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Notaries have access to legal documents, which make it very easy for them to misuse these documents for illegal matters. Notary fraud is a common practice. This article discusses various aspects of frauds in notary Oakland.
Notary as Immigration Attorney
A very common form of notary Oakland fraud exists where notaries pretend to be immigration attorneys, and unlawfully give legal advice to immigrants. This scam involves the notary doing all acts which only lawyers are authorized to do. The scammers review victims’ cases, choose appropriate legal documents to build their cases, and submit the completed documents for the United States Citizenship and Immigration, all the while the victim remains clueless about the job limitations of a notary.
Implications of Illegal Advice by Notary
Citizenship Application Restriction
No notary Oakland has the authority or knowledge to advise on immigration matters. Doing so illegally leads to drastic fallout. Based on poor advice of notaries, scam-victims then file residency, visa, or citizenship forms for which they are not eligible. At times, they provide incorrect information at the suggestion scammer, without realizing its implications. Such malpractices in paperwork lead to serious problems, ranging from legal challenges to even deportation. Other than costing victims a huge amount of money, such malpractices restrict them from applying for citizenship or residency again.
Undocumented Community
According to immigration experts and advocates, because of notary frauds, there exists undocumented community. Frauds in notary Oakland have escalated the issue of undocumented community in the East Bay and in the vicinity of Northern California. It is very hard to determine the number of cases of notary Oakland fraud because many cases go unreported.
Reasons behind fraud in Notary Oakland
Language Barrier
Frauds in Notary Oakland work because of the language barriers of immigration eager people, having their insecurities and vulnerabilities to gain legal status in the US. Because of communication barriers, they are unable to understand American legal terminology and how the system works.
Notario publico confusion
Fraudulent in notary Oakland set up phony offices, and take advantage of the confusion between the terms “notary public” and “notario público.” Notario público denotes a lawyer in Mexico and Latin America, however, in the U.S., a notary public is a person with no legal training and very limited legal authority. A notary public’s duties are limited. He can verify the true identity of the person signing a document, his willingness to sign, and attesting to the validity of signatures on a document. Beyond this, he cannot perform any legal duties.
Untrained Notaries
A notary deals with legal documents, and many times he crosses the line by explaining what a document does. This explanation part often carries a tinge of legal advice, which is clearly an illegal duty for the notary. There exists a fine line between assisting someone in filling out an immigration form and giving legal advice.
Avoiding Fraud Notary Oakland
Avoid advertisement confusions
Sadly, there is no regulatory body to monitor the actions of public notaries to ensure that they are ethically compliant when representing their clients. However, notary Oakland has several restrictions which notaries must follow in order to avoid any kind of malpractice. This also ensures that notaries cannot advertise as an immigration consultant. To clear all kinds of confusions, the Spanish term notario público is prohibited when advertising a notary Oakland. Those notaries who advertise in a language other than English must categorically specify that they are not attorneys and do not give legal advice.
Keep a copy of documents and receipts
In order to avoid frauds in notary Oakland, people must keep copies of documents and receipts, because most of the times victims of notary fraud have no idea which documents have been processed for their legal case. They do not have copies of those documents, and that makes it more difficult to track fraudulent.
File a complaint when possible
There a limited options available for people who become victims of frauds in notary Oakland. They can file scam complaints for unlicensed practice of law, describing every details of the scam.
Find a reputable notary Oakland
Often people go to the notary because they think it’s cheaper, but what they don’t realize is that once a notary messes up; it costs three times as much as to fix it. It is a painstaking task for the victims to take legal action against scammers, and reclaim their money because they shift around, set up shops somewhere else, and are very hard to track down.
To keep things transparent, make sure that you go to a reputable notary in Oakland. Professional Reporting Services is a reliable and experienced name for the notary public. Our notaries are well trained and experienced, who know the limits of their duties.
