One of our colleagues had her purse stolen. A couple of days later she realized her notary seal (stamp) that she just received the day before the theft was in the purse. After checking around, it was pretty hard to get direction on what to do when this happens. Obviously you don’t want someone running around fraudulently notarizing documents in your name. Finally, after referring to the notary public guidebook, we found out the following steps should be taken within ten days of realizing that your seal has been lost or stolen:
1. Inform the appropriate law enforcement agency.
This step is only necessary if your seal has been stolen or vandalized. You should notify the county in which you are commissioned, even if it was stolen in a different county. The law isn’t too specific on how you need to notify the law enforcement agency, so in this case, she simply called the sheriff’s department and reported the incident to a deputy.
2. Notify the appropriate register of deeds and the Secretary of State in writing.
Our colleague mailed letters to the aforementioned entities explaining how her notary seal was stolen, as there was no guidance on whether an email or fax would suffice. The register of deeds in the county she is commissioned was unable to provide much guidance either. Apparently this is either the first time a Notary Public has ever had their seal stolen, or people just don’t tend to report it when it happens.
Despite all the ambiguous information out there, it’s a good rule of thumb to cover all your bases by following the instructions outlined in the guidebook. It might take a few minutes out of your busy day, but it can possibly save you a lot of trouble if your notary seal falls into the wrong hands.
