Bill Text: CA AB442 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Notaries public.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2010-01-14 - Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. [AB442 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB442-Enrolled.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 442 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 24, 2009
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 1, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 25, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Arambula
(Principal coauthor: Senator Correa)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Jones)
FEBRUARY 24, 2009
An act to amend Section 1185 of the Civil Code, relating to
notaries public.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 442, Arambula. Notaries public.
Existing law prohibits an officer from taking acknowledgment of an
instrument regarding the transfer of title to property unless the
officer has satisfactory evidence that the person making the
acknowledgment is the individual who is described in and who executed
the instrument.
Existing law provides that satisfactory evidence for purposes of
that provision may include reasonable reliance on the presentation of
any one of certain documents, including a driver's license,
passport, or identification card, as specified.
This bill would add Matricula consular, a form of identification
card issued by the Mexican government, to that list of documents.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1185 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
1185. (a) The acknowledgment of an instrument shall not be taken
unless the officer taking it has satisfactory evidence that the
person making the acknowledgment is the individual who is described
in and who executed the instrument.
(b) For the purposes of this section "satisfactory evidence" means
the absence of any information, evidence, or other circumstances
that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the person making
the acknowledgment is not the individual he or she claims to be and
any one of the following:
(1) (A) The oath or affirmation of a credible witness personally
known to the officer, whose identity is proven to the officer upon
presentation of any document satisfying the requirements of paragraph
(3) or (4), that the person making the acknowledgment is personally
known to the witness and that each of the following are true:
(i) The person making the acknowledgment is the person named in
the document.
(ii) The person making the acknowledgment is personally known to
the witness.
(iii) That it is the reasonable belief of the witness that the
circumstances of the person making the acknowledgment are such that
it would be very difficult or impossible for that person to obtain
another form of identification.
(iv) The person making the acknowledgment does not possess any of
the identification documents named in paragraphs (3) and (4).
(v) The witness does not have a financial interest in the document
being acknowledged and is not named in the document.
(B) A notary public who violates this section by failing to obtain
the satisfactory evidence required by subparagraph (A) shall be
subject to a civil penalty not exceeding ten thousand dollars
($10,000). An action to impose this civil penalty may be brought by
the Secretary of State in an administrative proceeding or any public
prosecutor in superior court, and shall be enforced as a civil
judgment. A public prosecutor shall inform the secretary of any civil
penalty imposed under this subparagraph.
(2) The oath or affirmation under penalty of perjury of two
credible witnesses, whose identities are proven to the officer upon
the presentation of any document satisfying the requirements of
paragraph (3) or (4), that each statement in paragraph (1) of this
subdivision is true.
(3) Reasonable reliance on the presentation to the officer of any
one of the following, if the document is current or has been issued
within five years:
(A) An identification card or driver's license issued by the
California Department of Motor Vehicles.
(B) A passport issued by the Department of State of the United
States.
(4) Reasonable reliance on the presentation of any one of the
following, provided that a document specified in subparagraphs (A) to
(G), inclusive, shall either be current or have been issued within
five years and shall contain a photograph and description of the
person named on it, shall be signed by the person, shall bear a
serial or other identifying number, and, in the event that the
document is a passport, shall have been stamped by the United States
Immigration and Naturalization Service:
(A) A passport issued by a foreign government.
(B) A driver's license issued by a state other than California or
by a Canadian or Mexican public agency authorized to issue drivers'
licenses.
(C) An identification card issued by a state other than
California.
(D) An identification card issued by any branch of the Armed
Forces of the United States.
(E) An inmate identification card issued on or after January 1,
1988, by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, if the
inmate is in custody.
(F) An employee identification card issued by an agency or office
of the State of California, or by an agency or office of a city,
county, or city and county in this state.
(G) Matricula consular issued by the government of the United
States of Mexico.
(H) An inmate identification card issued prior to January 1, 1988,
by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, if the inmate
is in custody.
(c) An officer who has taken an acknowledgment pursuant to this
section shall be presumed to have operated in accordance with the
provisions of law.
(d) Any party who files an action for damages based on the failure
of the officer to establish the proper identity of the person making
the acknowledgment shall have the burden of proof in establishing
the negligence or misconduct of the officer.
(e) Any person convicted of perjury under this section shall
forfeit any financial interest in the document.
