MI Senate Bill 908

Legislation

State: Michigan
Signed: May 26, 2006

Effective: May 26, 2006
Chapter: Public Act No. 155

Summary

Repeals "plain English notary forms" of MCL 55.289, requires a Notary notarizing outside of the county of commissioning to add a statement to the notarial certificate and clarifies that a Notary must sign a notarial certificate witha the name as it appears on the commission application.

Affects

Amends Sections 55.287 and 55.307 and repeals Section 55.289 of the Michigan Compiled Laws.

Changes

Repeals the section in the Michigan Notary Public Act containing the so-called “plain English notary forms” of acknowledgment (of which there are 8) and the form of jurat.
Requires a Notary to sign every document or electronic record upon which he or she performs a notarial act with the name exactly as it appears on the commission application (formerly certificate of appointment).
Requires a Notary to print, type, stamp, or imprint mechanically or electronically near the Notary’s signature on each document or record notarized the following elements in the format shown below or in a similar format that conveys all of the same information: (a) The Notary’s name as it appears on the commission application (formerly certificate of appointment); (b) The statement: “Notary public, State of Michigan, County of ________.”; (c) The statement: “My commission expires ________.”; (d) If notarizing in a county other than the county of commissioning, the statement: “Acting in the County of ________.”); and (e) The date the notarial act was performed.
Clarifies that the above-mentioned elements must be printed, typed, stamped, or imprinted mechanically or electronically sufficiently clear and legible to be read by the Secretary of State’s office and in a manner capable of photographic reproduction. The required elements may be part of the Notary’s seal.
Clarifies that a court may invalidate any notarial act not performed in conformance with the law.
Makes other conforming changes.

Analysis

The main substantive change of Senate Bill 908 is the repeal of the “plain English notary forms” of MCL 55.289. Since Michigan has enacted the Uniform Recognition of Acknowledgments Act (URAA), the statutory short forms of acknowledgment prescribed under the URAA will suffice for the majority of circumstances where a form is necessary for proper completion of a notarial act.

The other important change of Senate Bill 908 is the clarification that if a Notary is notarizing in a county other than the county of commissioning, the Notary is to add the statement “Acting in the county of ____________” to the notarial certificate immediately near the Notary’s official signature.

Michigan Notaries should exercise diligence to ensure that their notarial certificates are properly signed with the name as it appears on the commission application, and that their certificates are legible.

Read Senate Bill 908.