CA Assembly Bill 2004

Legislation

State: California
Signed: September 27, 2024

Effective: January 01, 2025
Chapter: 691

Summary

Assembly Bill 2004 authorizes a “disinterested custodian” to certify that a paper printout of an electronically notarized document is a true copy and the Notary to perform a standard jurat on the custodian’s statement.

Affects

Adds Section 27201.1 to the Government Code.

Changes

Authorizes a disinterested custodian to certify that a tangible copy of an electronic record containing electronic signatures is a complete and accurate reproduction of the electronic record.
Defines “disinterested custodian” as a person who has access to an electronic record displaying intact tamper-evident security procedures and who is not the grantee, beneficiary, or otherwise a person who directly benefits from the electronic record.
Requires the disinterested custodian’s certification to be subscribed and sworn to, or affirmed, before a Notary Public and accompanied by a jurat attached to the certification as required by Government Code 8202(d).
Provides a statutory form for the disinterested custodian’s certification.
Requires a recorder to accept for recording a tangible copy of an electronic record bearing electronic signatures and containing a disinterested custodian’s certification in the form required by Government Code 27201.1(a) as a certified copy of an original pursuant to Government Code 27201(b), provided that the electronic record is otherwise an instrument or notice that is authorized or required to be recorded and the tangible copy satisfies the requirements of Government Code 27201(a)(1)(A).

Analysis

Most states that have enacted remote notarial act statutes have also enacted an authorization for a Notary Public to certify as a true copy a paper printout of an electronically notarized record. The procedure is an accommodation for counties in a state that do not have the capability to record real property records electronically. Assembly Bill 2004 started out as a bill to do this, but the Secretary of State objected to expanding the authority of a Notary Public to perform this type of copy certification because California law only authorizes Notaries to certify copies of powers of attorney and their notarial journals. So, at the NNA’s and Secretary of State’s urging, the procedure authorized in AB 2004 changed into a copy certification by the document custodian, not the Notary. The Notary simply performs a jurat which Notaries are authorized to perform under Government Code 8205(a)(3). While the bill defines a “disinterested custodian,” it is important to note the new law does not require a Notary Public to determine whether the person certifying the paper copy of the electronic record qualifies as a disinterested custodian. The Notary’s only duties are to (a) verify the identity of the disinterested custodian, (b) administer an oath or affirmation to the disinterested custodian whose written statement made under penalty of perjury specifically states that the person is disinterested, (c) witness the disinterested custodian sign the written certification statement, and (d) complete a proper jurat certificate as required under Government Code 8202(d). As with any notarial act, the Notary must complete a journal entry for the notarial act. The Notary may charge up to the maximum statutory $15 fee for the notarial act as authorized by Government Code 8211(b).

Read Assembly Bill 2004.