Effective January 1, 2015, a new consumer notice is required of all documents requiring a notary certificate in California. The notice needs to be displayed in a box at the top of the certificate, to read:
“A Notary Public or other officer completing this certificate verifies only the identity of the individual who signed the document to which this certificate is attached, and not the truthfulness, accuracy, or validity of that document.” [Calif. Civil Code §1189]
If your document requiring notarization does not adhere to the new requirements, there’s about a 30% chance it will be rejected by the county recorder, according to a recent survey by the Notary Bulletin.
Nearly all of the survey respondents (95%) said they have rejected documents when the consumer notice was simply missing. Other commonly reported reasons for rejection include:
- the consumer notice was in the incorrect location on the form, such as below the signature line (76%); and
- the consumer notice was floating and not anchored in a box separate from the body of the notary certificate (74%).
Less common, though still legitimate, reasons for rejection include:
- the consumer notice was illegible or impossible to read (37%);
- the consumer notice was attached to the recordable document using an adhesive label (16%); and
- the updated language of the consumer notice was manually handwritten onto the face of the document (13%).
There are 58 counties in California, and each interprets the nuances of these new requirements a little differently. Some counties are very stringent and inflexible, such as those who reject a notice that is difficult to read, while others are more accommodating. Thus, the rejection rate across California’s 58 counties is wildly divergent, with some recorders rejecting 30% of documents, and others rejecting as few as 5%.
What’s your best bet to ensure your transaction is not a causality of these new requirements? Get your forms from a trusted source. All first tuesday forms have been updated to comply with the consumer notice requirement. Common forms used in real estate transactions requiring a notary certificate include the:
- Grant Deed [See first tuesday Form 404];
- Deed-in-lieu of Foreclosure [See first tuesday Form 406];
- Request For Notice of Default and Notice of Delinquency By Junior Trust Deed Beneficiary [See first tuesday Form 412];
- Trust Deed and Assignment of Rents Securing a Promissory Note [See first tuesday Form 450]; and
- Notice of Trustee’s Sale [See first tuesday Form 474]
All 26 first tuesday forms containing the new notary certificate may be downloaded at no cost from the View and download new and updated forms tab on the Forms Download page.
Alternatively, if you’re already working on an older, noncompliant form, use the separate first tuesday Form 407, Acknowledgment By Notary Public – Notary Consumer Disclosure, and attach it to any document requiring notarization in lieu of the boilerplate notary acknowledgement. [Calif. CC §1188]
Has your county recorder rejected any of the forms you were trying to record, delaying your transaction? Share your experiences in the comments below!
I was recently at the Fresno Co. Recorder’s Office to record 3 oil and gas lease amendments. I checked each doc for recording issues and checked the Cert of Acknowledgements and saw no errors or issues (each cert had the consumer notice as required per Calif. Civil Code §1189, stamped at the top of the cert to the right of the venue). The Fresno Co. recording clerk rejected and refused to record the docs due to the consumer notice not being above the venue. I have read the Senate Bill No. 1050 (the bill which requires the consumer notice to be included in an enclosed box, on acknowledgements, proofs of execution and jurats, amending Sections 1189 and 1195 of the Ca. Civil Code and Section 8202 of the Ca. Gov’t Code) and no where does it state that the consumer notice must be above the venue. I have also read and re-read the amended Code Sections and once again, it does not state that the consumer notice must be above the venue, only that it be placed at the top of the cert. Section 1189(2) of the Ca. Civil Code states: “The physical format of the boxed notice at the top of the certificate of acknowledgment required pursuant to paragraph (3) is an example, for purposes of illustration and not limitation, of the physical format of a boxed notice fulfilling the requirements of paragraph (1).” My understanding is that the consumer notice can not be placed anywhere on the form except at the top of the cert and shall be legible. No where does it state specifically above the venue. I feel that the Fresno Co. Recorder’s Office erred in rejecting and refusing to record documents that are legally sufficient. Has anyone else come up against this issue?