In the State of Georgia, when a security instrument is executed, it must be witnessed by at least two witnesses, as well as being acknowledged by a notary public (see Ga. Code Ann. §§ 44-2-14, 44-2-15, 44-2-21, 44-5-30, 44-14-33, 44-14-61, 45-17-6, & 45-17-8). In regards to the witnesses, they can be either two “unofficial witnesses,” or one of them may be the notary public, who is accepting the borrower’s acknowledgment that he has executed the instrument as his act and deed (an “official witness”).
Presumably, it is for these reasons that FNMA/FHLMC Form 3011 provides for two witness lines (one of which is reserved for the notary public), as well as an acknowledgment section.
Currently, we are providing all of these sections on our standard security instruments – albeit in a format that is different than the one provided by FNMA/FHLMC. We will now be reformatting these sections to more closely align with the ones set forth in Form 3011. The first witness line will have the caption “Unofficial Witness” underneath it, with an “Official Witness” caption appearing under the following second witness line, which in turn will be followed by “Notary Public, ________ County.” These will all be left-aligned (currently the notary public’s section is right-aligned).
The only point which will be different is that the borrower signature lines will appear before the witness lines, rather than to the right of them. This is being left this way due to the fact that the borrower signature lines are dynamic and will not always align properly with the witness lines.
These changes will take effect on June 26, 2014. If you have any questions or concerns about these changes please contact Client Support at 1.800.497.3584.
June 19, 2014
DR 153789