Kenneth Edelstein's (edelske) Blog

Good Deed or Bad DeedA deed is a document that transfers ownership of real estate from grantor to grantee. As there are usually two parties involved, the grantee wants to “receive the most” and the grantor wants to “give the least”. For this reason there is a gradient of “what is given”, ranging ...

Disgusting - Nobody wanted the JobI write this with a combination of sadness and rage. First, let me clear up the use of the word disgusting. That refers to the “so called” “Notaries” who flat out refused the assignment that will be the topic of this entry. I hope some of them will read this blog...

The Signature/Name Affidavit - Often not fully completedIt is most likely that you are not processing this simple form properly. First, the good news; of all the forms in various loan packages this one is probably one of the most uniform. There really is little variation in how this form is struc...

The Ultimate RecipientThe ultimate recipient of a document is the most authoritative person regarding the issue of document acceptability. Often the UR is the last person to receive the notarized document. Why bring this up? You might want to add the term UR to your notary lexicon. The remainder ...

Record Initials ProperlyThey’re such little things. How can initials possibly be recorded wrong? Well, there are many ways to receive a “this is a mess, you have to go back and have it redone” call. This installment will cover the art and science of doing the initials properly. But first a discla...

Don’t Die TryingTight schedules are part of being a notary. “Can you be here in less than half an hour” is a common request. Edocs come late, borrowers have to leave at a certain time, the LO is stressing how you are “being depended on” to meet your commitment (even though the docs are late). The...

It’s NOT “Finger Licking Good”SLURP! Went the borrower, like a giant St. Bernard eager to welcome the children home from school, and lick their faces. SLURP – again went the borrower to their fingers to “wet” them so they could grasp the page of paper. At that time near “barf” went I.I do not lic...

Once upon a signing drearyOnce upon a signing dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of mortgage, HUD and TIL lore, While I nodded, with borrower nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of a demon gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. 'Tis ...

One Person, Many Names – Quite LegalAs I write this blog entry, I mentally kick myself for being so positive, for so long, and so wrong. For well over a decade I have been a notary. It has always been my firm belief that any person, at any point in time has only ONE legal name. I am positive many...

A “Senior” ConfusionAs a NewYorkMobileNotaryPublic.com – I interact with many corporate officers. Also, the same as most notaries I work with people who have suffixes to their name. Common suffixes are Jr. and Sr. – It is vital to differentiate between the “generations” of people with basically t...