jose, California 95128 called me for traveling notary service. Her brother had an advanced healthcare directive they wanted notarized.

* A paralegal at a law firm in San Francisco, California contacted me to meet their clients at the clients home in Atherton, California. They had several grant deeds requiring notarizations.

* A wife (and future mom) contacted me to meet with her and her physician in Portola Valley, California to notarize a couple of forms for adopting an international child.

Join my Facebook Fan Page www.Facebook.com/ChampionMobileNotary to learn more about the daily adventures of a mobile notary public & loan signing agent in the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula and South Bay.

For you, there are a couple of advantages using a full time mobile notary public. The first one is a flexible schedule to work with you. The second is experience. The third is knowledge.

0 comments Tuesday 23 Dec 2008 | Cathy | General Notarizations, Mortgage Loan Signings, Realtors/Mortgage Brokers Accommodator |