Resources > Notary Seals Embossers
Notary Seal, Embosser, and Stamp Information
Common tools of the notary public
Notary law differs from state to state and so do the tools of a notary public. The trademark of a notary public is their seal, however, some states don't, or didn't, or won't require a seal at some point in time. The laws keep changing over time. California notary law requires the use of a notary seal ( stamp ) in most common notary acts where there is paperwork involved. A spoken oath might be an exception. In California, the government gives paperwork authorizing the manufacturing of a Notary seal to deter fraud.
The notary journal is another common notary tool. Notaries in most states are required to keep a bound and sequential journal to record all of their notary acts. Then, if an inquiry about a particular notarization comes up, the notary could provide a copy of the journal entrees that corresponded to the notary acts that were being inquired about. One step to prudent notarizations is to take a thumbprint for each entry in the notary journal to prove the identity of the signer in a way that can not be forged.
A few of the more meticulous notaries keep an embosser with a raised seal. Some notaries use an embosser with ink which is an alternative to the regular notary seal. However, since the embosser leaves a three dimensional imprint in the paper, an embosser can be used as a secondary seal to prove that no pages were added to the document after the time of the notarization. If a notary embosses all pages of all documents that he notarizes in his notary career, then the embossing is proof that the notarization was really done by that particular notary and not a fraudulent imposter. I had to research a fraudulent incident where someone copied the impression of my notary seal with a copy machine and pretended that a document had been notarized by me. They got caught partly due to their forgery of my signature which didn't resemble my signature at all, not to mention their omission of notary wording, and not to mention that there was no embossing in the document.
California notaries must be bonded. Often, notaries in California will go the additional step and get errors and omissions insurance too. 123notary.com does not sell notary bonds or insurance, but once a notary is in business, we can teach them how to enter the lucrative business of loan signing if they visit the loan signing courses page at http://www.123notary.com/loansign.htm. Once a notary becomes a loan signer, they can advertise on our directory. The purpose of the bond is that if someone sues the notary for misconduct, that the bond can pay the plaintiff, and then the bonding company would later collect from the notary. Errors and Omissions insurance is in case the notary makes an innocent mistake that costs someone a lot of money that they might sue for. I have never heard of a notary being sued for a mistake, but putting the wrong date on a loan document or notarizing the wrong name variation could spell trouble. Its common for a notary to carry as much as $100,000 in Errors and Omissions insurance.
