Outlaw notaries making mark amid real estate crisis

Detectives and prosecutors sorting through the criminal rubble of the real estate collapse are finding a surprising trend: The notary public is, in some cases, the public enemy.

Investigators in Sacramento, the Bay Area and Los Angeles say real estate frauds can hinge on a mastermind's ability to find a complicit notary, a person who is supposed to attest to the identity and presence of a person signing a sensitive document.

In Sacramento and El Dorado counties, at least six women have been arrested or tried during the past two years for offenses that left victims robbed of equity dollars or home ownership.

"When someone's called a public notary, you look at them as being a trustworthy public official," said Mike Wood, a Sacramento Police real estate fraud detective. "It lets a lot of people down when it comes out that they're defrauding others."

Investigators say most notaries are honest, but there are exceptions.

One Sacramento notary allowed an impostor with only a Costco card for identification to fraudulently sign over a deed to a home, court records show.

Another Sacramento notary allowed a friend to seize power of attorney from an unsuspecting family member, court records allege. That notary used three pieces of property to secure a $500,0000 bail bond for her boyfriend, records state.

An El Dorado County notary helped a friend falsify her family members' consent to draw equity out of a family home, Deputy District Attorney Dick Jones said.

Of the six local notaries charged, two were convicted of felonies, two of misdemeanors, one case was dismissed, and another is pending.

Statewide, the number of people certified as notaries jumped from fewer than 200,000 in 2003 to nearly 300,000 in 2007, according to the secretary of state's office.

To become a notary, a person must take a six-hour class, pass a 30-question test and sign an oath to follow the law.

Notaries' main job is to identify people signing documents and attest that they are present and sign willingly.

Statewide, one part-time and two full-time investigators from the secretary of state's office look into 300 to 500 complaints from the public and law enforcement each year. The office does not compile data on the number of notaries whose duties are revoked each year.

Of the six local notaries charged with a crime, the secretary of state's office revoked notary powers from one, two resigned, two let their powers expire and one remains active while the case is pending.

When notaries don't do their jobs correctly, the consequences can be steep.

Three sisters each lost about $80,000 and the Oak Park home where they grew up in a scheme that depended on the participation of a notary.

Pamela Watkins said she and her sisters were shocked to learn in 2005 that the $350,000 home, which was paid off and then passed on to Watkins and three siblings after their mother's death, had been granted solely to their brother. Its equity had been stripped.

Watkins and her sisters hired a lawyer, did some research and learned that Vallejo notary Sofia L. Rose had attested that the sisters signed over the house at 3:57 p.m. on Dec. 4, 2003.

"We weren't there," Watkins said, adding that one sister's name was misspelled on the deed.

The sisters confronted Rose in 2005, Watkins said.

"She said, 'I remember you,' " Watkins said. "I said, 'I don't know you, I never met you in my life.' "

Rose was charged with three felony counts of filing a forged document and pleaded no contest in September 2006 to one felony fraud count. She was sentenced to a 180-day work project.

Rose, who resigned as a notary, could not be reached; the brother pleaded no contest to filing a forged document and to fraud and was sentenced to a year of jail time and work project, court records show.

Investigators statewide say they're seeing an increase in the number of notaries in handcuffs.

In Los Angeles County, detective Chris Christopher sees notaries wrapped up in plots fit for Hollywood.

He investigated one case in which a "career criminal" convinced a notary to let him use her log book and stamp to swindle property. Eventually, the criminal stole that notary's identity.

In another case, he said, a man went to three notaries, each cooperating as the suspect had another man declared dead and took power of attorney and title to the man's property.

"A notary seal is the most powerful identity theft and fraud tool you will ever find," Christopher said. "You can bring dead people back to life with it."

Investigators note a common theme when they run across a crooked notary: When the heat is on, the log book disappears.

"Right behind the dishonest notary, then there's the missing journal," said Jeanne Williams, a Sacramento County district attorney's investigator.

A state law went into effect in January that creates penalties for notaries who do not report a missing log book.

The law also allows investigators to review a log book without a warrant and requires a more thorough background check for applicants.

The vast majority of notaries are ethical, said Kelly Rush, spokeswoman for the National Notary Association. Still, the organization highlights arrested notaries in its publications to warn members about the consequences of fraud.

She said the association encourages notaries to know the law and follow it to the letter.

"They really do have a powerful role," Rush said. "They can stop (fraud) in its tracks."

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