As you may know, a notary is a person who is authorized to oversee and verify the validity of signatures during the certification of certain documents. By signing any document in front of a notary, you’re essentially using them as a witness to confirm the fact that you were the one who provided the signature. It’s essentially a preventative measure to ensure the signer’s signature isn’t being forged by a third-party, as the notary will request to see the signer’s ID before witnessing the document-signing and completing the notarization process, during which the notary will collect supporting documents from the involved parties, witness the filling out of the notarized document, and then provide their signature to finalize the transaction. In this brief guide, we’ll go over the fundamental facts you’ll need to know about notarizing your vehicle’s title:
How to Find and Use the Services of an Official Notary in Your Area
First, you’re probably wondering where you can find a notary. The best kind of notary to use for a vehicle title notarization would be a notary public. Most cities have a few of these, and you can easily find them by searching for “notary public” followed by your city/town name. Make sure you give them a call to set up an appointment, as most will be booked for one or more days in advance. You’ll also want ask them what they need you to bring to complete the process. Typically, that will include your ID, the vehicle title, and maybe proof of residence.
Why Would You Notarize a Vehicle Title?
Some states, such as Iowa, have made it a legal requirement that all vehicle titles must be notarized, so the first thing you should do when determining whether it’s necessary to notarize your vehicle’s title is check the state regulations. Generally, such requirements and regulations are the primary reasons for having a title notarized, typically to legitimize a transfer or sale process. Since many states do not require vehicle titles to be notarized, it’s common for recently relocated vehicle owners to encounter questions regarding vehicle notarization.
Who Needs to Be There During the Notarization?
Technically, only the signature of the seller must be notarized, so in some states a vehicle owner can go ahead and have their title notarized in preparation for sale without the buyer being present. However, others states will require that both the buyer and seller be present during the notarization. You can visit the DMV website and access your state’s specific guidelines to learn the exact vehicle title transfer requirements that would apply to your transaction.
Why Would Some States Require Notarization?
Finally, you might be wondering why some states would require vehicle titles to be notarized while others don’t. Having a vehicle title notarized is essentially a fraud deterring method that is used to keep people from selling or stealing the vehicles of others through the DMV system. This creates an extra layer of difficulty for would-be criminals, as they’d also need to commit advanced identify theft in order to show up to a notary with a fake ID that contains someone else’s name and details along with their picture.
