Notary Could Be Liable For $330K In Alleged Fraudulent Home Sale; Accused Of Screwing Up Administration Of Oath On POAs

In New York City, the New York Law Journal reports:

• A notary public may be liable for $330,000 in a fraud case for not asking two persons whose signatures he notarized to swear to their bona fides, a Supreme Court justice in Queens has ruled. In denying the notary's motion for summary judgment, Queens Justice Orin R. Kitzes [...] ruled that the notary could be held liable for failing to ask those individuals whose powers of attorneys he notarized "do you swear or affirm that the signatures you have affixed to this document are true?" The notary, Nigel Chamblin, and his employer, People Service Corp., are being sued in connection with the alleged fraudulent sale of a home in Queens for $330,000.

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• Michael Brown, the founder of the New York State Notary Association, which has 11,000 notaries as members, said "98 percent of notaries in New York state do not administer the oath legally." In order for a notarization to be valid, he explained, the notary must ask the signer to attest to the validity of his signature and the signer must answer in the affirmative. There is even a term for the failure to do so, he added: "slipshod administration of an oath."

For more, see Signature Verification at Issue; Claim Against Notary Proceeds (if link expires, try here).