Bill Text: IA HSB167 | 2019-2020 | 88th General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: A bill for an act providing for notarial acts, including by providing for the use of electronic media.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (N/A - Dead) 2019-03-07 - Committee report, recommending amendment and passage. H.J. 470. [HSB167 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2019-HSB167-Introduced.html
House Study Bill 167 - Introduced HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON KAUFMANN) A BILL FOR An Act providing for notarial acts, including by providing for 1 the use of electronic media. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 2242YC (1) 88 da/jh
H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 9B.1, Code 2019, is amended to read as 1 follows: 2 9B.1 Short title. 3 This chapter may be cited as the “Revised Uniform Law on 4 Notarial Acts” Acts (2018)” . 5 Sec. 2. Section 9B.2, subsection 10, Code 2019, is amended 6 by striking the subsection. 7 Sec. 3. Section 9B.4, Code 2019, is amended by adding the 8 following new subsection: 9 NEW SUBSECTION . 3. A notarial officer may certify that a 10 tangible copy of an electronic record is an accurate copy of 11 the electronic record. 12 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION . 9B.14A Notarial act performed for 13 remotely located individual. 14 1. As used in this section unless the context otherwise 15 requires: 16 a. “Communication technology” means an electronic device or 17 process that does all of the following: 18 (1) Allows a notary public and a remotely located individual 19 to communicate with each other simultaneously by sight and 20 sound. 21 (2) When necessary and consistent with other applicable 22 law, facilitates communication with a remotely located 23 individual who has a vision, hearing, or speech impairment. 24 b. “Foreign state” means a jurisdiction other than the 25 United States, a state, or a federally recognized Indian tribe. 26 c. “Identity proofing” means a process or service by which 27 a third person provides a notary public with a means to verify 28 the identity of a remotely located individual by a review of 29 personal information from public or private data sources. 30 d. “Outside the United States” means a location outside 31 the geographic boundaries of the United States, Puerto Rico, 32 the United States Virgin Islands, and any territory, insular 33 possession, or other location subject to the jurisdiction of 34 the United States. 35 -1- LSB 2242YC (1) 88 da/jh 1/ 6
H.F. _____ e. “Remotely located individual” means an individual who is 1 not in the physical presence of the notary public who performs 2 a notarial act under subsection 3. 3 2. A remotely located individual may comply with section 4 9B.6 by using communication technology to appear before a 5 notary public. 6 3. A notary public located in this state may perform a 7 notarial act using communication technology for a remotely 8 located individual if all of the following applies: 9 a. The notary public has any of the following: 10 (1) Personal knowledge under section 9B.7, subsection 1, of 11 the identity of the individual. 12 (2) Satisfactory evidence of the identity of the remotely 13 located individual by oath or affirmation from a credible 14 witness appearing before the notary public under section 9B.7, 15 subsection 2, or this section. 16 (3) Obtained satisfactory evidence of the identity of the 17 remotely located individual by using at least two different 18 types of identity proofing. 19 b. The notary public is able reasonably to confirm that a 20 record before the notary public is the same record in which the 21 remotely located individual made a statement or on which the 22 individual executed a signature. 23 c. The notary public, or a person acting on behalf of 24 the notary public, creates an audio-visual recording of the 25 performance of the notarial act. 26 d. For a remotely located individual located outside the 27 United States, all of the following applies: 28 (1) The record complies with any of the following: 29 (a) Is to be filed with or relates to a matter before a 30 public official or court, governmental entity, or other entity 31 subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. 32 (b) Involves property located in the territorial 33 jurisdiction of the United States or involves a transaction 34 substantially connected with the United States. 35 -2- LSB 2242YC (1) 88 da/jh 2/ 6
H.F. _____ (2) The act of making the statement or signing the record 1 is not prohibited by the foreign state in which the remotely 2 located individual is located. 3 4. If a notarial act is performed under this section, the 4 certificate of notarial act required by section 9B.15 and the 5 short-form certificate provided in section 9B.16 must indicate 6 that the notarial act was performed using communication 7 technology. 8 5. A short-form certificate provided in section 9B.16 for a 9 notarial act subject to this section is sufficient if any of 10 the following applies: 11 a. It complies with rules adopted under subsection 8, 12 paragraph “a” . 13 b. It is in the form provided in section 9B.16 and contains 14 a statement substantially as follows: “This notarial act 15 involved the use of communication technology”. 16 6. A notary public, a guardian, conservator, or agent of 17 a notary public, or a personal representative of a deceased 18 notary public shall retain the audio-visual recording created 19 under subsection 3, paragraph “c” , or cause the recording 20 to be retained by a repository designated by or on behalf 21 of the person required to retain the recording. Unless a 22 different period is required by rule adopted under subsection 23 8, paragraph “d” , the recording must be retained for a period of 24 at least ten years after the recording is made. 25 7. Before a notary public performs the notary public’s 26 initial notarial act under this section, the notary public 27 must notify the secretary of state that the notary public will 28 be performing notarial acts with respect to remotely located 29 individuals and identify the technologies the notary public 30 intends to use. If the secretary of state has established 31 standards under subsection 8 and section 9B.27 for approval 32 of communication technology or identity proofing, the 33 communication technology and identity proofing must conform to 34 the standards. 35 -3- LSB 2242YC (1) 88 da/jh 3/ 6
H.F. _____ 8. In addition to adopting rules under section 9B.27, the 1 secretary of state may adopt rules under this section regarding 2 performance of a notarial act. The rules may do all of the 3 following: 4 a. Prescribe the means of performing a notarial act 5 involving a remotely located individual using communication 6 technology. 7 b. Establish standards for communication technology and 8 identity proofing. 9 c. Establish requirements or procedures to approve providers 10 of communication technology and the process of identity 11 proofing. 12 d. Establish standards and a period for the retention of an 13 audio-visual recording created under subsection 3, paragraph 14 “c” . 15 9. Before adopting, amending, or repealing a rule governing 16 performance of a notarial act with respect to a remotely 17 located individual, the secretary of state must consider all 18 of the following: 19 a. The most recent standards regarding the performance of 20 a notarial act with respect to a remotely located individual 21 promulgated by national standard-setting organizations and the 22 recommendations of the national association of secretaries of 23 state. 24 b. Standards, practices, and customs of other jurisdictions 25 that have laws substantially similar to this section. 26 c. The views of governmental officials and entities and 27 other interested persons. 28 10. By allowing its communication technology or identity 29 proofing to facilitate a notarial act for a remotely located 30 individual or by providing storage of the audio-visual 31 recording created under subsection 3, paragraph “c” , the 32 provider of the communication technology, identity proofing, 33 or storage appoints the secretary of state as the provider’s 34 agent for service of process in any civil action in this state 35 -4- LSB 2242YC (1) 88 da/jh 4/ 6
H.F. _____ related to the notarial act. 1 Sec. 5. Section 9B.20, Code 2019, is amended by adding the 2 following new subsection: 3 NEW SUBSECTION . 3. A county recorder may accept for 4 recording a tangible copy of an electronic record containing 5 a notarial certificate as satisfying any requirement that a 6 record accepted for recording be an original, if the notarial 7 officer executing the notarial certificate certifies that the 8 tangible copy is an accurate copy of the electronic record. 9 EXPLANATION 10 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 11 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 12 GENERAL. This bill amends Code chapter 9B, the “Revised 13 Uniform Law on Notarial Acts” (RULONA), enacted by the general 14 assembly in 2012 (2012 Acts, chapter 1050), which is based on a 15 model Act proposed by the national conference of commissioners 16 on uniform state laws (commissioners) in 2010. The Code 17 chapter governs a notary public (an individual commissioned 18 to perform a notarial act by the secretary of state) or other 19 notarial officer (a statutory authorized individual such as a 20 judge) who performs a specific official act such as attesting 21 to some fact which often involves an individual’s statement or 22 signing of a record presented by an individual (Code section 23 9B.2). Such an individual must appear personally before the 24 notarial officer (Code section 9B.6). The record may either be 25 tangible or electronic. A notary public who elects to perform 26 a notarial act involving an electronic record must notify the 27 secretary of state regarding the tamper-proof technology that 28 the notary public will use (Code section 9B.20). 29 BILL’S PROVISIONS. The bill includes amendments proposed 30 to the uniform Act by the commissioners in 2018 and referred 31 to as “RULONA (2018)”, by allowing a notary public to perform 32 a notarial act remotely by utilizing audio-visual technology. 33 The bill strikes a provision in the Code chapter, not part of 34 the uniform Act, that defines the phrase “personal appearance” 35 -5- LSB 2242YC (1) 88 da/jh 5/ 6
H.F. _____ to exclude an appearance which uses video or optical technology 1 (Code section 2B.2(10)). Under the bill, a public notary who 2 performs a notarial act remotely must comply with certain 3 standards, including rules adopted by the secretary of 4 state. This includes keeping the audio-video recording of 5 the notarization for at least 10 years. If a public notary 6 complies with these standards, the personal appearance 7 requirement is deemed satisfied. The bill also provides that a 8 county recorder may accept a tangible copy of the electronic 9 record, if a notarial officer certifies that the copy is 10 accurate. 11 -6- LSB 2242YC (1) 88 da/jh 6/ 6
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