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Assembly Bill 1977 (Irwin) clarifies the Online Notarization Act. The bill’s revisions to the Online Notarization Act were further supplemented by amendments on May 22, after it had already passed the Assembly on a 61-5 vote. The amendments authorize a notary to sign with their electronic signature when performing certain duties. The bill would require the electronic signature to include an image of the notary public’s handwritten signature and would allow that electronic signature to be kept on a storage device or online media that is accessed by the notary public with a secure means of multifactor authentication and protection.
This bill also prohibits a notary public from charging a fee for online notarial services unless the online notarial act is completed. However, the recent amendments authorize a notary public to charge a technology fee for a terminated online notarial act session if the termination is due to one of specified reasons, and would limit that fee to the actual and reasonable cost incurred by the notary public for the use of the online notarization platform. According to the Secretary of State, the bill is necessary if the Online Notarization Act is to meet the January 2030 deadline. It makes both technical and substantive changes to the existing law, all of which address aspects of implementing an SOS-administered registration system for online notarization. Some of the more substantive amendments entail modifying training and course requirements to include online notarization; imposing requirements for electronic or digital seals, given that tangible pressed or stamped seals will no longer apply; requiring the notaries electronic signature to include an image of the notary's handwritten signature that matches the notary's handwritten signature on their official oath; modifying journal-keeping requirements to account for online practice; modifying existing forms that reference only written documents; and providing for registration and renewal of persons or entities that apply to serve as an online notarization platform or depository. Comments are closed.
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