Louisiana Notary

A Civil Law Tradition

Civil Law Basics

The Office of Notary Public in Louisiana – Leaves of absence

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The Office of Notary Public in Louisiana – Leaves of absence

§131. Grant of leave of absence; suspension of prescription. A. The secretary of state on behalf of the governor may grant leave of absence to notaries public for a period not exceeding thirty-six months, to date from the day the leave is granted.

B. Absence from the state suspends the running of prescription against the notary.

§132. Notaries in military service, leave of absence. A leave of absence may be granted by the secretary of state on behalf of the governor to any notary public upon his application to the secretary of state in writing certifying that he is a member of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or any other branch of the military service of the United States, or of the state of Louisiana, and stating the expiration date of his bond.

§133. Notaries in military service, period of leave. The period of the leaves of absence granted in accordance with R.S. 35:132 shall date from the day the leave is granted and shall terminate sixty days after the date of discharge of the notary from the military service of the United States or the state of Louisiana.

The Office of Notary Public in Louisiana – Notaries elective retired status

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The Office of Notary Public in Louisiana – Notaries elective retired status

§202 G. A regularly commissioned non-attorney notary who is seventy years of age or older shall be permitted to elect a special commission status upon retirement from active service as a notary public by filing with the secretary of state a written request for such status along with an affidavit attesting to such status and certifying that he will no longer exercise the duties and functions of a notary public during such time as such status is in effect. A notary with such inactive status shall not be required to maintain a bond or file an annual report. However, a notary granted inactive status shall notify the secretary of state of any change of address to ensure the accuracy of information contained in the notary database maintained by the secretary of state. A notary may resume active commission status by filing a current annual report with the required fees with the secretary of state and posting bond in the amount then required by law.

The Office of Notary Public in Louisiana – Notaries on leave of absence

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The Office of Notary Public in Louisiana – Notaries on leave of absence

202. F. A notary granted a leave of absence by the governor pursuant to R.S. 35:131 or 132 shall not be subject to the fees or penalties established by Subsection A,B, or C of this Section during the term of his leave of absence. However, a notary granted a leave of absence shall provide the secretary of state with a current address during such leave.

 

The Office of Notary Public in Louisiana – Active notaries

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202. Annual report; filing fee; penalties; suspension. A. Except as provided in Subsection F of this Section, all regularly commissioned non-attorney notaries shall file an annual report with the secretary of state on or before the anniversary date of his commission on the form developed and mailed, or provided by electronic means, by the secretary of state pursuant to R.S. 35:191.2

(2)(a), together with payment of the filing fee established by the secretary of state pursuant to R.S. 35:191.2

(3). The annual report shall be completed in full and signed by the notary.

B. Except as provided in Subsection F of this Section, a notary who fails to timely file the required annual report and pay the filing fee pursuant to Subsection A of this Section shall be assessed a late fee not to exceed fifty dollars by the secretary of state.

C. The commission of any notary who fails to timely file his fully completed annual report within sixty days after its due date as provided in Subsection A of this Section shall be automatically suspended, and the notary shall have no authority to exercise any of the duties or functions of a notary public until a cur­ rent required annual report has been filed, and the notary has paid all accrued fees and late charges for a period not to exceed three years in connection with the suspension of his commission.

The Office of Notary Public in Louisiana – Bonds generally

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The Office of Notary Public in Louisiana – Bonds generally

§181. Bond with surety residing in parish, or by surety company. All public officers who are required by law to give bond, shall give bond secured by a personal surety residing within the parish where the officer exercises the functions of his office, or by a reputable and reliable surety company doing business in the state.

§183. To whom bond payable. The bonds of state officers shall be made payable to the governor, and those of the parish officers to the president of the police jury or other governing authority of the parish.

§198. Special mortgage may be substituted for bond; appraisal.All public officers commissioned by the governor, who are required to give bond, may give a special mortgage on property situated within the parish in which they respectively exercise their functions. The mortgage shall be accepted by the persons appointed by law to accept the bond.The public officer proposing to mortgage property shall exhibit his title and a certificate of mortgages, to the persons authorized to approve the bond, who shall cause the property to be appraised, and not receive it unless it is double the amount of security required, after deducting all mortgages. The persons taking the mortgage shall cause it to be inscribed in the office of the recorder of mortgages, as required by law.

§199. Release of sureties by special mortgage. All public officers who have personal sureties on their official bonds may at any time release them by giving a special mortgage, as provided in R.S. 42:198.

The Office of Notary Public in Louisiana – Certificates, research, and taxes

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The Office of Notary Public in Louisiana – Certificates, research, and taxes

§2921. Payment of taxes and past due charges for local improvement assessments prior to transfer of real property. No public officer shall execute, pass, or acknowledge any act conveying real property located within the limits of any municipal corporation in this state having a population of over three hundred thousand inhabitants unless the state, parish, municipal, and levee district taxes due thereon and the past due charges for local improvement assessments due thereon are paid.

§2927. Penalty for violation; act prima facie proof. Any public officer who violates R.S. 9:2921 shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than two hundred dollars. The act offered in evidence shall be prima fade proof of the violation.

§2928. Non-alienation certificate; penalty for violation. No notary or sheriff of the Parish of Orleans shall pass any act conveying real property located in the Parish of Orleans without first obtaining from the register of conveyances a certificate showing that the vendor has not alienated the property. The certificate shall contain a description of the property and shall be annexed to the act. Any notary or sheriff of the Parish of Orleans who violates this Section shall be fined not less than two hundred and fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars.

The Office of Notary Public in Louisiana – Notary’s duty to records acts affecting immovable property

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The Office of Notary Public in Louisiana – Notary’s duty to records acts affecting immovable property

R.S. 35:199. Duty to file, register, or record notarial instruments. A. Notaries public shall record all acts of sale, exchange, donation, and mortgage of immovable property passed before them, together with all resolutions, powers of attorney, and other documents annexed to or made part of the acts, in their proper order, and after first making a careful record of the acts in record books to be kept for that purpose as follows:

(1) If the immovable is located in this state outside of the parish of Orleans, the notary shall record the instrument within fifteen days after they are passed, with the appropriate recorder of the parish or parishes in which the immovable property is situated.

(2)(a) If the immovable is situated within the parish of Orleans, the notary shall file the instrument in the office of the custodian of notarial records for the parish of Orleans and record the instrument with the register of conveyances or recorder of mortgages or both.

(b) If the instrument is an act of sale or any other act evidencing a transfer of real property situated in the parish of Orleans, it shall be the duty of the notary to cause the act to be registered with the office of the clerk as the recorder for the parish of Orleans, within forty-eight hours after the passage of the act.

c) The original of every authentic act, except chattel mortgages and acts relating to real property outside of Orleans Parish, passed before a notary public in Orleans Parish, and also every act, contract, and instrument except money judgments and chattel mortgages filed for record in the offices of either the recorder of mortgages or the registrar of conveyances for the parish of Orleans shall, as a condition precedent to such filing in the office of the recorder of mortgages or the register of conveyances for the parish of Orleans, be first filed in the notarial archives of the parish of Orleans.

B. The provisions of Subsection A of this Section shall not be applicable to instruments affecting cemetery plots and shall not be so construed as embracing inven­tories or partitions or any other act required by law to be performed by notaries or parish recorders under any order of court, but the original of all such acts, without being recorded, shall be returned to the court from which the order is issued.

C. All notaries who contravene the provisions of this Section shall be subject to a fine of two hundred dollars for each infraction of the same, to be·recovered before any court of competent jurisdiction, one- half for the benefit of the informer, as well as all such damages as the parties may suffer thereby.

D. A notary public shall be relieved of his obligations under Paragraph (A)(l) and Subparagraph (A)(2)(a) of this Section when he has been expressly directed in writing by all parties to the instrument to .defer or refrain from such recordation or to deliver the instruments to one of the parties or to another person.

The Office of Notary Public in Louisiana – Powers of notaries connected with banks and corporations

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The Office of Notary Public in Louisiana – Powers of notaries connected with banks and corporations

R.S. 35:4. Notaries connected with banks and other corporations; powers. It is lawful for any notary public who is a stockholder, director, officer, or employee of a bank or other corporation to take the acknowledgment of any party to any written instrument executed to or by such corporation, or to administer an oath to any other stockholder, director, officer, employee, or agent of such corporation, or to protest for non-acceptance or nonpayment bills of exchange, drafts, checks, notes, and other negotiable instruments which may be owned or held for collection by such corporation. It is unlawful for any notary public to take the acknowledgment of an instrument by or to a bank or other corporation of which he is a stockholder, director, officer, or employee, where the notary is a party to such instrument, either individually or as a representative of such corporation, or to protest any negotiable instrument owned or held for collection by the corporation, where the notary is individually a party to the instrument.

The Office of Notary Public in Louisiana – General Powers

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The Office of Notary Public in Louisiana – General Powers

RS. 35:2. General powers; administration of certain oaths in any parish. A.(1) Notaries public have power within their several parishes:

(a) To make inventories, appraisements, and partitions;

(b) To receive wills, make protests, matrimonial contracts, conveyances, and generally; all contracts and instruments of writing;

c) To hold family meetings and meetings of creditors;

(d) To receive acknowledgements of instruments under private signature;

(e) To make affidavits of correction;

(f) To affix the seals upon the effects of deceased persons, and to raise the same.

(2) All acts executed by a notary public, in conformity with the provisions of Civil Code Art. 1833, shall be authentic acts.

(3) Notwithstanding any provision in the law to the contrary, a notary public shall have power, within the parish or parishes in which he is authorized, to exercise all of the functions of a notary public and to receive wills in which he is named as administrator, executor, trustee, attorney for the administrator, attorney for the executor, attorney for the trustee, attorney for a legatee, attorney for an heir, or attorney for the estate.

B. However, each notary public of this state shall have authority to administer oaths in any parish of the state, to swear in persons who appear to give testimony at a deposition before a general reporter or free-lance reporter certified under the provisions of R.S. 37:2551 et seq., and to verify interrogatories and other plead­ings to be used in the courts of record of this state. Such oaths, and the certificates issued by such notaries shall be received in the courts of this state and shall have legal efficacy for purposes of the laws on perjury.

C. Every qualified notary public is authorized to certify true copies of any authentic act or any instrument under private signature hereafter or heretofore passed before him or acknowledged before him, and to make and certify copies, by any method, of any certificate, research, resolution, survey or other document annexed to the original of any authentic acts passed before him, and may certify such copies as true copies of the original document attached to the original passed before him.