CT Notary Notary Journal and Record Keeping 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A document notarized two years ago is now the subject of a lawsuit alleging forgery. How does the notary's journal help?
- It provides evidence of what occurred, including how the signer was identified (Correct answer)
- It automatically proves the document is genuine
- It transfers all liability to the signer
- It allows the notary to refuse to testify
Correct answer: It provides evidence of what occurred, including how the signer was identified
A detailed journal entry is powerful evidence that the notary followed proper procedures, including identification of the signer.
Question 2: When recording how a signer was identified, the best journal practice is to note:
- The type of ID presented, such as a driver's license, and its issuing authority (Correct answer)
- Nothing, since identification is confidential
- A photocopy of the signer's entire wallet
- Only the signer's word that he is who he claims
Correct answer: The type of ID presented, such as a driver's license, and its issuing authority
Recording the ID type and issuer documents the basis for identification without storing unnecessary sensitive data.
Question 3: A notary performs five separate notarizations for one signer in a single visit. How should this appear in the journal?
- Each notarial act should have its own entry or line (Correct answer)
- One combined entry with no details is sufficient
- Only the first act needs to be recorded
- Only the most expensive act needs to be recorded
Correct answer: Each notarial act should have its own entry or line
Each notarial act is a distinct official act and should be individually documented.
Question 4: A notary's journal is stolen from her car. What is the most prudent first step?
- Report the theft and notify the appropriate authorities, including the Secretary of the State (Correct answer)
- Do nothing since Connecticut does not require a journal
- Buy a new journal and recreate old entries from memory
- Publish the loss in a newspaper before doing anything else
Correct answer: Report the theft and notify the appropriate authorities, including the Secretary of the State
Reporting a lost or stolen journal creates a record of the loss and protects the notary if old entries are later questioned.
Question 5: Which fee-related detail is a best practice to include in each journal entry?
- The fee charged for the notarial act, if any (Correct answer)
- The signer's annual income
- The notary's personal bank routing number
- The employer's quarterly revenue
Correct answer: The fee charged for the notarial act, if any
Recording the fee charged documents compliance with Connecticut's statutory fee limits.
Question 6: A title company asks a notary to hand over her journal permanently because the notarizations involved its closings. The notary should:
- Decline, but she may provide copies of relevant entries upon a proper request (Correct answer)
- Hand over the original journal since the company was the client
- Sell the journal to the company at market price
- Destroy the journal to end the dispute
Correct answer: Decline, but she may provide copies of relevant entries upon a proper request
The journal remains the notary's record, though copies of specific entries can be provided to parties with a legitimate interest.
Question 7: Why is it a poor practice to record a signer's full driver's license number in the journal?
- It creates an identity theft risk if the journal is lost or viewed by others (Correct answer)
- License numbers change every month
- Connecticut requires journals to contain no writing at all
- Numbers are harder to write than words
Correct answer: It creates an identity theft risk if the journal is lost or viewed by others
Journals can be viewed or copied, so storing complete ID numbers unnecessarily exposes signers to identity theft.
CT Notary Notary Journal and Record Keeping 3
A document notarized two years ago is now the subject of a lawsuit alleging forgery.
How does the notary's journal help?