Resources > Glossary > Signing and Initialing

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

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Common Terms 1   Common Terms 2

Signing and Initialing

Function: verb ( present continuous tense )

There are different formats for signing and initialing in documents. Many of the pages have one-centimeter initial lines in the bottom right corner. Keep your eyes open, as the different formats of this document have different arrangements. On some variations of this document, one of the pages is blank for the most part. Sometimes, you will need to have the borrower initial and sign the same page (which seems strange). Sometimes the initial lines aren't easy to see. Sometimes you initial on top. Just make sure to check the document through and through. If you are not sure if a document needs an initial, it is generally a good idea to have the borrowers initial it. When in doubt, initial. What initials to write are not always easy to know in a long name that includes middle initials, or the term junior, senior at the end. We have never heard of documents being returned due to unsuitable initialing variations. It seems most prudent to put all of the initials to all letters or initials of the name and put a Jr, or Sr, if there is a suffix of Junior or Senior in the name. The initialing could be six or more digits if done completely with a long suffixed name.

Definition 1:
The process of making a signature and inscribing one's two, three, or multiple digit initials in a document.