No, a mortgage does not need to be notarized in order to be valid. The Illinois Conveyances Act addresses the form and substance of a valid mortgage. In one provision, the Act states that a mortgage may be acknowledged by a notary using their official seal. In another provision, the Act states that any instrument of conveyance (such as a mortgage) “shall be acknowledged by a notary public.” These two apparently contradictory statements are resolved when the Act clarifies that the failure to comply with the notary provision will not invalidate an instrument of conveyance. In addition, the Act provides that mortgages executed without a seal (such as a notary’s seal) are valid and effective as though they were sealed. Consequently, notarization is not necessary to validate a mortgage.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Illinois Conveyances Act, 765 ILCS 5/20 (“… mortgages … may be acknowledged or proven … before a notary public… When taken before a notary public or United States commissioner, the same shall be attested by his official seal….”)

• Illinois Conveyances Act, 765 ILCS 5/35c (“Whenever any deed or instrument of conveyance or other instrument to be made a matter of record is executed, the signatures of the parties making the conveyance shall be acknowledged by a notary public appointed and commissioned by the Secretary of State or by one of the courts or officers designated in Section 20 of this Act. Failure to comply with this provision shall not invalidate the instrument.”)

• Illinois Conveyances Act, 765 ILCS 5/35b (“All deeds or mortgages heretofore irregularly executed by the omission of a seal are validated and made effective as though such omitted seal had been affixed.”)