ID Senate Bill 1111

Legislation

State: Idaho
Signed: March 21, 2019

Effective: January 01, 2020
Chapter: 160

Summary

Senate Bill 1111 enacts the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA) 2018 amendments, allowing Notaries to perform remote online notarizations.

Affects

Amends Sections 51-101, 51-104, and 51-120 of and adds Section 51-114A to the Idaho Statutes.

Changes

Definitions

Defines "communication technology," "foreign state," "identity proofing," "outside the United States," and "remotely located individual."

Notification

Requires a Notary to notify the Secretary of State that the Notary will be performing notarial acts with respect to remotely located individuals and identify the technologies the Notary intends to prior to performing the Notary's initial notarial act for a remotely located individual.
Provides that if the Secretary of State has established standards for approval of communication technology or identity proofing, the communication technology and identity proofing must conform to the standards.

Remote Notarial Act Standards

Clarifies that a remotely located individual may comply with the requirement to personally appear for a notarial act by using communication technology.
Allows a Notary to perform a notarial act using communication technology for a remotely located individual if the Notary is able to identify the individual through personal knowledge, the oath or affirmation of a credible witness, or using at least two different types of identity proofing.
Allows a Notary to perform a notarial act using communication technology for a remotely located individual if the Notary is able reasonably to confirm that a record before the Notary is the same record in which the remotely located individual made a statement or on which the individual executed a signature.
Allows a Notary to perform a notarial act using communication technology for a remotely located individual outside the United States if the record: (a) is to be filed with or relates to a matter before a public official or court, governmental entity, or other entity subject to the jurisdiction of the United States or (b) involves property located in the territorial jurisdiction of the United States or involves a transaction substantially connected with the United States; and the act of making the statement or signing the record is not prohibited by the foreign state in which the remotely located individual is located.

Certificate of Remote Notarial Act

Requires a certificate of notarial act using communication technology for a remotely located individual to indicate the act was performed using communication technology.
Provides that a short-form certificate for a notarial act using communication technology for a remotely located individual is sufficient if it complies with rules adopted by the Secretary of State or is in the form provided in IC 51-116 and contains a statement substantially as follows: "This notarial act involved the use of communication technology."

Records of Remote Notarial Act

Requires a Notary, or a person acting on behalf of the Notary, to create an audio-visual recording of the remote notarial act.
Requires a Notary, a guardian, conservator, or agent of a Notary, or a personal representative of a deceased Notary to retain the audiovisual recording of the notarial act for a remotely located individual or cause the recording to be retained by a repository designated by or on behalf of the person required to retain the recording.
Provides that unless a different period is required by rule, the recording of a notarial act for a remotely located individual must be retained for a period of at least ten years after the recording is made.

Other Provisions

Authorizes a Notary to certify that a tangible copy of an electronic record is an accurate copy of the electronic record.
Provides that the Secretary of State may adopt rules for performing notarial acts with respect to remotely located individuals and provides standards for the rules.

Analysis

Idaho follows North Dakota as the second state to enact the RULONA 2018 amendments, allowing Notaries to perform notarial acts for remotely located individuals using communication technology (so-called "remote online notarizations"), and the third state in 2019 to authorize remote online notarizations. It should be noted that the record notarized for a remotely located individual may be a paper document or electronic record. The amendment modifies how Notaries may identify remotely located indivduals. Like for paper notarizations performed in the physical presence of the Notary, the Notary may rely on his or her personal knowledge of the individual or use a credible witness who swears or affirms that the witness knows the individual. Unlike paper notarizations performed in the physical presence of the Notary, a Notary may use two forms of "identity proofing." "Identity proofing" is defined as "a process or service by which a third person provides a notary public with a means to verify the identity of a remotely located individual by a review of personal information from public or private data sources." We should expect the Secretary of State, who has rulemaking authority under the new law, to specify the exact methods of identity proofing a Notary may use to identify remotely located indivduals. The bill takes effect January 1, 2020.

Read Senate Bill 1111.