Last week, we shared a real-life Notary situation and asked how our readers would handle it. The Notary was asked to notarize the signatures of a husband and wife on documents for a condominium purchase. However, the wife's only form of identification was a photocopy of an outdated, expired ID, and the wife didn’t look exactly like the image on the photocopy. We asked how you, our readers, would proceed in this situation.
What Notaries said
Several readers were concerned that the wife was trying to present a copy of an ID as proof of her identity.
Kim M. said that she would refuse to perform the notarization due to the lack of an actual ID, the fact that the information on the copy was expired, and the woman’s physical appearance not matching the age on the copied ID. “I would recommend she bring an acceptable ID, then make an entry in my journal that I refused,” Kim said.
“Copies are easily manipulated and could pose potential legal issues,” said Sandra Thomas. “I would ask the signer if they could provide the original. If not, I would explain the requirement and reschedule if possible, or cancel.”
Other Notaries also said they would be willing to reschedule the notarization for the couple, but only if the wife returned with an acceptable form of ID. “I would ask the signer if she had any other picture ID. If not, I would suggest she get an updated ID and schedule a new signing date,” said Carol Voydanoff.
The biggest concerns for readers are the possible fraud risks in the scenario. “I would apologize and let them know I will not be able to do this,” Maria Bradshaw said, adding that an expired ID is not worth jeopardizing her Notary business.
Judi Stutz agreed that notarizing is too risky. “I would have to decline the notarization without a valid form of ID,” she said. “This transaction could be mortgage fraud.”
The NNA’s recommended practice and what really happened
There are a lot of red flags that should put any Notary on guard in this situation. First, you should never accept a copy of a signer ID as proof of identity. If identification documents are used to identify a signer, no state allows Notaries to accept anything other than original, official identification documents. Even if you are commissioned in a state such as Louisiana that doesn’t specify acceptable forms of ID, a copy of an ID card is at high risk of fraud because a copy is easy to alter and counterfeit. Also, copies of ID lack the official security features on an original ID that can be used to verify the identification is genuine.
In this case, the Notary became suspicious of the copied ID and the fact that the woman presenting herself to the Notary as the “wife” did not match the image on the copy. The Notary chose to stop the notarization — which turned out to be the right decision. It was later learned that the “wife” was not who she claimed to be, but an accomplice trying to help the husband commit real estate fraud without the real wife’s knowledge by posing as the absent, genuine spouse.
David Thun is the Editorial Manager at the National Notary Association.
Additional Resources:
Video: When a signer does not match their ID