notary

I had all my permits etc signed in front of the notary and everything was fine and the notaries stamp applied. Now they say that it was not legal, Surely if all seemed ok in 2002 in the notaries office why not now. I thought that was the whole idea of using a notary. To ensure everything was done within the law. If as they say, the mayor was acting outside of his jurisdiction, then why didn't the notary pick this up and challenge it. Unless of course they were all in it together. But surely not.