Frequently Asked Questions

Almost anywhere: your place of business, your home, hospital, assisted living, a local coffee shop, or a public library are some examples.

Yes, Lehi Notary is insured above the minimums for errors and omissions to protect our clients in case of any mistakes or errors during the notarization process.

Lehi Notary can perform remote notarization services for clients who are unable to meet in person. Your identity will be verified online and we will have a face to face interaction where we will sign documents electronically on a remote notary platform, such as bluenotary.us.  This process is approved in the state of Utah and as long as I am in the state when I am notarizing I am commissioned and approved to remote notarize. Your notarized documents are then available as a PDF.

A commissioned notary may provide Acknowledgments, Jurats, Signature Witnessing, Attorney in Fact Acknowledment, Copy Certification, and Corporate Acknowledment.

These can be on a variety of legal and real estate documents.  

Copy Certification cannot be performed on publicly recorded documents such as birth certificates. Copies must be provided from the state agency that issued the document.

Notaries are trained to do a scan of your documents for incomplete areas on documents before notarizing.  Notaries are trained not to read your documents, only look for empty spaces that could be filled in at a later time; to reduce the chances of fraud.  Notaries are also scanning for notarial verbiage so they can notarize your documents in compliance to their state laws. Reading your private business is not their interest. Preventing fraud, verifying your identification, and notarizing is their goal.

A notary public is a public official appointed by the state government to witness and certify the signing of legal documents. A notary public does not practice law or offer financial advice.  

notary.utah.gov states:

UCA §46-1-2(5) A notarial act in which a notary certifies that a signer, whose identity is personally known to the notary or proven on the basis of satisfactory evidence, has made, in the notary's presence, a voluntary signature and taken an oath or affirmation vouching for the truthfulness of the signed document. 

This means I do not attest to the truthfulness of your document - you do.  I attest that you are who say you are, you are the one who signed your document, and you took an oath if applicable.

A notary public is a neutral third party who also does their best to ensure that those signing are not being pressured or coerced and that they have an understanding of what they are signing.

An LSA is a Notary Public who has additional expertise in loan documents.  Many loan documents in a loan document package need to be notarized as well as explained in general terms to the signer. A good LSA will help their clients get all the questions answered and return all the documents on time in the specific way they are needed.  A loan signing agent will not answer any questions that should be directed to the loan officer,  escrow, title, or real estate agent but do their best to help the signer find the answers either in their documents or by calling the appropriate person.

Loan Signing Agents are generally hired by Real Estate proffesionals.  Title, Escrow, Loan Officers, Real Esatate Agents, as well as the clients themselves, all have the ability to request their notary.  The notary (loan signing agent) is usually the last person the client sees in the signing process and all parties want to be represented well!

Acknowledgment - you acknowledge you signed your document and that you are signing (or have signed) voluntarily and under your own free will.

Jurat - includes everything in an acknowledgement plus an oath under penalty of perjury that the statements in your documents are true. You must not have previously signed the document; this needs to be done in the presence of the notary.

*A notary cannot recommend which type of certificate you need, as this can be construed as to having practiced law.  Notaries can describe the differences between the notarial acts and you can then choose.  Most documents have the wording necessary to determine which is needed.  If your document includes a certificate that requires a jurat,  it will usually have the words oath, subscribed, or sworn.  If your document does not already have a certificate attached, and you are still unsure which certificate to ask the notary for, contact the person who gave you the form.