The Expired Commission and the Friday Closing
Dana's four-year notary commission lapsed on March 31. She mailed her renewal application to the State Treasurer's office on April 2, but as of May 10 the county clerk's website still lists her as a notary with the old expiration date, and she has not received new credentials. On May 9 a longtime client, Mr. Okafor, asks her to notarize a deed of sale; his closing is scheduled for Monday, May 12, and the title company has told him the signature must be witnessed and sealed that weekend. Dana has known Mr. Okafor for eleven years and has notarized documents for his business many times. She still has her old stamp and seal in a desk drawer. She reasons that her renewal is 'in the system,' the clerk's website still shows her name, and refusing would cost her client the closing.
1. Can Dana lawfully perform the notarization on May 9? Identify the controlling fact and explain why the clerk's website listing does not cure it.
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No. A notary's authority to act derives from a valid, unexpired commission, not from a pending application or a website listing. Dana's commission expired March 31, so from April 1 onward she is a private individual with no notarial powers. The county clerk's page is a stale administrative record; it does not confer authority and cannot revive a lapsed commission. Mailing a renewal on April 2 does not backdate authority either - a new commission (and new oath and bond where required) must actually issue before she may act again. Performing the act would be acting without a commission, exposing her to statutory penalties and voiding the notarial certificate. Her long relationship with Mr. Okafor and the closing deadline are irrelevant to her legal authority. The correct move is to decline and refer him to a currently commissioned notary or a mobile notary service.
2. Dana decides to go ahead and use her old stamp. What are the consequences for the notarial certificate and for Dana personally, and what should Mr. Okafor do?
Read the worked answer
The certificate is defective on its face: it will bear a commission expiration date that has already passed, and a reasonable examiner (title company, recorder, court) can verify the lapse. A notarial act performed without a commission is generally treated as invalid/void, so the deed's acknowledgment fails and the recording or closing can be rejected. For Dana, acting after expiration is an unlicensed notarial act, typically punishable by civil penalty and potentially criminal liability depending on state law, and it may jeopardize her pending application. Mr. Okafor's remedy is to have the document re-notarized by a properly commissioned notary before the closing; the signer must appear again before that notary. Dana should not destroy or alter the bad certificate to hide the problem - she should disclose the error to her client and cooperate in correcting it.