Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Notary ''Name'' Fill in Error on Grant Deed
I recently bought a piece of vacant land located in California. The owners signed and dated the deed properly. However, the previous owners live in another state and the out-of-state notary filled in the space reserved for the printing of the notary's name with the name of the Grantor.
The line in question is like this:
What should have been written in:
''On June,1 2004 , before me, Nina Notary, personally appeared Gary Grantor ...''
What was written in:
''On June 1, 2004, before me, Gary Grantor, personally appeared Gary Grantor ...''
The notary signed, dated and pressed the notary seal onto the deed properly.
Is there any need to worry about this minor mistake by the notary?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Notary ''Name'' Fill in Error on Grant Deed
The deed should be redone. Please contact me at 714 363 0220 if you have any questions.
Re: Notary ''Name'' Fill in Error on Grant Deed
If the deed has been accepted for recording despite the error, has been recorded, and the deed shows up, properly indexed, where it should in the county records, and is otherwise error-free, it would probably be upheld as fully valid despite the error.
Then, the problem in attempting to re-do the deed is that the subsequent, correctly-notarized deed is probably invalid because the grantor to longer has title to grant.
So, I think the truly proper way to correct the error, if you want to, is to ask a court for an order "reforming" the deed. If grantor and grantee agree, this won't be an adversary proceeding (lawsuit), and it shouldn't cost much or take a lot of time to correct what is called a "scrivener's error."
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