Notary Glossary

Acknowledgment
1. The act of admitting or recognizing the existence of an agreement by signing as evidence of one's intention that the agreement shall be binding and in full force and effect. 2. The certificate affixed to the document (See Acknowledgment, Certificate of.)

Acknowledgment, Certificate of
A written statement, affixed to an agreement, signed and sealed by an authorized official that states in a form, usually prescribed by law, that the official took the acknowledgment of the person who signed the agreement.

Affiant
The person who takes an oath or affirmation. The person to whom an oath or affirmation is administered. Sometimes called a deponent.

Affidavit
A document that contains a statement, made under oath or affirmation, signed by the affiant and a jurat (certificate) signed and sealed by a notary.

Affirmation
A solemn statement, equivalent by law to an oath, but without religious significance or reference to a Supreme Being.

Certificate
A written statement, signed by an official, describing acts performed in an official capacity.

Jurat
Latin, "to swear." The certificate signed and sealed by a notary which is affixed below the sworn or affirmed statement and signature of the affiant.

L.S. (locus sigilli)
Latin, "The location where the seal is placed." Used generally to indicate the place for the notary's seal.

Notary Public
A person appointed by a state official to serve the public as a disinterested witness, to take acknowledgments, administer oaths and affirmations, and to perform such other acts as are allowed or required by law.

Oath
A solemn pledge or promise containing reference to a Supreme Being. (A person who intentionally makes false statements under oath is punishable for perjury.)

S.S. (scilicet)
Latin, "to wit, namely." Printed near the venue of a certificate or acknowledgment.

Subscribe
To sign, to write one's signature.

Testimonium clause
At the end of many documents and certificates that follows the form "witness my hand and seal" or some variation thereof.

Venue
1. The place where the act is performed. 2. The place on the certificate that gives the location where the notarization was performed. 3. The place where a trial is held.

Loan Document Glossary
(Other terms you may hear or see doing loan document signings)

Signing Service or Closing Service Companies
A company who subcontracts signing appointments to "Loan Document Signers" (Notary Public) for signing of loan documents and notarization. The sole purpose of this company is to act as a "Go-between" company, between the client and the notary public".

A company who finds qualified "Loan Document Signers" and coordinates the signing and notarization process for their clients.

A company whose services can be local, statewide, multi-state or nationwide.

Closing Agent
Closing agents can be the lender, escrow, title, closing service companies, etc. A closing agent actually performs the closing process, which includes, disbursement of funds, the issuing of title insurance, if applicable and recording of the deed. In addition, the closing agent, if a notary, can also notarize the applicable documents in the loan package. With the expansion of the lenders requirements across the nation, the need for a "signing agent " was developed.

Signing Agent
Before the 1990's, the Signing Agent was virtually unknown. Borrowers were expected to travel to the office of a lender, escrow agent or title firm to complete a loan. However, during the past decade, increasing competition in the lending market, a massive volume of refinancing and home-equity loans and demand for faster, more customer-friendly services changed how loan transactions are concluded. Lenders now strive to make transactions as simple as possible and reduce a borrower's travel time during the work week. Therefore, the Mobile Notary came into existence.

Loan Document Signer
A "Loan Document Signer" is a Mobile Notary Public that presents the loan documents to the borrowers. The "Loan Document Signer" points to key features and information on the documents and secures proper signatures, after verifying identity. The Notary Public can answer all "What questions" but not questions that pertain to "Why." After the signing is completed, the "Loan Document Signer" notarizes the appropriate documents in the loan package. Therefore, we believe that the correct term for the Notary Public that presents and secures signatures, is better referred to as a "Loan Document Signer", but some do refer to this person as a "Signing Agent." Recently NASA and NNA formed a strategic alliance and are now calling the notary a "Notary Signing Agent."

We at NSC believe you should avoid the use of the term "Agent" when referring to a notary public when conducting a mobile loan signing. An "Agent" is defined as one that acts for and with authority from another, called the parent company. The notary public is an unbiased and neutral person. Many lenders and escrows prefer that notaries do not represent themselves as an agent of the lender or escrow holder.

You should always let the borrowers know that you are an "independent contractor" and not a part of the lender, title, escrow or signing service company.

Preferred Document Signer
A "Certified Preferred Document Signer", means that this individual Notary Public has his or her training and testing completed. We use a CPDS logo on the Notary Web Page to denote that they are a "Certified Preferred Document Signer". Companies can see at a glance that they are most knowledgeable and competent signers with loan documents and signing.

Notary Signing Agent
National Notary Association is using this name for a Notary Public that is trained to do loan document signings.

Certified Notary Signing Agent
National Notary Association has a certification course for becoming a "Certified" Notary Signing Agent.

Loan-Signing Agent or Mobile Loan-Signing Agent
These titles are being used by Sealed to Perfection Mobile Notary Seminars and Services, Inc.