National Notary Bill Vetoed

A small item in today's New York Times caught by Register of Deeds eye. President Obama is exercising a "pocket veto" of a bill that would mandate all states to recognize acknowledgements taken in other states, including those done electronically. The story explains how up until now, this bill was considered to be non-controversial, so much so that both parties in Congress acquiesced to its passage in an informal session which is truly astounding given the gridlock in Washington. The reason for the president's veto is that the recent furor about shoddy administrative practices in foreclosures by major national lenders has thrown the whole issue of the authenticity of foreclosure documents into question, so now is not the time to loosen existing rules on notarizations.

Out of state acknowledgements have never been an issue for us. We regularly receive and record them. Here is what the Massachusetts Deed Indexing Standards say about out of state notaries:

4-4 OUT OF STATE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
An acknowledgment made outside of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts but within any state, territory, district or dependency of the United States shall be made (in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws chapter 183, section 33) by:
1) a justice of the peace, notary public, or magistrate of the state in which the acknowledgment is made;
2) a commissioner appointed therefor by the governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; or
3) any other officer of the state in which the acknowledgment is made provided that a certificate of authority of said officer in the form prescribed by M.G.L. c. 183, s. 33 is attached thereto.
To be recorded in Massachusetts, such an acknowledgement does not require the seal of the Notary Public taking the acknowledgement.