§ 142-A — Validity of acts of notaries public and commissioners of deeds notwithstanding certain defects

§ 142-a. Validity of acts of notaries public and commissioners of\ndeeds notwithstanding certain defects. 1. Except as provided in\nsubdivision three of this section, the official certificates and other\nacts heretofore or hereafter made or performed of notaries public and\ncommissioners of deeds heretofore or hereafter and prior to the time of\ntheir acts appointed or commissioned as such shall not be deemed\ninvalid, impaired or in any manner defective, so far as they may be\naffected, impaired or questioned by reason of defects described in\nsubdivision two of this section.\n 2. This section shall apply to the following defects:\n (a) ineligibility of the notary public or commissioner of deeds to be\nappointed or commissioned as such;\n (b) misnomer or misspelling of name or other error made in his\nappointment or commission;\n (c) omission of the notary public or commissioner of deeds to take or\nfile his official oath or otherwise qualify;\n (d) expiration of his term, commission or appointment;\n (e) vacating of his office by change of his residence, by acceptance\nof another public office, or by other action on his part;\n (f) the fact that the action was taken outside the jurisdiction where\nthe notary public or commissioner of deeds was authorized to act.\n 3. No person shall be entitled to assert the effect of this section to\novercome a defect described in subdivision two if he knew of the defect\nor if the defect was apparent on the face of the certificate of the\nnotary public or commissioner of deeds; provided however, that this\nsubdivision shall not apply after the expiration of six months from the\ndate of the act of the notary public or commissioner of deeds.\n 4. After the expiration of six months from the date of the official\ncertificate or other act of the commissioner of deeds, subdivision one\nof this section shall be applicable to a defect consisting in omission\nof the certificate of a commissioner of deeds to state the date on which\nand the place in which an act was done, or consisting of an error in\nsuch statement.\n 5. This section does not relieve any notary public or commissioner of\ndeeds from criminal liability imposed by reason of his act, or enlarge\nthe actual authority of any such officer, nor limit any other statute or\nrule of law by reason of which the act of a notary public or\ncommissioner of deeds, or the record thereof, is valid or is deemed\nvalid in any case.\n