Can a Notary Use a Signature/Name Affidavit to Identify a Signer?
Written by Beth Hathoot
Edited & Updated 09/2026
A Signature/Name Affidavit can help document the different names a signer may have used—but can a Notary rely on it to establish the signer's identity? Understanding the difference between a lender's identification concerns and a Notary's legal identification requirements is essential.
For an experienced Notary Signing Agent, it is quite common to see the Signature/Name Affidavit (SNA) in a loan package. There are a few different formats for this form, but essentially, they say the same thing. In this Affidavit, the signer is swearing or affirming that they are also known by other variations of their legal name.
LegalGPS says;
"This document can also be called an "AKA" (also known as) Affidavit. It is used to protect the lender and title company from possible fraud by confirming the borrower is signing documents with his or her correct legal name."
That's an interesting statement in that we often see our signers signing with nicknames instead of legal names. 'Bill' instead of 'William'. 'John' instead of 'Johnathan'. The mortgage industry has always been a little lax in preparing mortgage documents and not requiring the actual legal name on the transaction. Now that mortgage fraud is exploding across the country - it's a big issue.
LegalGPS goes on to say that this document is "legally recognized proof of a person's identity." What does that mean? It is generally accepted that if someone makes a statement under oath that it must be the truth...right?
The NNA says: "An Affidavit of Identity is a legal document that can be used to provide proof of identity to a court, bank or business."
Rocket Lawyer states: "In the legal world, this form is used to formally verify someone's identity, providing proof of who they are when standard identification documents might be missing or unreliable, and requiring the individual to swear under oath that the information provided is accurate."
I am seeing a clear picture forming here that explains why a Title company or Lender may think that the Signature/Name Affidavit is all we need as Notaries to resolve a name/identity mismatch. Unfortunately, we have a different set of regulations that must be followed.
In most states, notaries have clear guidelines and generally a specific set of government issued documents that are acceptable to verify the identity of the signer. While those vary from state to state, most commonly we recognize a State ID, Driver License, US Passport. But none of those regulations say that we can use a Signature/Name Affidavit to verify a signer's identity. There are a few states that don't specifically list the type of ID but just emphasize that the notary must be reasonably convinced the signer is the right one to be signing those documents.
In a loan signing when the NSA is not able to satisfactorily identify the signer, the title company will advise that we can use the Signature/Name affidavit to resolve the issue. Unfortunately, it might take some convincing to explain that we actually cannot use that document. It might satisfy their requirements, but it certainly does not fall within our regulations and guidelines. But now you can see why this is a solution they fall back to almost every time. It is not uncommon to have different arms of government pass rules and regulations into law that conflict with other areas of government and public office.
Just be very aware of what ID documents you can accept in your state and don't let anyone convince you that the SNA is an acceptable form of identification.
One other note on this topic. The name variations appearing on a Signature/Name Affidavit may come from credit history or other records associated with the signer. Sometimes with married couples, those records can be reported incorrectly, and you will see the spouse's name included in those name variations.
Your training should tell you (if the signer says that is not them) to instruct your signer to print next to that erroneous name "Never known by this name" and initial that statement. You also must administer an oath to that signer for this affidavit. The signer is responsible for the truthfulness of the statement they make, and the Notary's responsibility is to properly perform the requested notarial act.
I recently heard of a situation where the notary did everything correctly, but the document was rejected. The notary was told to go back and have it signed again having the signer swear to the spousal name as well.
I want all of you to know that when you hear John Jones say "That's not me, that's my wife" you cannot have the signer accept that statement as truthful and swear to that fact. That can land a notary in hot water for knowingly administering a false oath. The notary should not have let that company, either a signing service or title company, bully them into falsely discharging their notarial duties.
A signing service, lender, or title company may provide instructions for completing its document or loan package, but a Notary should never be pressured to identify their signer by the Signature/Name Affidavit simply to get a document accepted. A Notary can only use their state's acceptable forms of identification verification.
Sources & References
Written by Beth Hathoot for Notary Stars
Originally Published: 10/18/2024
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