Posted by C. Rivera Chicago Notary Services on 12/3/13 6:40am
Msg #494772

Illinois HB 2269 effective 06-21-13..

<<(d) A notary public has satisfactory evidence that a person is the person whose true signature is on a document if that person:

(1) is personally known to the notary;
(2) is identified upon the oath or affirmation of a credible witness personally known to the notary; or
(3) is identified on the basis of identification documents.

Identification documents are documents that are valid at the time of the notarial act, issued by a state agency, federal government agency, or consulate, and bearing the photographic image of the individual's face and signature of the individual.

This Act takes effect upon becoming law. Effective Date: 6/21/2013>>

The state had finally cleared up the definition of "identification of documents" prior to this change, the state only stated, these to be "government issued documents" which was vague and left IL notaries in the dark about which id documents to use, e.g., some didn't know if they could use the Mexican government issued, Matricular Consular, because the definition of the "identification of documents" was so vague!

Glad that this is cleared up...I know its a bit of late info, but better late than never, and I wanted to add to what Bob had posted up back in July 2013, see message #476237.

That is all...

Reply by C. Rivera Chicago Notary Services on 12/3/13 6:54am
Msg #494775

Also, new notary applications can be done electronically, with the applicant taking an oath electronically, not requiring a notary public witness signature or stamp. Only effective once the IL SOS creates the electronic process to apply...thus far, they only have the paper applications. So be on the look out for this new process to apply, coming soon!

In addition to the new law, eliminating the black ink requirement, as previously posted in Bob's posting #476237, in my non-attorney opinion this is going to lead the way for electronic notarizations to happen in this state, which as of now, is not law.

Reply by VT_Syrup on 12/3/13 8:17am
Msg #494784

Do you have a link to the new law. Some of the questions that pop into my mind might be answered in other parts of the law.

What counts as a state, as far as state-issued ID goes? Puerto Rico? Indian tribes? US Virgin Islands? Ontario?

What counts as a federal government? Switzerland? Germany?

What if a person has a foreign passport? Those are seldom issued by consulates.

Reply by C. Rivera Chicago Notary Services on 12/3/13 8:39am
Msg #494785

link below...page 11 for identification info..

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/98/PDF/098-0029.pdf

Reply by C. Rivera Chicago Notary Services on 12/3/13 8:40am
Msg #494787

correction, starts page 11 and 12 for identification info.. n/m

Reply by Linda Juenger on 12/3/13 10:59am
Msg #494807

Carrie. This still does NOT tell me that I can take an

expired DL from an active military member from another state. The active military ID does not contain a signature, therefore is not acceptable form of ID. Are we allowed to combine 2 ID's to make positive ID?

The way this is written, we cannot take an expired DL, military or not.

Reply by C. Rivera Chicago Notary Services on 12/3/13 11:44am
Msg #494815

Yes Linda, that is how I'm taking it to that is if the

gov't issued photo id, WITH SIGNATURE, is expired, then we can't accept the ID, unless they have some other form of photo ID.

Also, the fact that the military ID doesn't have a signature line, but does have a picture, even if current, according to our notarial law, says we can't accept it.

Reply by VT_Syrup on 12/3/13 11:46am
Msg #494817

Re: Carrie. This still does NOT tell me that I can take an

There is a difference between having an expiration on the face of a card that indicates a card is expired, and the card actually being expired. The law only says "documents that are valid at the time of the notarial act", nothing about how the notary is to determine if the document is valid. If the notary can reliably determine that the expiration of the document has been extended by some law, rule, executive order,...

Reply by Saul Leibowitz on 12/3/13 11:51am
Msg #494819

Re: Carrie. This still does NOT tell me that I can take an

In Illinois you can renew a D/L by mail and get a strip to paste to the back showing an extension for four years. You cannot get that for any other form of id in Illinois.

Reply by C. Rivera Chicago Notary Services on 12/3/13 12:22pm
Msg #494825

Correct Saul... n/m

Reply by C. Rivera Chicago Notary Services on 12/3/13 12:22pm
Msg #494824

if there is an expiration date, then the notary can

reasonably assume, that that particular identification document is longer valid, so that is how the notary is going to determine if the identifying document is valid or not?

Are you saying even if its expired, that the notary should go above and beyond to check with the issuer if in fact its expired? Nuts!

Why are you making this more complicated VT?

Reply by VT_Syrup on 12/3/13 1:18pm
Msg #494828

Re: if there is an expiration date, then the notary can

I didn't write the law. The law says the ID must be valid at the time the notarization takes place. It doesn't say how hard the notary should work to see if it is valid.

Reply by MAC/WA on 12/3/13 1:37pm
Msg #494829

WA adds the ID must have a physical description (ht,wt) n/m

Reply by C. Rivera Chicago Notary Services on 12/3/13 2:52pm
Msg #494840

you asked how is the notary going to make that

determination, whether the identifying document is valid or not, and I answered your question.

Reply by VT_Syrup on 12/3/13 3:03pm
Msg #494842

Re: you asked how is the notary going to make that

It would often be reasonable for a notary to just look at the face of a document, and if the date on the face of the document has passed, consider it invalid. But does the law PROHIBIT the notary from looking beyond the date on the face of the document, and finding out if it has been extended (for the military member who needs to get a travel permission letter notarized so his sister-in-law in Canada can bring his 18 month-old son to Chicago)?

What if it is a more widespread problem? The main office of the DMV is flooded and the governor issues an executive order extending all drivers licenses due to expire December and January to February 1st. Should notaries ignore the executive order? (If that seems far-fetched, in Irene the DMV office closest to me DID flood, along with the state police barracks and the emergency services dispatching center. An hour later the state Division of Emergency Management had to be evacuated. However, since other DMV offices were still open, there was no extension of driver licenses.)