The Mismatched Bond and the Lease Signed Too Soon
Maya R. Thompson, a 28-year-old Iowa resident, wants to become a notary public. On June 18 she mails the Secretary of State a signed application, a $30 check, and a $5,000 surety bond. The application lists her name as 'Maya R. Thompson.' The bond lists the principal as 'M. R. Thompson,' is a photocopy rather than the original, and shows an effective date of July 1. Maya's employer wants her to notarize a lease on June 25. Maya has not yet received a commission certificate or ordered a stamp. She calls the Secretary of State's office and is told the application is being reviewed. She asks whether she can go ahead and notarize the lease because her bond will be effective soon and her employer is waiting.
1. Identify the deficiencies in Maya's application package and explain whether the Secretary of State can issue a commission on the current record.
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The package has three problems. First, the name on the application and the name on the bond do not match: 'Maya R. Thompson' versus 'M. R. Thompson.' Iowa ties the commission, the bond, and the official stamp together, so the principal's legal name must be consistent across the records. Second, a photocopy of the bond is not the filed bond; the Secretary of State needs the original bond or whatever the office expressly accepts, not a copy. Third, the bond is not effective until July 1. A commission cannot be issued before the security is in force. On this record the office should not issue a commission. Maya needs to correct the name, submit an acceptable original bond, and wait until the bond's effective date before the commission can begin.
2. May Maya notarize the June 25 lease if the commission is issued on July 1? What if she signs and stamps the lease on June 25 anyway?
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No. A notary's authority begins on the effective date of the commission, not on the date the application is mailed, the bond is purchased, or the employer needs the document. If the commission begins July 1, Maya has no authority on June 25, and she also has no official stamp yet. Notarizing anyway would be an unauthorized act. The lease would carry a defective notarial certificate, and a recorder or receiving office could reject it. The practical cure is not to change the date or pretend the act occurred later. The signer should appear again before a properly commissioned notary, or before Maya after her commission is active, and a new certificate should be completed.
3. What should Maya do to cure the package, and what must she have in hand before her first notarization?
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Maya should contact the Secretary of State or the bonding company and correct the principal name so it exactly matches her application. She should file the original bond, not a photocopy, and make sure the effective date is on or before the date she expects to be commissioned. She should keep a copy of everything she files. Before her first notarization she must have an active commission, not merely a pending application, and she must have an official stamp that contains her name as commissioned, the words 'Notary Public,' the words 'State of Iowa,' her commission number, and her commission expiration date. She should also check the commission certificate for the exact start date and expiration date so she does not repeat the June 25 mistake.