As one of those dull, old fuddy-duddy aka fussy notaries public, I am not surprised at this mess. In the Need for Speed generation, the formalities are being dumped to increase processing speed and profit margins. As long as the document isn't contested and the payments are made, no one looks closely - why fix a problem that isn't a problem yet.
It isn't just lenders and bankers that require the Speedy Notary. Properly notarizing a document takes time; more time than can be covered under the 25 cent, $1 and $5 fee allowed (or loss of "productive salaried time" when the notarization is part of the employee's job). The process takes time - particularly completing the notarization block (often not correct according to state law where the document is being signed or partially prepared with many fill-in-the-blanks). I understand why robo-signers and robo-notarizations are done: cost cutting (staff and overtime) and deadlines to meet. It will be interesting to see if any of these companies even considered a simple streamline process: A typical day in the conference room: The document package, signer (and witness) and the notary in the same room, at the same table - reviewing and signing one document package at a time and passing it around the table for witness signature and notarization.
The problem is, in the scale of millions of documents ignoring the formalities often doesn't make a difference to the transaction. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Sadly, my guess is the documents will hold. Resulting in continuing and enforcing the "it doesn't matter, just sign, stamp and move it out" attitude by managers who must meet profit goals.
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