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02/21/2008

News / Public Servants with Enormous Power

DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ¯ A Texas notary authenticates wills, deeds and all sorts of legally binding documents.

There are more than 400,000 notaries in our state and almost all of them are law abiding people. But as Michael Kloster found out, one bad apple can make your life a living nightmare.

"This cost us three years out of our lives," said Kloster.

According to Kloster, it all started when a notary stamped her seal on a mechanics lien and filed it in Collin County. The problem, according to Kloster and a judge, was that the lien was a fraud.

"Six bucks and a notary; they filed a lien, and you don't have to approve a thing," said Kloster.

What notary would sign off on such lien? Lourdes Medina admits she did just that.

According to records, Medina signed for her husband, and then notarized the lien document. Her husband owned a roofing repair company and Kloster said the Medina's were never contracted to repair the roof. The Medinas filed a lien on his house.

Medina admits that she "wasn't supposed to sign for someone that I know" and admitted to signing her husband's name on the lien.

In Texas, notaries have immense power.

CBS11 found an instance of a notary notarizing a home deed that transferred ownership from a married couple. The problem, the couple was going through a divorce, and the wife and the notary are sisters. The husband said he never signed the document.

Other state records show notaries keeping sloppy records, allowing people to forge a bill of sale for a car, forge land deeds and attest to signatures when the person was never present.

The Texas Secretary of State office said notarized documents of people who aren't present is the number one complaint. But given the huge number of commissioned notaries, 2007 produced a mere 270 complaints.

In Texas, it's easy to become a notary. You must be 18, a Texas resident and for less than $100 in state fees, you are a notary. The only disqualifier: a felony conviction or conviction of a crime of moral turpitude.

Court papers show a judge removed the lien on the Kloster's home and Medina voluntarily surrendered her notary license. The court awarded the Klosters more than $40,000 dollars in damages.

Reporting
Bennett Cunningham

Source: http://cbs11tv.com/investigators/public.servant.power.2.659078.html

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