The Saturday Closing and the Expired Commission
Denise has been a Connecticut notary for two years. Her commission term ended on March 31. She mailed her renewal application to the Secretary of the State on March 20, but as of Saturday, April 12, she has not received a new commission certificate and her name does not yet appear as current in the state's online lookup. A real estate attorney asks her to notarize a seller's acknowledgment on a closing package that must be recorded Monday morning. Denise believes her renewal is 'in process' and that notarizing is fine because she already applied. The signer appears in person with a valid driver's license.
1. Can Denise lawfully perform the acknowledgment on April 12? What should she tell the attorney?
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No. A Connecticut notary's authority exists only during the term of a valid commission. Once the term expires, the person is no longer a notary and cannot perform notarial acts-even if a renewal application is pending. The 'application in process' does not confer authority; only a new commission does.
Denise should decline the act and tell the attorney she is not currently commissioned. Performing the acknowledgment would produce a defective certificate and could expose her to liability for unauthorized practice of a notarial act. The attorney should use a currently commissioned notary for the closing.
2. Denise's renewal is eventually granted with an effective date of April 20. What is the status of any notarial act she performed between April 1 and April 19?
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Those acts were performed without authority and are not valid notarial acts. A later-issued commission does not retroactively validate acts done during the gap. Denise should not backdate or 'cover' the gap, and she should not represent that she was commissioned during that period. If any document was notarized in the gap, the parties need to re-execute or re-notarize with a properly commissioned notary.