Amended in Assembly April 9, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 1036


Introduced by Assembly Member Quirk

February 26, 2015


An act to amend Section 1185 of the Civil Code, relating to notaries public.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1036, as amended, Quirk. Notaries public: acceptance of identification.

Existing law relating to property transfers specifies certain documents as allowable forms of identification for a credible witness, who, by oath or affirmation, attests to the identity of an individual executing a written instrument in the presence of, and acknowledged by, a notary public. Existing lawbegin delete specifiesend deletebegin insert providesend insert that an inmate identification card that is current or has been issued within 5 years by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation if the inmate is in custody in prison is an allowable form ofbegin delete identification, for purposes of these provisions.end deletebegin insert identification.end insert

This bill would also makebegin delete anend deletebegin insert any form ofend insert inmate identificationbegin delete cardend delete that is current or has been issued within 5 years by a sheriff’s department, if the inmate is in custody in a local detention facility, an allowable form of identification for a credible witness to prove the identity of an individual who executes a written instrument.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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SECTION 1.  

Section 1185 of the Civil Code is amended to
2read:

3

1185.  

(a) The acknowledgment of an instrument shall not be
4taken unless the officer taking it has satisfactory evidence that the
5person making the acknowledgment is the individual who is
6described in and who executed the instrument.

7(b) For purposes of this section, “satisfactory evidence” means
8the absence of information, evidence, or other circumstances that
9would lead a reasonable person to believe that the person making
10the acknowledgment is not the individual he or she claims to be
11and any one of the following:

12(1) (A) The oath or affirmation of a credible witness personally
13known to the officer, whose identity is proven to the officer upon
14presentation of a document satisfying the requirements of paragraph
15(3) or (4), that the person making the acknowledgment is personally
16known to the witness and that each of the following are true:

17(i) The person making the acknowledgment is the person named
18in the document.

19(ii) The person making the acknowledgment is personally known
20to the witness.

21(iii) That it is the reasonable belief of the witness that the
22circumstances of the person making the acknowledgment are such
23that it would be very difficult or impossible for that person to
24obtain another form of identification.

25(iv) The person making the acknowledgment does not possess
26any of the identification documents named in paragraphs (3) and
27(4).

28(v) The witness does not have a financial interest in the
29document being acknowledged and is not named in the document.

30(B) A notary public who violates this section by failing to obtain
31the satisfactory evidence required by subparagraph (A) shall be
32subject to a civil penalty not exceeding ten thousand dollars
33($10,000). An action to impose this civil penalty may be brought
34by the Secretary of State in an administrative proceeding or a public
35prosecutor in superior court, and shall be enforced as a civil
36judgment. A public prosecutor shall inform the secretary of any
37civil penalty imposed under this subparagraph.

P3    1(2) The oath or affirmation under penalty of perjury of two
2credible witnesses, whose identities are proven to the officer upon
3the presentation of a document satisfying the requirements of
4paragraph (3) or (4), that each statement in paragraph (1) is true.

5(3) Reasonable reliance on the presentation to the officer of any
6one of the following, if the document begin insertor other form of identification end insert
7is current or has been issued within five years:

8(A) An identification card or driver’s license issued by the
9Department of Motor Vehicles.

10(B) A passport issued by the Department of State of the United
11States.

12(C) An inmate identification card issued by the Department of
13Corrections and Rehabilitation, if the inmate is in custody in prison.

14(D) begin deleteAn end deletebegin insertAny form ofend insertbegin insert end insertinmate identificationbegin delete cardend delete issued by a
15sheriff’s department, if the inmate is in custody in a local detention
16facility.

17(4) Reasonable reliance on the presentation of any one of the
18following, provided that a document specified in subparagraphs
19(A) to (E), inclusive, shall either be current or have been issued
20within five years and shall contain a photograph and description
21of the person named on it, shall be signed by the person, shall bear
22a serial or other identifying number, and, in the event that the
23document is a passport, shall have been stamped by the United
24States Citizenship and Immigration Services of the Department of
25Homeland Security:

26(A) A passport issued by a foreign government.

27(B) A driver’s license issued by a state other than California or
28by a Canadian or Mexican public agency authorized to issue
29driver’s licenses.

30(C) An identification card issued by a state other than California.

31(D) An identification card issued by any branch of the Armed
32Forces of the United States.

33(E) An employee identification card issued by an agency or
34office of the State of California, or by an agency or office of a city,
35county, or city and county in this state.

36(c) An officer who has taken an acknowledgment pursuant to
37this section shall be presumed to have operated in accordance with
38the provisions of law.

39(d) A party who files an action for damages based on the failure
40of the officer to establish the proper identity of the person making
P4    1the acknowledgment shall have the burden of proof in establishing
2the negligence or misconduct of the officer.

3(e) A person convicted of perjury under this section shall forfeit
4any financial interest in the document.



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