Legislation
State: Illinois
Signed: June 25, 2021
Effective: June 25, 2021
Chapter: Public Act 102-0038
Summary
Illinois enacts the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act and its provision on notarization and acknowledgment.
Affects
Creates as yet uncodified sections in the Illinois Compiled Statutes.
Changes
- Clarifies that a record or signature may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form.
- Clarifies that if a law requires a record to be in writing, an electronic record satisfies the law.
- Clarifies that if a law requires a signature, an electronic signature satisfies the law.
- Provides that if If a law requires a signature or record to be notarized, acknowledged, verified, or made under oath, the requirement is satisfied if the electronic signature of the person authorized to perform those acts, together with all other information required to be included by other applicable law, is attached to or logically associated with the signature or record.
AnalysisIllinois will not have the dubious distinction of being the last U.S. state to enact the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA). That honor will go to New York. Senate Bill 2176 aligns Illinois with virtually every other state that has enacted the UETA. True to form, Illinois' enactment contains the signature provisions, noted above, which provide that electronic records and signatures satisfy any requirement for a document to be in writing or signed. And, Senate Bill 2176 contains the UETA Section 11 provision authorizing Notaries to use electronic signatures.
Read Senate Bill 2176.