Recent Important Decisions

Acknowledgement – Liability of Notary – Where the defendant, a notary, certified that certain impersonators of the grantors were known to him, and that they were the persons who executed the deeds, and the plaintiff who accepted the deeds as security for a loan in reliance upon the certificate of the notary was defrauded, held, the defendant was guilty of negligence and must respond in damages for not fulfilling the requirements of Sec. i185 of the Civil Code: that “the acknowledgment of an instrument must not be taken, unless the officer taking it knows or has satisfactory evidence, on the oath or affirmation of a credible witness, that the person making such acknowledgment is the individual who is described in and who executed the instrument.” Something affirmative in the nature of evidence of the grantor’s identity must appear, as an association with him in his relation to other people. Informal introductions and occasional meetings are not enough. Anderson v. Aronsohn (Cal., ig9g), 184 Pac. 12.