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A Notary is an official person of integrity, typically commissioned by the Secretary of State to verify the identity of document signers. They serve as an impartial witness to those signing important documents. A Notary performs six official acts: taking an acknowledgment, administering an oath or affirmation, taking a verification on oath or affirmation (includes an affidavit), witnessing, or attesting a signature, certifying, or attesting a copy or deposition, and noting a protest of a negotiable instrument. It is illegal for a notary to give advice or draft legal documents.

No. You cannot just sign the document. A Notary Public cannot take an acknowledgment on a document that is incomplete and or blank.

It is the official fraud-deterrent process that assures the parties of a transaction that a document is authentic, and can be trusted. Notaries Public serve as impartial witnesses to the signing of documents. They establish the identity of the person signing the document. They attest that the signature on the document was voluntarily made in their presence. Notaries may acknowledge deeds, mortgages and powers of attorney or other papers. Notaries are empowered to issue oaths and affirmations carrying the same effect as if performed before a judge. A notarization is a certificate filled out by the Notary, certifying certain facts about the signer and document. The Notary does not verify the accuracy or validity of the document.

When the notarial wording is not found on the document that you need notarized, for example on as handwritten or private documents, the signer should ask the receiving agency–what type of notarization they need. The signer may seek advice from an attorney or choose the act yourself. It is illegal for a notary to give advice or draft legal documents.

Acknowledgements. Jurats, Oaths or affirmations, Copy Certification, Signature Witnessing

• Acknowledgement: The signer personally appears before the Notary, is identified, and signs the document or acknowledged that he or she signed the document.
• Proof of Execution by Subscribing witness: An individual vouches before a Notary to having watched the principal signer of a document sign the document or take the signer’s acknowledgement they signed and having been requested to sign the document themselves as a witness. They must appear with one credible witness who has valid ID, and who the notary personally knows) in front of the notary.
• Jurat: The signer personally appears before notary, is identified, signs in the presence of the notary, and is administered an oath or affirmation declaring the truthfulness of the document.
• Oath/Affirmation: Spoken promises of truthfulness made in the presence of the Notary (e.g., Oath of Office, witness for testimony, depositions).
• Copy Certification: Notary certifies a copy is an accurate reproduction of the original. (Powers of attorney only) For copy certification of other documents, a signer may write a statement about the document and sign it. Then the notary may notarize that signature by proving the identity of the signer as in an acknowledgment, or have the signer swear what they wrote in the statement is true which is a Jurat.

No, We are not licensed to practice law. It is illegal for a notary to give advice or draft legal documents.

Yes. A Notary Public can notarize a signature on a document written in a foreign language, whether or not they are familiar with the language, since a Notary Public’s function only relates to the signature and not the contents of the document. However, a Notary Public must be able to communicate with the customer without a translator. The Notarial Certificate in a foreign language document or attached to a foreign language document, e.g., the Acknowledgment or Jurat, must be written in English.

Pennsylvania recognizes the following types of identification as valid:

• State-issued driver's license
• State-issued identification card
• U.S. passport issued by the U.S. Department of State
• U.S. military ID
• State, county and local government IDs
• Permanent resident card, or "green card," issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services*
• Foreign passport*
• Driver's license officially issued in Mexico or Canada*
• Digital driver's license*
• ID deemed acceptable to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security*
• Inmate ID issued by the State Department of Corrections or Federal Bureau of Prisons, if the inmate is in state or federal custody*
• Inmate ID issued by a county sheriff, if the inmate is in the custody of the county sheriff

*All ID's must include photo, physical description, signature, issuing authority and current

** Social Security cards, birth or marriage certificates, credit cards, school IDs, library cards and temporary driver's licenses are not acceptable forms of ID for notarization purposes.

In situations where a signer does not have an acceptable ID or if you're uncertain about the ID, check your state laws regarding credible witnesses as a means of identification. Should you be unable to provide one of these ID cards, you may be identified on the oath or affirmation of two credible identifying witnesses who have their own approved ID card. Two credible Identifying witnesses must have personal knowledge of your identity, believe it is not reasonable for you to obtain the approved ID, and be honest, aware, and impartial.

No. By completing a certificate of acknowledgment, the Notary Public is not certifying the legality of the underlying document. An Acknowledgment is the Notarial Certificate attached to a document when the Notary Public confirms the identity of the signer, and the signer acknowledges being the signer of the document. A document that's notarized is a secure way to sign the contract, but the document will still be legally binding and upheld in court without being notarized.

A formal declaration before a Notary Public that the instrument presented is the free and voluntary act of the party executing it and the signatures on the documents are genuine.

A Jurat is an attached written statement of a Notary Public that an oath or affirmation was taken before the Notary Public.

An Affirmation is an oral or written declaration made by a person who has an objection to taking oaths, certifying under the penalty of perjury the declarations are true. The term includes an affidavit.

No, the signer must personally appear before the notary.

No, We cannot notarize incomplete documents with incomplete blank lines (that you don’t have the information for) in the text above your signature line or to have just the last “signature and notary page” without the rest of the document present.

A Loan Signing Agent (“LSA/NSA”) is a notary who is specially trained to handle and notarize loan documents. For lenders, NSAs are the critical final link to complete the loan. An LSA/NSA is hired as an independent contractor to ensure that real estate loan documents are executed by the borrower, notarized, and returned for processing on time. Completing this critical part of the loan process enables the loan to be funded.

Examples of Notarization of Mortgage Loan Documents include:

• Loan for Home Purchase
• First mortgage
• First refinance
• First & second / piggyback loan
• Home equity line of credit – HELOC
• Reverse Mortgage
• Commercial Real Estate Loan