The Notary Hotline receives hundreds of calls daily from Notaries nationwide who find themselves in challenging situations. To boost your knowledge of Notary standards of practice, we’ve created a series of scenarios based on actual situations based on actual situations and ask a simple question: What would you do?
Imagine you’re a Notary Signing Agent who’s just arrived for an appointment to complete a loan document signing. You sit down with the borrower and he presents you with his driver’s license as proof of identity. However, while inspecting the driver’s license, you notice that in place of a handwritten signature on the ID, there is a picture of 3 cat heads. The signer laughs. “I signed using cat heads instead of a normal signature when I renewed my license,” he says. “I meant it as a joke, but they let it through.”
What would you do?
Now you have someone ready to sign critical loan documents … but his signature on his ID is a series of pictures instead of a regular handwritten signature. Do you feel comfortable accepting this ID? Is it OK for the borrower to sign the loan documents with a regular handwritten signature when his ID shows a different type of signature? Or does the borrower’s signature on the loan document have to match the signature appearing on his license? What would you do in this situation?
To participate in this week’s “What Would You Do?” scenario, share your answers in the comments section below. We may mention your response in next week’s Bulletin, when we offer the best possible answer(s) to this notarial challenge.
David Thun is the Assistant Managing Editor with the National Notary Association.
Related Articles:
Notary Tip: When the signer doesn’t match their ID
Additional Resources:
Handling Name Discrepancies