Automated Affidavits Explained (Publishers)

Column’s automated affidavit service handles your entire process from start to finish. If you're not yet using the service and want to get started, visit https://www.column.us/services-affidavits/

Column is responsible for uploading the affidavits for only notices whose last publication date is on or after the date your paper goes live with our Automated Affidavits service.

For example, let’s say your paper goes live with Automated Affidavits on March 1st, and you have two active notices — Notice “A” and Notice “B.”

• The publication dates for Notice “A” are February 25 and March 2. Column is responsible for uploading this affidavit.

• The publication dates for Notice “B” are February 25 and February 28. You — the newspaper — are responsible for uploading this affidavit.

The scenario with Notice “A” means that you must upload e-editions for publication dates before your paper is live with our Automated Affidavits service. This ensures that Column can confirm that the notice ran for those previous dates, which is a critical part of a compliant affidavit process.

We use your e-edition to confirm that a notice ran in print. This confirmation step is critical to a compliant affidavit process. After we verify that the notice ran in print, we can sign the affidavit as an agent on behalf of the publisher and notarize it with one of our in-house notaries. We cannot issue the affidavit if we cannot verify that the notice was published as scheduled.

There are two methods for e-edition upload.

1. FTP (automatic). This method automatically sends us the e-editions of your paper, so you don’t need to do anything. If you want to use this method, you'll need to connect us with the person who handles sending e-editions to the printer. Talk with your Customer Success Manager to get started.

2. In-App Upload (manual). You can upload the e-edition of your paper by clicking the "Affidavits" section in the header. 
   

Column’s Automated Affidavit service notaries and signatories sign on a scheduled cadence. Affidavits will usually be available on the fourth business day after the last publication date, as long as the e-edition has been uploaded or notices have been manually verified.

In this case, you, the publisher, are responsible for signing and notarizing the affidavit. We do not currently support emergency one-day turnarounds.

Depending on the nature of the correction, our team will correct the affidavit template and schedule it for redoing. However, our team can only edit the affidavit text on the left side of the page. We cannot correct the notice content. The notice content must be rescheduled for publication if it contains an error.

If you wish to redo an electronic affidavit, we can do this at our next signing cycle. Depending on the complexity of your needs, the turnaround time could be 4 to 6 (or more) business days. For further assistance, please contact our Support Team at help@column.us.

We will set up your newspaper to receive wet-signature affidavits for newspapers where the state or county requires them (contact your Customer Success Manager). However, we do not process wet-signature affidavits for newspapers where the state does not require them. Due to the cost, we support only e-signatures and e-notarization for states that accept them.

If you want to send an original/wet affidavit, you must download the affidavit template from the notice detail page on your Column account and process it yourself.

Limited agency agreements (LAA) are contracts that authorize one party to conduct business on another party’s behalf. By signing and agreeing to an LAA, you — the publisher — legally designate Column to act as an agent on your behalf to sign and notarize documents. 

All affidavits notarized via Column’s Automated Affidavit service are legally valid and should be accepted by county clerks. Typically, the court will list the reasons for rejection. Please contact Column Support and include the rejection letter. Our team will review and make the necessary changes.

Our Automated Affidavit Service works because you, the publisher, enter into an agreement with Column Software, PBC, whereby Column serves as the publisher’s agent for purposes of (1) verifying that the notice ran and (2) signing the affidavit on behalf of the publisher. Please contact Column Support and include the rejection letter. Our team will review and make the necessary changes.

State and local governments must accord full faith and credit to all affidavits validly issued pursuant to the laws of another state in the US. This means that affidavits issued in another state and validly notarized there must be accepted by state and local government officials of your home state. Our team will verify each state's requirements, and if an in-state notary is required, we will ensure our affidavits comply. If the court rejects a notice signed by an out-of-state notary, please contact Column Support and include the rejection letter.

Yes. We rely on the fact that, under the U.S. Constitution, states will abide by the full faith and credit accorded to foreign state affidavits. This means states will respect and give full credit to affidavits issued by “foreign” (US) state authority.

In other words, states in this country will accept affidavits issued by notaries from other U.S. states.
Our team will verify each state's requirements, and if an in-state notary is required, we will ensure our affidavits comply. If the court rejects a notice signed by an out-of-state notary, please contact Column Support and include the rejection letter.

Remote Online Notarization allows a notary public to notarize documents remotely—using audio-video technology and digital signatures—while still in the synchronous presence of a signatory. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the need for Remote Online Notarization, and many states enacted legislation or executive orders permitting its use. We’ve done extensive research and verified each state’s qualification requirements, so we know its policies before our team sets up a paper with our automated affidavit service in that state.

Yes. Please contact your Customer Success Manager to set up your newspaper with wet-signature affidavits. The process is similar to our affidavits completed via Remote Online Notarization but includes mail time. We require the e-editions to verify publication. Then, our team will assign a signer and notary to complete the necessary wet-signature affidavits. Once complete, they will upload a scanned copy to the Notice Detail page and mail the originals. Please allow 5-10 business days for the originals to be delivered.