BILL NUMBER: SB 1050 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Monning
FEBRUARY 18, 2014
An act to amend Sections 1189 and 1195 of the Civil Code, and to
amend Section 8202 of the Government Code, relating to notaries
public.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1050, as introduced, Monning. Notaries public: verification of
content of documents.
Existing law provides for the appointment and commission of
notaries public by the Secretary of State. Existing law authorizes a
notary public to execute a certificate of acknowledgment or proof of
execution of an instrument, or a jurat attached to a sworn affidavit.
Existing law requires a certificate of acknowledgment, proof of
execution, and jurat to be in a specified form.
This bill would require a statement to be included in those
documents indicating that acknowledgment, proof of execution, or a
notarial certificate of a jurat does not authenticate or verify the
contents of those documents.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1189 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
1189. (a) (1) Any certificate of acknowledgment taken within this
state shall be in the following form:
State of California )
County of___________ )
This acknowledgment does not authenticate or
verify the contents of the document.
On______________________________________before
me,
(here insert name and title of the officer),
personally appeared_____________________________,
who proved to me on the basis of
satisfactory evidence to be the person(s) whose
name(s)
is/are
subscribed to the within instrument and
acknowledged to me
that
he/she/they executed the same in his/her/their
authorized
capacity(ies), and that by his/her/their
signature(s) on
the
instrument the person(s), or the entity upon
behalf of which
the
person(s) acted, executed the instrument.
I certify under PENALTY OF PERJURY under the
laws of the State of California that the
foregoing paragraph is true and correct.
WITNESS my hand and official seal.
Signature________________________________ (Seal)
(2) A notary public who willfully states as true any material fact
that he or she knows to be false shall be subject to a civil penalty
not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000). An action to impose a
civil penalty under this subdivision may be brought by the Secretary
of State in an administrative proceeding or any public prosecutor in
superior court, and shall be enforced as a civil judgment. A public
prosecutor shall inform the secretary of any civil penalty imposed
under this section.
(b) Any certificate of acknowledgment taken in another place shall
be sufficient in this state if it is taken in accordance with the
laws of the place where the acknowledgment is made.
(c) On documents to be filed in another state or jurisdiction of
the United States, a California notary public may complete any
acknowledgment form as may be required in that other state or
jurisdiction on a document, provided the form does not require the
notary to determine or certify that the signer holds a particular
representative capacity or to make other determinations and
certifications not allowed by California law.
(d) An acknowledgment provided prior to January 1, 1993, and
conforming to applicable provisions of former Sections 1189, 1190,
1190a, 1190.1, 1191, and 1192, as repealed by Chapter 335 of the
Statutes of 1990, shall have the same force and effect as if those
sections had not been repealed.
SEC. 2. Section 1195 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
1195. (a) Proof of the execution of an instrument, when not
acknowledged, may be made by any of the following:
(1) By the party executing it, or either of them.
(2) By a subscribing witness.
(3) By other witnesses, in cases mentioned in Section 1198.
(b) (1) Proof of the execution of a power of attorney, grant
deed, mortgage, deed of trust, quitclaim deed, security agreement, or
any instrument affecting real property is not permitted pursuant to
Section 27287 of the Government Code, though proof of the execution
of a trustee's deed or deed of reconveyance is permitted.
(2) Proof of the execution for any instrument requiring a notary
public to obtain a thumbprint from the party signing the document in
the notary public's journal is not permitted.
(c) Any certificate for proof of execution taken within this state
shall be in the following form:
State of California )
ss.
County of __________ )
This proof of execution does not authenticate or verify the
contents of the document. On ____ (date), before me, _____
(name and title of officer), personally appeared ____ (name of
subscribing witness), proved to me to be the person whose name is
subscribed to the within instrument, as a witness thereto, on the
oath of ____ (name of credible witness), a credible witness who is
known to me and provided a satisfactory identifying document. ____
(name of subscribing witness), being by me duly sworn, said that
he/she was present and saw/heard ____ (name s] of principals]),
the same person(s) described in and whose name(s) is/are subscribed
to the within or attached instrument in his/her/their authorized
capacity(ies) as (a) party(ies) thereto, execute or acknowledge
executing the same, and that said affiant subscribed his/her name to
the within or attached instrument as a witness at the request of ____
(names] of principals]).
WITNESS my hand and official seal.
Signature__________________________________ (Seal)
SEC. 3. Section 8202 of the Government Code is amended to read:
8202. (a) When executing a jurat, a notary shall administer an
oath or affirmation to the affiant and shall determine, from
satisfactory evidence as described in Section 1185 of the Civil Code,
that the affiant is the person executing the document. The affiant
shall sign the document in the presence of the notary.
(b) To any affidavit subscribed and sworn to before a notary,
there shall be attached a jurat in the following form:
State of California
County of _______________
This notarial certificate does not authenticate or
verify the contents of the document.
Subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me on this _____ day
of _______, 20__, by _________________________, proved to me on the
basis of satisfactory evidence to be the person(s) who appeared
before me.
Seal________________________
Signature___________________