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This scenario along with many others can be found in our PLM online courses
ANSWER: As with all property issues governing oil and gas, statutes may vary from one state to the next.

However, generally, several defects can be fatal to an acknowledgement?

1. Failure to include acknowledging party’s name in Certificate of Acknowledgement;
2. Significant variance in acknowledging party’s name in the Certificate versus the instrument being acknowledged;
3. Omission of the word “acknowledged” in the Certificate;
4. Failure of officer taking acknowledgement to sign the Certificate;
5. Absence of the officer’s official seal when its use is applicable;
6. Officer taking acknowledgement was disqualified, and his/her disqualification is evident on the face of the instrument.

There are several defects found in this acknowledgment including the following:
1. The word “Acknowledged” is missing from the acknowledgment.
2. Betty B. Black signed the lease as a married woman dealing with her sole and separate property and notarized the document as President of Alright Reality Corp.
3. The Notary signature is missing.
4. The seal is missing.
5. The dates seem suspect. The acknowledgment was signed in 2005 and the commission expires in 2025. There appears to be a typo with the 2005 date since most notaries’ commission only last a few years.
The effect of a missing or defective acknowledgement
The General Rule is…
1. The validity of the instrument, as between the parties, is not affected by the absence of or defect in the acknowledgement
2. As against third parties, unacknowledged or defectively acknowledged instruments do not serve as constructive notice to third parties. Thus, the instrument can be denied the benefit of recordation.