Is contactless mobile notary possiable?

[Jingru Sui]

Hi BP peeps, 

I have a buyer in CA that's going to close a house in GA. So mobile notary is needed to sign closing documents. Just curious what's the mobile signing looks like? If the buyer requested you to mark everything he needs to sign and put the package at his door step, then you wait in your car for him to sign. maybe facetime him during his signing to make sure everything is signed. then he drop it off at his door step again for you to pick up. Is that ok with y'all? He's actually ready to walk away from the deal if he can't do contactless signing. He's lives in Newark, CA. Is contactless signing like what I described above possible? During current circumstances, we are trying to work with mobile notary that will be able to make that happen. Please let me know if you know of any notary that will do this near the San Francisco area. 

Thanks in advance! 

[Alison Wise]

Sorry for the delayed reply. I know I posted this on your other thread, so apologies for the redundancy, but I thought there may be a chance someone may see this post and not the other, and I did want to weigh in on the "contactless signing" topic. And to be clear, I'm not saying this in order to be difficult. I get that this is frustrating for you and the seller, and what I would suggest is more a "minimal contact" signing, as opposed to "contactless."

Regarding the "doorstep" or "contactless" signings... a few signing services or title companies suggested we do that if the signer requested. I personally would not for a number of reasons. I can't speak for all mobile notaries, but here are the problems that I see with that.

1. It's impossible to say that the person signed of their own free will and wasn't coerced. If I'm not in the room, I can't tell. I know it's unlikely, but it does put me as a notary at risk if I was ever to be asked about the signing.

2. For notarizations, part of the requirement is that the signer is physically present when I sign and stamp the document to notarize it. This requirement wouldn't be fulfilled if I signed and stamped in my car while they were inside.

3. For Jurats, which are present in about 95% of the signings I've done, it requires that I physically see the signer sign in front of me as well as that I administer an oath.

4. I would only see at the very end of the signing if the signer consistently signed incorrectly (such as signing with black ink ,or not including their middle initial in their signature (if legible) when it is included on the documents, or not signing as trustee if the property is in a trust and this is required by the lender).

5. In CA we're required to keep records of every single notarization we do in our journal. And each notarization I do, the signer(s) must sign my journal and leave their right thumbprint. So I have dozens of people's personal information there. And I'm required to keep the journal under my control unless asked to surrender it by a police officer or the secretary of state. There is absolutely no way I'm giving my journal to someone to take out of my sight to sign and thumbprint. All it would take is one person taking a quick cell-phone photo and I could lose my notary commission.

That said, I don't mean to be all doom and gloom. I have been doing signings throughout the past few months, and have been taking precautions, especially with signers who are over age 60. Obviously the last thing anyone wants is to spread a virus we don't know we have and get someone else very sick. One of the biggest things I would do is sign outdoors, weather permitting (might be difficult if it's raining, with paper documents and all). I've done a few outdoors, and it was pretty easy. I still wear mask and a new, clean pair of gloves. But I also wash or sanitize my hands before and after each signing appointment, and I wipe down everything that comes out of my bag at the table with disinfectant wipes at the beginning of the appointment (so my phone, my stamp, the pens, my keys, etc). I have a legal sized clipboard so that documents don't blow away. And when they have thumb-printed my journal (I have an inkless "inkpad"), I immediately offer hand sanitizer. I did one signing next to someone's backyard pool where the husband stood closer to me, put his wife was a good 15ft away, and he would walk every document she needed to sign over to her and bring it back. They both wore mask and gloves as well. And it still fulfilled the physical presence requirement, and I could keep an eye on my journal.

Or you could do a doorstep signing for everything except notarizations. And the notary could pre-fill out the notary certificates prior to the appointment with everything except their signature and stamp, provided they had enough time to do so prior to the appointment. They could also make sure their journal is easily accessible and ready to be signed and thumbprinted by the signer(s).

I hope this helps, and that you're able to find a solution that works!