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Notary Bulletin

Hotline Tip: What Is A Loose Certificate?

By NNA Staff on October 01, 2009 in Hotline Tips

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A loose certificate is a notarial certificate that is contained on a separate sheet of paper and is not part of the original document. It is attached — usually stapled — to the document’s signature page. It’s used when:

  • No notarial wording is provided on the document.
  • The provided certificate wording doesn’t comply with state requirements.
  • There is no room for the seal on the document.
  • The preprinted certificate has already been used by another Notary.

15 Comments

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Sally

12 May 2015

Please display what a loose certificate looks like or should look like.

National Notary Association

12 May 2015

Hi Sally. You can see some pictures of sample loose certificates at www.nationalnotary.org/supplies/notary-certificates.

Joseph Laine

06 Apr 2016

thanks

RUBY SOTO

06 Mar 2018

may I have you send me an example of what a loose certificate looks like for California

National Notary Association

08 Mar 2018

Hello. You can find examples of CA wording on pages 11 and 12 of the CA Notary Handbook published by the Secretary of State: https://www.nationalnotary.org/file%20library/nna/state%20handbooks/ca_notary_handbook_2017.pdf

Laurie A Nicoletti

04 Jun 2018

Can you please send me an example of what a loose certificate looks like for New York?

National Notary Association

04 Jun 2018

Hello. You can find sample certificate wording for New York on page 25 of the PDF at this link: https://www.nationalnotary.org/file%20library/nna/reference-library/state-law-summaries/new_york.pdf

Faith

29 Aug 2018

Is a loose certificate something you can type up yourself, as long as you use the correct wording, or do you have to print out a specific one from somewhere?

National Notary Association

30 Aug 2018

Hi Faith. You may type up Notary certificate wording, but it must conform to any formats or wording set by your state's Notary laws.

Gaby

07 Oct 2018

So for whatever reason I have to use a Loose Leaf Certificate in California, should I not complete the original document? An example would be if I get an Acknowledgement from another state that needs to be recorded in California. Below the Notarial instructions can I just write "See Attached Acknowledgement Certificate" to the back of the page and just fill the LLC or do I have to fill both?

National Notary Association

08 Oct 2018

Based on what you’ve described, we think it would be best if you contacted our Hotline team by phone and provided them with a more detailed description of the situation. The NNA Hotline: 1-888-876-0827 Mon – Fri: 5:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. (PT) Saturday: 5:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (PT) If you’re not an NNA Member or Hotline Subscriber, they will provide you with a one-time courtesy call.

Lori

13 Nov 2018

When attaching a Loose Certificate when there is not enough room for the stamp, what do we need to write or cross out on the original form?

National Notary Association

14 Nov 2018

Based on what you’ve described, we think it would be best if you contacted our Hotline team by phone and provided them with a more detailed description of the situation. The NNA Hotline: 1-888-876-0827 Mon – Fri: 5:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. (PT) Saturday: 5:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (PT) If you’re not an NNA Member or Hotline Subscriber, they will provide you with a one-time courtesy call.

skylarguthrie@yahoo.com

27 Dec 2018

Notary in Colorado. While notarizing a title, my seal did not stamp all of the way and is ineligible. I am going to attach a letter but have nooo idea what to even put on it.

National Notary Association

28 Dec 2018

Hello. Please see here for suggestions when dealing with a bad seal impression: https://www.nationalnotary.org/knowledge-center/tips-tutorials/fix-bad-seal-impressions

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