who/what is a notorary public. today i went to a local collections agency regarding a letter i received from them. it was for a celullar phone account with bellsouth. because i currently have an account with them that has never been in default, i decided to take a visit rather than call or reply by mail. i wanted this settled today. the woman i spoke with was pleasant during the entire visit. she even let me see the computer screen with the information regarding this account. when i explained to her that this wasn't my account and that my current account (which i've had for several years) is and always has been current and paid ontime. she politely asked me to hang on for a second while she typed an fraud affidavit for me sign and have notorized affirming that this isn't my debt. no problem, i said. (not wanting to appear uneducated, i didn't ask who/what that meant). i then asked her "why was this bill being sent to me and not the address from bellsouth"? her reply was "when we informed bellsouth that our letters were being returned *unable to deliver* by the post office, they gave us your address". i told her that they needed to find the correct "john smith" and have him pay is own bill because i'm not. well i'll be back in a couple of days or so, i said. but, i have one more question..."you seem to beleive me on this, is it safe to assume that you've seen this happen before"? well she said "although you're the first to actually come to our office to dispute, it's common. bellsouth sends us 5-10 accounts every month with no more information than what i just showed you (name, address, amount owed, account #). for the customers who dispute it, we ask them to sign the affidavit and we'll send it back to bellsouth with a letter asking for more documentation regarding the account. if they send it, we mail it to the customer and take it from there. sometimes it's acctually their bill, and we continue collection activities. for the customers who have been wrongly identified, they inform us to end all collecton recovery efforts for this account. if i were you, i'd complain to the customer service department, some people have gotten free airtime and free service for their inconvience. my neighbor was one of them". can somene please tell me who/what a notary public is? this affidavit says it has to be notorized and signed by them. thanks for the help.
You can find a notary at your local bank or courthouse. It's a person that is an "official" witness to you signing something. The stamp a seal on it with *EDIT* [their] name, which basically means they looked at your license and you are who you say you say you are. This way your sister/brother etc. cant sign for you.
A notary is someone who certifies that your signature is really your signature. In other words, when the notary indicates "yes, Joe really signed this" by signing it, dating it, and sometimes stamping it with his/her seal, it carries more weight than if Joe just signed it and sent it in. If the notary doesn't know you he/she will generally ask for some form of ID with your signature. You can find a notary at any bank. Sometimes there is a small charge for their service. In our state it is very easy to become a notary. In many states, a notary has to be bonded. Hope this helps. DemPooches
SO WHY DID'NT YOU SIGN IT THERE? COULD'NT SHE HAVE BEEN YOUR WITNESS...OR EVEN ANOTHER EMPLOYEE? AFTER ALL, IT'S NOT LIKE YOU CALLED. SHE COULD HAVE EASILY HAD YOU SIGN IT AND HAD IT MAILED THAT DAY. ANYHOW, GREAT WORK. I WISH TRANSUNION WAS LOCAL. BTW---SWEEEEET SCREEN NAME.
