What Would You Do: The case of the masked ID photo?

By David Thun on February 24, 2021

The Notary Hotline receives hundreds of calls daily from Notaries nationwide who find themselves in challenging situations. To boost your knowledge of Notary standards of practice, we’ve created a series of scenarios based on real-life situations and ask a simple question: What would you do?

Imagine a signer comes to you to request a simple acknowledgment. The Notary certificate wording on the document is in order, the signer has provided you with the information you need for your journal entry and you’re ready to complete the notarization as soon as you review the signer’s ID. The signer hands you her driver’s license … and you realize that the face in the ID photo is covered by a mask!

When you ask the signer about the strange ID picture, she says she was required to wear a mask at the motor vehicle department when she went to get her license. She kept her mask on as directed — and they even took a photo of her masked and used it for the license!

What would you do?

While many public agencies have strict COVID-19 safety requirements for customers, at the same time the photo on the ID is almost useless for verifying the signer’s identity. Would you accept the ID as is, require some other proof of identity, or decline the notarization?

To participate in this week’s “What Would You Do?” scenario, share your answers in the comments section below. We may mention your response in next week’s Bulletin, when we offer the best possible answer(s) to this notarial challenge.

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