Posted by Notary/Guy on 1/9/09 3:15pm
Msg #274003

California New Notary Laws for 2009

New Notary Laws for 2009


Notaries Can Now Accept New IDs
As of January 1, 2009, California notaries will now be able to accept City, County and State issued worker IDs as long as they contain the four elements: Photo, Physical Description, Signature and Serial Number and it must be active or issued in the last 5 years.

Subscribing Witness Clarification
We recommend that you avoid using a Subscribing Witness if at all possible. Personal appearance is one of the best ways to prevent fraud. Subscribing Witness notarizations are always a last resort if the signer cannot appear before. Here are the changes to the Subscribing Witness law, effective January 1, 2009:

Personal knowledge between the notary and the Subscribing Witness is no longer allowed.
The Subscribing Witness must bring a Credible Witness who knows the notary and must be known by subscribing witness.
The Credible Witness must present ID to the notary.
The Subscribing Witness signs the notary journal. The Credible Witness signs the notary journal or the notary records the "paper" ID information for the Credible Witness in the journal.

Reply by Notary/Guy on 1/9/09 3:26pm
Msg #274004

2009 Notary Handbook Now Available

http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/notary/forms/handbook.pdf

Reply by JanetK_CA on 1/9/09 3:57pm
Msg #274009

Credible witnesses

It looks like the requirements for the use of credible witnesses have been modified, also. The wording has been changed to include the following as one of the prerequisites that every credible witness has to swear to: "The signer does not possess any of the identification documents authorized by law to establish the signer's identity." Sounds to me like it closes the loophole. Calinotary, I bet you're pleased with this change!!

Reply by CaliNotary on 1/9/09 9:06pm
Msg #274058

Re: Credible witnesses

Hasn't it always said that? That was one of the arguments I remember having, some people interpreted that to mean that they didn't have any of the legally allowed identification documents on their person at the time, as opposed to having one at all.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 1/10/09 2:31am
Msg #274074

Re: Credible witnesses

Ooops. You're right, of course. I'm not sure what I was thinking... probably not much, going on little sleep and printing docs at the same time.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 1/9/09 4:35pm
Msg #274019


Interesting that they now tell us that there are 260K+ notaries in the state. I wonder how many there were this time last year? A lot have not been renewing with the new background check requirements (adding FBI) and because SA agent work has dropped off.


I'm still bewildered by the city/coutny/state ID bit. If I'm from LA and I'm presented an ID from an employee in the city of Sacramento, how can I possibly know that it's a valid ID? And, what city emplyee ID is going to have the required elements on it?

My husband used to work for the state, and his ID would never have cut it. But that's been a few years now so maybe things have changed? I just can't imagine an employee ID having a photo, serial number, physical description *and* signature of the person. Besides, what city/county/state employee is going to have THAT ID card and not their Drivers license or passport?

Reply by Joan Bergstrom on 1/9/09 8:42pm
Msg #274047

There were over 292,000 at the beginning of 2008.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a drop of another 30,000 notaries in 2009.

Reply by MikeC/NY on 1/9/09 7:49pm
Msg #274037

"Personal knowledge between the notary and the Subscribing Witness is no longer allowed.
The Subscribing Witness must bring a Credible Witness who knows the notary and must be known by subscribing witness."

In a state with a population of over 36 million, what are the odds that these planets will align?

Reply by Susan Fischer on 1/9/09 8:17pm
Msg #274044

Queen Swamily foresees once, in all humankind -

but it already occurred...there were far fewer people then.

Reply by MikeC/NY on 1/9/09 8:54pm
Msg #274053

Re: Queen Swamily foresees once, in all humankind -

Some laws are dumber than others, and some lawmakers have way too much time on their hands...

Reply by Susan Fischer on 1/9/09 9:50pm
Msg #274065

<laughter> n/m