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Glossary of Notary Public, Mortgage, Signing Agent, and Loan Signing Terms.

Appear before
Notary acts require the signer or affiant to appear before the notary public. There was a case where a person in jail was in a window of a room fifty feet away. The notary could not clearly see the signer, therefore, the signer was deemed to not have appeared before the notary and a Power of Attorney was recommended by the signer's attorney. Appear before means that the person who's signature was being notarized was within several feet of the notary with no obstructions to the notary's view of the signer. Its common in a jail notarization for the signer to appear before the notary, but behind thick glass, with a guard handing the journal and papers back and forth. That is acceptable, providing you can converse directly with the signer face to face through a hole in the glass If a microphone is involved, that is okay too providing you can see the signer talking when you are hearing their voice, hence the term "appeared before".