H.1525 - An Act modernizing notary services

Current Status: Read more.

Senate Bill (S. 943): Senator Brendan P. Creighton. Read more.

What this bill would do: H.1525 seeks to update laws regulating the use of notarization to allow electronic notarization similar to the use and acceptance of electronic signatures. 

This act performs numerous functions, including but are not limited to:

• Defining relevant aspects of modern-day notary services, such as "electronic record" and "identity proofing."
• Constituting what exactly counts as an official notarial seal.
• Allowing for an additional technology services fee, as long as it is reasonable in price and was clearly disclosed in advance.
• Allowing the attorney general to order the notary public to comply with the law, if they have engaged in misconduct that is contrary to section 46E of chapter 221.
• Redefining "journal", in which it no longer has to a permanently bound book with numbered pages and therefore now includes electronic formats.
• Outlining guidelines and standard requirements for electronic notarization.
• Outlining guidelines for a notarial act performed for a remotely located signatory.
• Identifying necessary security characteristics of identity proofing.