 There’s been a lot of talk about voter fraud, but nobody talks about Notary Fraud. Recently, I was a special guest on a program called Law and Reality: " A Big Scam - Fraudulent Deeds! We spoke in detail of the problem I see and a possible solution. A Notary is a licensed individual who has met certain requirements and can fulfill certain legal actions on behalf of the Secretary of State. The Chief Notary is whoever holds the Secretary of State position. Examples of where you might use a Notary:
What does not get discussed is the amount of fraud that is rampant in the notary profession. And especially in Michigan. Detroit News did a recent article on a tragic situation in Wayne County. It is a very relevant and alarming current day issue for Michigan residents. I know all of this because I serve as Register of Deeds in Macomb County. I see first hand how the bad guys have passed up or forged the notaries and now we need to put something in place to ensure that the notary is who they say they are and that they actually did notarize a document. TIGHTER RECORD DATABASE In 2024, the National Notary Association did a position paper on the topic. They offered a detailed explanation of how notary impersonation is a rising issue. It was highlighted that the current public records and databases make it easy for the harvesting of official credentials. There is not enough monitoring. But we can fix that. PROPERTY THAT SHOULD NOT BE STOLEN There is a growing concern that property owners are being taken advantage of in Michigan and around America. It is called “quit claim deed fraud”: scams that result in property being sold right out from under them. It comes back to too many holes in the system and not enough education of the public to know when to watch for such travesties. It is commonly described as deed fraud / “deed theft” / home title theft, including cases where a forged quit claim deed is recorded and the true owner doesn’t realize it until later.
FRAUD UNDER OUR NOSES This report was provided in 2024 about the danger of fraud and with the increase of AI it is only going to become a greater part of our everyday life. This is why whoever holds the keys to the Secretary of State office must be prepared to strengthen systems to ensure our citizens are protected. But I see solutions and ways we can utilize solutions we can implement at the State level (for the good of all 83 counties). We must have greater accountability: I want to explore setting up a system (think of Google Authenticator) in the state where we can cross check to make sure a signature is verified. That way title companies or Register of Deed offices can do a final check to ensure a notary did indeed sign to verify the signature. Right now, it is very easy for notary seals and signatures to be duplicated, due to advances in technology. When I am elected as Michigan’s next Secretary of State, I will work to bring the solutions we have utilized in Macomb to the broader scope of the Department of State. Send me your thoughts and feedback to [email protected] Comments are closed.
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