CERTIFIED TRUE COPIES

I’ve written before about the need to secure as many as ten original copies of the Deed of Absolute Sale. Banks want one, the property management office wants another, and sometimes other parties will ask for their own copy too.

But here’s the problem: what if you didn’t prepare enough originals? Or worse, what if it’s next to impossible to gather all the signatories again just to produce additional copies?

The Answer: Certified Copies

Most people think Notary Publics only notarize documents. But there’s another service they provide that often flies under the radar: certifying copies as true copies of the original.

Here’s how it works:

The notary takes the original document, notarizes it, photocopies the notarized version, and then stamps and signs that photocopy.

That stamp is a declaration: this is a certified true copy of the original.

Because it comes from a notary (a court-appointed officer of the law), it carries legal weight. That’s far stronger than a seller or a buyer simply stamping “certified true copy” on their own.

⚠️ Note though: certified copies aren’t accepted by government offices. You’ll still need originals for those. But for banks, PMOs, and most other third parties, a certified copy should be good enough.

The photo above is from a little experiment we ran just to check if notary publics really offer this service. And yes—they do.

So the next time you run short on originals, you don’t have to panic. A certified copy might just save the day.