The Expired Commission and a Sold House
Dana's Alaska notary commission expired on March 31. She mailed her renewal application to the Lieutenant Governor's office on March 20, but as of April 14 she has received no new commission certificate and no rejection. On April 12 a longtime client, a real estate agent, calls in a panic: a closing is scheduled for April 15, the seller is out of state and cannot appear in person, and the agent begs Dana to notarize the seller's signature on the deed using her old stamp and commission number. Dana's employer, a title company, has told her the deal 'falls apart without a notary today.' Dana has a $10,000 earnest money deposit riding on the closing and her employer is hinting at discipline if she refuses.
1. Can Dana perform the notarization on April 15? Identify the controlling legal status and the consequence of proceeding.
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No. A notary's authority flows from a valid, current commission. Once the March 31 expiration passed, Dana's commission lapsed; a pending renewal application does not extend the old commission or create interim authority. Notarizing on April 15 would be an act performed without a commission - a prohibited act - and could expose Dana to criminal liability and civil damages, void or voidable the deed, and create title problems for the buyer.
The correct move is to decline and tell the agent she cannot legally notarize until a new commission is issued. The closing should be rescheduled or the seller should use a currently commissioned notary (for example, one near the seller or via a lawful remote notarization process, if available). Dana should not use her old stamp or number.
Key reasoning: expiration date, not application date, controls authority.
2. Dana's employer pressures her to proceed anyway. What should she do, and what should she document?
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Dana should refuse in writing and escalate: notify her supervisor and the title company's compliance officer that the act would be unauthorized. She should keep a dated record of the request, her refusal, and the reason (lapsed commission). She should not surrender her stamp to anyone or allow a coworker to use it.
If the employer insists, Dana's obligation is to the law, not the closing. She should also contact the Lieutenant Governor's office to confirm the status of her application and get written confirmation of her commission status. The earnest-money pressure and discipline threat are irrelevant to whether she may notarize - a notary cannot cure an unauthorized act by pointing to business harm.