Certified Copies at the Shipping Store
A customer comes to a packing and shipping store where Gwen is a North Carolina notary. The customer needs 'certified copies' of three documents for a new job: her birth certificate, her U.S. passport, and a signed apartment lease. The employer's form says the copies must be 'notarized as true copies.' The customer is anxious because the job starts in three days. Gwen has the original birth certificate and passport in front of her, along with the original lease. Gwen's coworker suggests using the notary seal on all three because 'the seal makes it official.' The customer also asks Gwen to sign a separate statement that Gwen personally knows her, so the employer will not have to check her ID. Gwen has never met the customer before today. Gwen wants to help but is unsure which copies she may certify and what her seal actually proves.
1. Can Gwen certify the birth certificate copy? Why or why not?
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No. A birth certificate is a vital record and a public record. North Carolina notaries may not certify copies of public records or vital records, and the proper source for a certified copy is the vital records office or the issuing agency. Gwen can compare the original to a copy for her own purposes, but she cannot issue a notarized 'true copy' of the birth certificate. Using her seal would falsely suggest she has authority to certify a public record. She should explain this to the customer and direct her to the agency that issued the birth certificate for a certified copy.
2. Can Gwen certify the passport copy or the lease copy?
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She should not certify the passport copy. A passport is a federal public record and identification document; notaries should not certify copies of it, and the customer should use the issuing authority or an authorized process. The lease is different: if it is not a public record, notary copy certification may be allowed in North Carolina when the notary compares the copy to the original and the law does not prohibit it. Gwen must actually perform the comparison, use a proper copy-certification certificate, and record the act in her journal. She should not certify the passport or birth certificate merely because the employer's form asks for it.
3. What should Gwen say about the 'personal knowledge' statement and her seal?
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Gwen must not sign a statement that she personally knows the customer when they met only today. That would be false and could expose her to discipline and the customer to liability. Her seal proves only the notarial act she performed, such as an acknowledgment or a copy certification; it does not make a document 'official,' does not verify the truth of the contents, and does not replace an employer's identity-check process. Gwen should explain the limits of notarization, decline the false statement, help with the lease copy if permitted, and refer the customer to the proper agencies for the birth certificate and passport. She should record any completed act accurately in her journal.