The Journal That Doesn't Match the Certificate
Marcus has been a notary for eight months. He keeps a journal but often fills it in at the end of the week from memory. On Tuesday he notarized a power of attorney for Elena. Elena appeared in person, showed a driver's license, and signed in his presence. Marcus completed the certificate as a jurat but forgot to administer the oath; he simply watched her sign and then stamped. In his journal he later wrote 'acknowledgment' for the entry, listed the date as Wednesday, and recorded the ID number as 'verified.' On Friday a title company calls asking for a copy of the journal entry because the POA is being challenged. Marcus pulls the journal and sees the mismatch.
1. Identify each defect in Marcus's handling of the Elena notarization and journal entry.
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Defects: (1) He executed a jurat certificate without administering the oath or affirmation, so the certificate is false as to the act performed. The correct act, if no oath was given, would have been an acknowledgment (if Elena acknowledged her signature) - but the certificate must match the act. (2) The journal entry records a different notarial act than the certificate. (3) The journal date is wrong (Wednesday instead of Tuesday). (4) The ID entry is inadequate - 'verified' does not identify the document used or its number. (5) Reconstructing journal entries from memory at week's end undermines accuracy and the journal's evidentiary value.
2. What should Marcus do now, and what should he change going forward?
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He cannot 'fix' the past by altering the certificate to match the journal or the journal to match the certificate after the fact; he should not fabricate a corrected record. He should provide a truthful copy of the journal entry as it exists, and if asked, accurately explain what occurred - including that no oath was administered. Going forward: complete the journal contemporaneously at the time of the act; record the exact notarial act performed; record the identification document type and number; and never execute a jurat without actually administering the oath. If the wrong certificate is discovered before the document leaves his hands, he may correct it in a transparent way consistent with what actually happened - but he may not backdate or create a false record.