Spurred into action!

I was shocked, but only a little surprised.

I had just completed a Real Estate Signing and was visiting with the Signers, the Lender and the Realtor while packing up when the Lender asked me about the Oaths I performed and whether it was something new.

I explained that Oaths are a regular part of most real estate transactions and that we Notaries are required to conduct them when the Notarization requires it.  The Realtor immediately asked whether all Notarizations require Oaths.  I explained and they asked if I could show them how I know when one is required.  I did. 

The Lender went on to explain that in all the years that she had been attending Signings to the tune of between 5,000 and 6,000 Signings, she had never witnessed a Notary perform an Oath. Never.  Turns out that the Realtor of 20+ years had never witnessed an Oath either.

Now, I have met many, many Notaries that, in some cases are almost proud of the fact that they don’t conduct Oaths, and several that simply don’t do them or don’t like to do them or explain that conducting an Oath makes them uncomfortable. I have even met a couple that have stated that they do a “general oath” at the outset of the Signing and believe it to be sufficient, in one case comparing it to the Oath taken in court.

I have ceased being surprised that there are Notaries out there that don’t conduct Oaths, but the Lender’s comment left me stunned – between 5,000 and 6,000 Signings over many years with no Oaths. This was not the first time I’ve heard this or something similar from a Lender or Realtor. This was not even the 5th time or the 20th time. I have lost track of the number of times, a Lendor or Realtor is surprised by an Oath and states they have never seen one.

In that moment, I decided that I had had enough. I am tired of these comments and even more so by Notarizations not being done correctly and worse, it seems that no one cares. Why can’t we all just do things correctly? Why can’t we all seek to emulate the best among us vs. reduce ourselves to behaving like the worst? Improve your process and we all benefit, slack off and we all suffer.

There is an opportunity here for us all to learn. I am not suggesting that I am the end all, be all expert in all things Notary, but I have a certain background and some experience that might help me build a place where we Notaries can come together with our shared experiences – maybe we can learn, maybe we can laugh a little and maybe we can all become a little better at what we do – we are all in this together.

As to the Oaths / the Jurats, I have so much so say, but am already getting a little long here. I will set this blog up and work my way toward talking about Jurats and I will explain why I think they are so important and need to be done and done properly, beyond ‘because we should’.

Stay tuned, come back and read on.

Back soon.