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New York Eases Onerous Record Keeping for Notaries

In 2022, New York passed a bill that updated record keeping for notaries. But, the new rules were too burdensome for notaries. Fortunately, the state legislature has acted to amend that bill to ease record keeping rules for notaries.

The 2022 Law

In the wake of the Covid, New York saw the need to update notary laws. It allowed a permanent acceptance of remote notarization. Along with it were rules that were strict requirements on record keeping. In real world use, they did not work.

They included a ten year transaction record. This actually negatively affected lawyers, and many stopped being notaries because of it. For all notaries, it was time consuming and over the top, which led to a change being needed.

The New York State Bar led the way in pushing for a change to the law.

New York votes to updated record keeping for notaries

Enter NY S08663

After two years of studying the law and working for change, the New York legislature passed a revision to the 2022 law, NY S08663. As of this moment, the bill needs to be signed by Governor Kathy Hochul.

While the 2022 bill was aimed at new technology, non-electronic signings were lumped in when it came to record keeping. The main point of the new bill is to eliminate the bookkeeping and storage requirements for non-electronic signings.

NYSBA Immediate Past President Richard Lewis, who chaired of the Task Force on Notarization, praised the new law:

“This reform allows attorneys to spend less time on paperwork and more time helping New Yorkers in need. This is an example of government working for the people by removing onerous state regulations,” he said.

New York State Bar Association

Please remember, we are not lawyers. If you want a legal opinion, you are in the wrong place. Please speak to an attorney if you want a legal opinion.

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In the News, Notary News and Advice

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New North Carolina Take Effect in July

North Carolina passed two bills addressing notaries that started on July 1st, 2024. A large part of them address the temporary rules passed during COVID, making them permanent. Or making small changes that will now be permanent.

Several of the pieces of the law actually kicked in a few months ago, but we will not address that.

*We would like to remind you we are not attorneys. If you need to understand the minutiae, please talk to a lawyer. *

Modifications to the Notary Public Act

The first bill is Senate Bill 552, called the “Modifications to the Notary Public Act”. This bill introduced a slew of minor changes, as well as a couple of new ones.

The biggest one addresses electronic notaries who are not lawyers and who are not located in North Carolina. They are now prohibited from rendering services are advice that can be construed as “the practice of law”.

Many things have been passed to the Secretary of State to implement processes and procedures. For example, the legislature wants on online portal for notaries, which does not exist at this moment.

A vendor may no longer sell notary stamps to anyone who can not provide a notary commission, as well as personal identification. As for online orders, the Secretary of State is tasked with crafting and instituting new rules.

The law addresses notary change of address, name and resignation. This will most likely be addressed by a website when one is built, but makes some minor changes in the processes to do so.

The bill sets forth maximum amounts allowed by law for a notary to stamp certain documents.

Besides that, among other things, are small changes to definitions and wording of the previous bill.

Adoption Law/ Notary Changes/ Guardianship Rights

As the name implies, this bill is not just about notaries.

The biggest change here is that electronic notaries must use an electronic journal.

Most of the bill addresses adoption and guardianship, so the bulk of the changes are there. There is only a small part that addresses notaries.

Sunshine Signing Service

Your Nationwide Notary Signing Service

Increase your efficiency and bottom line with Sunshine’s Mobile Notary Services and Online Notary Services. Sunshine is always there when you need us.

GET STARTED

Or Call us at (727) 817-0000

Outdated Practices Face Michigan Notaries

One third on deed rejections in Michigan are notary related. This is not the notaries’ fault, but the fault of the laws governing notaries in the state.

Provenance

Did you know there are ten David Smith’s who are notaries in Michigan? And on official documents, it can be hard to tell which David Smith notarized the document. The truth is, it opens up the possibility of fraud in the state.

The state’s legal problem are so bad they have an effect on all Michiganders. The notary stamp is not required by state law. By that we mean wet signatures. They don’t even require notaries’ to keep a journal or use an embosser.

There is not numbered identification symbols for notaries. This can make figuring out which David Smith notarized a document a chore.

Notaries

There are 113,000 notaries in the state of Michigan. Confusion surrounds them. The lack of identifying numbers is a big problem. Michigan courts invalidate too many notarizatons because of it.

Notaries don’t have commission numbers.

If your documents are ever called into question, it can end up in chaos. It would be another layer of fraud protection that is not there. And they can come back to bite you years later.

Training

Nowhere in Michigan law does it require notaries are trained.

No requirement to be trained.

It leads to too many poorly notarized documents that experienced notaries tend not to make. (We know a lot of you are pretty much error free, but everyone misses something on occasion.)

Conclusion

It is home selling season and there is no reason to be completely sure your document may have the right provenance.

It is time to change Michigan notary law.

How does the public have faith in a system like this?