From: alazo1@yahoo.com (Albert Lazo)
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
Subject: Re: Promissory notes (Do they need to be notarized to be effective?)
Date: 26 Jan 2004 20:53:02 -0800

Thanks much for all your input (very informative).

Albert

Marek Williams  wrote in message news:...
> On 24 Jan 2004 10:58:47 -0800, alazo1@yahoo.com (Albert Lazo) dijo:
> 
> >Does a promissory note need to be notarized to be effective? I live in >California.
> 
> Notarization is a form of acknowledgment. Acknowledgments can also be
> taken by certain other officials (e.g., the clerk of a court, among
> others), but acknowledgments are most commonly performed by notaries.
> 
> An acknowledgment has two legal effects:
> 
> 1) It creates prima facie evidence that the signatures are legitimate.
> For this reason the person taking the acknowledgment always asks for
> identification. In some states notaries are required by law to verify
> the identity of the person signing the document.
> 
> 2) It creates prima facie evidence that the signatures were voluntary.
> 
> The notarial statement is extremely short. It usually says something
> like "on this __ day of ___, appeared before me _______________ and
> acknowledged the foregoing signature(s) to be his/her/their voluntary
> act and deed." Then the notary signs the statement. Most states also
> require the notary to place a stamp by their signature and the date
> their notarial commission expires. It is also common for state law to
> require notaries to keep a dated log book of their notarizations. 
> 
> So, if you have a document that is properly signed but not notarized,
> it is just as legally effective as if the person's signature were
> notarized. The only benefit is that the person might claim that the
> signature was a forgery or under duress. If the signature was
> notarized, those arguments go out the window.
> 
> I should add that many documents in a real estate transaction must be
> recorded (e.g., deeds, contracts, mortgages, trust deeds). Recording
> laws in most states require the signatures of the parties to be
> acknowledged before the document will be accepted for recording.
> Notes, however, are usually not recorded, although some real estate
> lenders taking notes secured by mortgages and trust deeds incorporate
> the note into the mortgage or trust deed document.
> 
> I hope that clarifies what a notarization does.