Living in Portugal- How to have US loan docs notarized

[Michael Brooks]

Hey everyone- this is proving to be a tricky situation!  My client is an American living in Portugal, and had sold her rental property in Arizona before Covid hit. Her plan was to 1031 it to another property, where she would have had to visit the US embassy to sign and notarize the loan docs. After the country’s shutdown the embassy closed for notary appointments. It is still closed. Now the embassy in Madrid Spain IS taking appointments, however she is unable to make the 6 hour drive for a number of reasons. Lenders are still requiring wet signatures on loan docs. We are trying to beat the extended 1031 identification deadline of July 15, and she doesn’t want to be stuck with the tax hit and no replacement property. If you’ve dealt with this before, I would really appreciate your guidance!