A2273

An Act concerning notaries public and amending and supplementing P.L.1979, c.460.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. Section 6 of P.L.1979, c.460 (C.52:7-15) is amended to read as follows:

6. a. A notary public who has been duly commissioned and qualified is authorized to perform his duties, as set forth in subsection b. of this section, throughout the State.

b. A notary public is authorized to take acknowledgments, take proofs of execution, administer oaths or affirmations, execute jurats for affidavits or other forms of verification, or execute protests for nonpayment or nonacceptance, which shall be known as notarial acts.

c. Any notary public, after having been duly commissioned and qualified, shall, upon request, receive from the clerk of the county where he has qualified, as many certificates of his commission and qualification as he shall require for filing with other county clerks of this State, and upon receipt of such certificates the notary public may present the same, together with his autograph signature, to such county clerks as he may desire, for filing.

(cf: P.L.1979, c.460, s.6.)

2. (New section) a. A notary public shall not perform a notarial act unless the person who is seeking the notarial act is personally known to the notary public or provides satisfactory evidence of identity.

b. For the purposes of this act, satisfactory evidence of identity means the absence of any information, evidence or other circumstances which would lead a reasonable person to believe that the person who is seeking the notarial act is not who the person claims to be and any one of the following:

(1) the oath or affirmation of one credible witness, who is personally known to the notary public and does not have an interest in the notarial act to be performed, that the person seeking the notarial act is personally known to the witness;

(2) the oath or affirmation of two credible witnesses, who produce satisfactory proof of their identities in accordance paragraphs (3) through (8) of this subsection and do not have an interest in the notarial act to be performed, that the person seeking the notarial act is personally known to each witness;

(3) a valid New Jersey identification card or driver's license issued by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission;

(4) a valid passport issued by the Department of State of the United States;

(5) a valid passport issued by a foreign government if the document is stamped by the United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services;

(6) a valid identification card or driver's license issued by a state other than New Jersey, a territory of the United States, Canada, or Mexico;

(7) a valid identification card issued by any branch of the armed forces of the United States; or

(8) a valid identification card issued by the United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services.

3. Section 10 of P.L.1979, c.460 (C.52:7-19) is amended to read as follows:

10. a. Each notary public, in addition to subscribing his autograph signature to any jurat upon the administration of any oath or the taking of any acknowledgement or proof, shall affix thereto his name in such a manner and by such means, including, but not limited to, printing, typing, or impressing by seal or mechanical stamp, as will enable the [Secretary of State] State Treasurer easily to read said name.

b. A notary public shall record information regarding every notarial act performed sequentially in a bound journal. The journal shall be kept under the exclusive control of the notary. A notary public who is an attorney at law admitted to practice in this State may maintain a record of notarial acts in the form of files regularly maintained for the attorney's law practice, in lieu of maintaining a sequential journal.

c. For every notarial act the notary shall record in the journal or file, as appropriate:

(1) the date and time of the notarial act;

(2) the type of notarial act;

(3) the printed name, address and signature of the person who obtained the notarial act;

(4) the title and description of the notarized document, if the notarial act involves the notarization of a person's signature;

(5) a statement explaining how the person's identity was verified in accordance with section 2 of P.L. , c. , (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) including the serial number and date of issuance or expiration of the identification document and, if applicable, the printed name, address and signature of any verifying witness; and

(6) the fee charged for the notarial act.

(cf: P.L.1979, c.460, s.10.)

4. This act shall take effect on the 60th day after enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill makes certain revisions to the "Notaries Public Act of 1979." The bill describes the duties of a notary public commissioned in this State, requires notaries to verify a person's identity before performing a notarial act and gives guidelines as to how notaries must verify a person's identity, and establishes record-keeping procedures for notarial acts that involve the notarization of a signature on a document.

This bill defines the duties of a notary public as "notarial acts," which include taking acknowledgments, taking proofs of execution, administering oaths or affirmations, executing jurats for affidavits or other forms of verification, or executing protests for nonpayment or nonacceptance. It prohibits a notary public from performing notarial acts unless the notary personally knows the person seeking the services or if there is satisfactory evidence of the person's identity. As defined in the bill, satisfactory evidence means the absence of any information which would cause the notary to doubt the person's claims of identity and any one of the following: an oath or affirmation from a credible witness who personally knows the notary and the person seeking notarization services; an oath or affirmation from two credible witnesses who personally know the person seeking services and who can prove their identities; a New Jersey identification card or driver's license; a United States passport; a foreign passport stamped by the United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services; an identification card or driver's license issued by any other state or territory in the United States or the countries of Canada or Mexico; an identification card issued by any branch of the United States armed forces; or an identification card issued by the United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. All identification documents must be valid.

Finally, this bill requires notaries public to sequentially record in a bound journal the following information regarding every notarial act: the date and time of the act; the type of act; the name, address and signature of the person obtaining the act; the title and description of the notarized document, if the act involves the notarization of a person's signature; a statement explaining how the person's identity was verified, including the serial number and date of issuance or expiration of the identification document and, if applicable, the name, address, and signature of any verifying witness; and the fee charged for the notarial act.

Although the provisions of this bill are standard requirements, New Jersey law currently does not require notaries public to verify the identification of persons seeking notarial services or maintain a written record of notarial acts performed. In contrast, many states not only require notaries to confirm a person's identity, they have established methods, similar to the provisions of the bill, that notaries must use in carrying out this duty. This bill codifies many provisions of the New Jersey Notary Public Manual, which is designed by the New Jersey Division of Revenue in the Department of Treasury to provide notaries public with practical guidance on how to perform notarial acts.