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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 6604
AN ACT CONCERNING REMOTE NOTARIAL ACTS.
SUMMARY
This bill allows notaries public and Superior Court commissioners
(collectively, "notaries") to perform notarial acts electronically until
June 30, 2022. (This provision codifies Executive Order 7Q (§ 3), which
the governor issued on March 30, 2020, and subsequently extended for
the duration of the declared public health and civil preparedness
emergencies.) It requires notaries who do so to (1) use an electronic
device or process that allows a notary and a remotely located
individual to communicate with each other simultaneously by sight
and sound and (2) comply with specified requirements.
The bill also requires the Commerce Committee chairpersons to
convene a working group to examine and make recommendations on
whether (1) to adopt the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts
(RULONA, see BACKGROUND) and (2) remote notarization should
be permitted with respect to real estate and trusts and estates
transactions.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage
REMOTE NOTARIZATION
Current law does not permit remote notarization in Connecticut. For
example, it defines "acknowledgement" as "a notarial act in which a
notary public certifies that a signatory…has admitted, in the notary's
presence, to having signed a document for its stated purpose" (CGS §
3-94a(1)).
The bill instead allows remote notarizations until June 30, 2022,
subject to the following requirements:
1. A signatory who is not personally known to the notary must 2021HB-06604-R000311-BA.DOCX
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present satisfactory evidence of identification while
communicating with the notary and may not transmit it before
or after the transaction (evidence of identification includes two
specified forms of ID or an affirmation by a person known to
both the notary and signatory).
2. The electronic device or process must be capable of recording
the complete notarial act.
3. The notary must retain a recording of the complete notarial act
for at least 10 years.
4. The signatory must affirmatively represent that he or she is
physically present in Connecticut during the transaction.
5. The signatory must transmit to the notary, by fax or electronic
means, a copy of the signed document on the same date it was
executed.
6. The notary may notarize the transmitted copy and send it back
to the signatory by fax or electronic means.
7. The notary may repeat the notarization of the original signed
document as of its execution date as long as the notary receives
the original signed document, together with the electronically
notarized copy, within 30 days after the execution date.
Under the bill, only an attorney in good standing and admitted to
practice law in Connecticut may remotely administer a self-proving
affidavit to a last will or conduct a real estate closing. The bill suspends
all witness requirements for notarizations, except for those concerning
a last will. It allows witnessing requirements for a last will to be
satisfied remotely, using the communication technology described
above, if a Superior Court commissioner (generally, an attorney
admitted to the Connecticut bar and in good standing) supervises its
completion and certifies his or her supervision.
The bill requires town clerks to accept remotely notarized
documents for recording on their town's land records. Remotely 2021HB-06604-R000311-BA.DOCX
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notarized documents submitted to the clerks for this purpose must be
accompanied by a one-page certification confirming the use of remote
notarization.
WORKING GROUP
The bill requires the Commerce Committee chairpersons to convene
a working group to examine RULONA and recommend whether to
adopt it. The group must also recommend whether remote
notarization should be permitted for real estate and trusts and estates
transactions.
Under the bill, the working group must be co-chaired by the
secretary of the state (or her designee) and a legislator who is an
attorney with experience in real estate transactions. It must also
include representatives of the following: (1) Commerce, Government
Administration and Elections (GAE), and Judiciary committees; (2)
judicial branch; (3) Office of the Secretary of the State; (4) State Library;
(5) Connecticut Town Clerks Association; (6) Uniform Law
Commission; (7) state or regional bar associations; (8) notary
associations, and (9) title insurance and mortgage industries.
The bill requires the chairpersons to schedule the group's first
meeting, which must be held within 60 days after the bill's passage.
The group must meet monthly thereafter until it submits its final
report. The working group must report its findings and
recommendations to the Commerce, GAE, and Judiciary committees
by January 1, 2022. It terminates on this date or the date it submits its
final report, whichever is later.
BACKGROUND
Related Bills
SB 1074 and HB 6651, reported favorably by the GAE Committee,
allow remote notarizations under similar conditions until December
31, 2021.
RULONA
RULONA was approved by the National Conference of 2021HB-06604-R000311-BA.DOCX
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Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in July 2018. It establishes
requirements for notaries public, notarial acts, and remote electronic
notarizations, among other things.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Commerce Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 23 Nay 0 (03/22/2021)