Updated 1-15-15. Many Notaries have questions about the new California certificate wording changes effective January 1, 2015. NNA Vice President of Legislative Affairs Bill Anderson answers seven of the most commonly asked questions below.
I have certificates with the older wording. May I continue to use the older wording after January 1?
No, you may not continue to use certificates without the new consumer notice in a box at the top of the certificate after January 1. The statute requires that you use certificates exactly in the words presented in the law. If you use certificates without the required wording, you will be out of compliance with the law.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
- You risk being out of compliance with the law
- Your customer’s document could be rejected
I have great handwriting. May I write in the new required wording on my old CA certificates?
It depends. Technically, you could write the wording of the new consumer notice in a box at the top of the certificate if there is room and the consumer notice is legible.
If you deal with documents that come with certificate wording, there may not be room for the notice, and you’ll never know until you see the document. Remember, the consumer notice must appear before the venue (“State of California, County of …”) of a notarial certificate. If there isn’t enough room between the signature line and the venue, and if you print the consumer notice elsewhere, you will be out of compliance with the law. Also if you forget to print a word, you will be out of compliance with the law. In addition, handwriting the consumer notice into the certificate legibly will take longer than is necessary.
Finally, it is up to the party receiving the document (county recorder, filing office, etc.) to determine whether your handwriting is legible. They may choose not to accept it.
Since you can’t guarantee that your handwritten consumer notice will be accepted in every case, the NNA recommends that you plan to carry loose certificates that are compliant with the law so that you will not perform an improper notarization or inconvenience a customer.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
- You can’t guarantee that you can handwrite the consumer notice in every case
- It will take longer to perform the notarization
- You could make a mistake and forget to include a word in the notice
- Receiving agencies may determine your handwriting isn’t legible
- You still may end up having to attach a loose certificate
May I have an ink stamp made with the new required wording and affix the new required wording on my old certificates using that stamp?
Possibly. As with handwriting the notice, you can use a stamp on your old certificates if there is room.
For documents that come with certificate wording, you still can’t guarantee that that there will be enough room between the signature line and the venue to use your stamp with the consumer notice.
Finally, any time you use an ink stamp there is the possibility that the impression could smear or fail to print certain words. Even clear ink impressions can smudge by the time they get to the receiving agency. This means the result will be illegible, and you’ll be out of compliance with the law.
Because you can’t guarantee with certainty that you’ll be able to use an ink stamp in every case, it is better to have loose certificates with the required wording on hand. Moreover, the cost of new certificates will be comparable to an ink stamp.
Advantages:
- Versatility: one stamp could possibly be used for acknowledgments, jurats and proofs
- Handy
Disadvantages:
- You can’t guarantee that you can use the ink stamp in every case
- The ink stamp could make an illegible impression
- You still may end up having to attach a loose certificate anyway
May I create my own CA certificates instead of purchasing them?
Yes you may create your own certificates, but there is one potential issue.
If you notarize real property documents that will be sent out of state, your certificate must comply with the state’s recording requirements. Typically, these requirements specify that pages of a recordable document must be of a certain size, contain specified margins on all sides and appear in a specified font size.
You’ll have to research recording laws in every state and the District of Columbia to ensure that the certificates you create will be compliant. Certificates purchased through the NNA or downloaded as a member benefit meet the recording requirements in every U.S. state and jurisdiction, so you won’t have to worry about your certificate being rejected.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
- You'll have to research each state's recording laws to ensure your certificates comply with recording requirements
- Time to research recording laws
I'm an NNA member. May I download and use the new CA certificates before January 1?
Yes, you may download and use the certificates before January 1. Since the new consumer notice appears before the venue of the notarial certificate, technically this wording does not conflict with the requirements for certificates in the law prior to January 1.
The NNA reached out to the California Secretary of State's office to ask about this question. “The actual required text of the notarial certificates has not been changed with this new law,” said Nicole Winger, Deputy Secretary of State, Communications. “The disclaimer that must be included on a notarial certificate on and after January 1, 2015, is an addition to the top of the certificate. Therefore, a California Notary Public can use a notarial certificate that includes the required disclaimer prior to January 1 without running afoul of the law currently in effect. However, if you use a notarial certificate with the disclaimer prior to January, keep in mind the recipient or recording entity receiving the new form of certificate might not recognize the certificate. If a Notary Public wants to use the new form of certificate before January 1, the California Secretary of State advises that the Notary first check in with the intended recipient of the certificate.”
Nonmembers may also obtain certificates with the new CA wording from the NNA.
Does the new law require the boxed consumer notice to conform to an exact format, or is there flexibility?
The new law contains a provision stating that the physical format of the boxed notice at the top of the certificate shown in the text of the law is given as an example, and is not intended to limit the appearance of the notice to any one format. The only formatting requirements imposed by the new law are that the consumer notice be enclosed in a box and placed at the top of the certificate before the venue.
Companies and organizations that create certificates will use formats that meet their needs as long as they also meet the law’s requirements.
Certificates produced by the NNA are compliant with the new law and may be used immediately.
May I use adhesive labels with the new required consumer notice on my old certificates?
Possibly. As with handwriting the notice or using an ink stamp, you can use adhesive labels on your old certificates if there is room and the consumer notice is legible. And there are similar issues.
It would be a simple matter to create a label template with the consumer notice and print out sheets of labels as needed. A label would be a better solution than an ink stamp because it would be less likely to smudge.
However, the notice wording would still need to be in a box and it must be placed before the venue, just as will any other “improvised” solution. The label would not be compliant if it were placed in the margins or any other location. It also could not cover up any if the wording on the document.
Because you will never know if there is enough room on a document to place the label, you will still need to have loose certificates with the consumer disclosure available just in case.
Advantages:
- Versatility: one label template could be used for acknowledgments, jurats and proofs
- Handy
- Inexpensive
Disadvantages:
- You can’t guarantee that you can use a label in every case
- You still may end up having to attach a loose certificate anyway
Bill Anderson is Vice President of Government Affairs with the National Notary Association.