BILL NUMBER: AB 1036 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 42
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JULY 2, 2015
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR JULY 2, 2015
PASSED THE SENATE JUNE 18, 2015
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY MAY 11, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2015
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, 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 law provides 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 of
identification.
This bill would also make any form of inmate identification 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.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1185 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
1185. (a) The acknowledgment of an instrument shall not be taken
unless the officer taking it has satisfactory evidence that the
person making the acknowledgment is the individual who is described
in and who executed the instrument.
(b) For purposes of this section, "satisfactory evidence" means
the absence of information, evidence, or other circumstances that
would lead a reasonable person to believe that the person making the
acknowledgment is not the individual he or she claims to be and any
one of the following:
(1) (A) The oath or affirmation of a credible witness personally
known to the officer, whose identity is proven to the officer upon
presentation of a document satisfying the requirements of paragraph
(3) or (4), that the person making the acknowledgment is personally
known to the witness and that each of the following are true:
(i) The person making the acknowledgment is the person named in
the document.
(ii) The person making the acknowledgment is personally known to
the witness.
(iii) That it is the reasonable belief of the witness that the
circumstances of the person making the acknowledgment are such that
it would be very difficult or impossible for that person to obtain
another form of identification.
(iv) The person making the acknowledgment does not possess any of
the identification documents named in paragraphs (3) and (4).
(v) The witness does not have a financial interest in the document
being acknowledged and is not named in the document.
(B) A notary public who violates this section by failing to obtain
the satisfactory evidence required by subparagraph (A) shall be
subject to a civil penalty not exceeding ten thousand dollars
($10,000). An action to impose this civil penalty may be brought by
the Secretary of State in an administrative proceeding or a 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 subparagraph.
(2) The oath or affirmation under penalty of perjury of two
credible witnesses, whose identities are proven to the officer upon
the presentation of a document satisfying the requirements of
paragraph (3) or (4), that each statement in paragraph (1) is true.
(3) Reasonable reliance on the presentation to the officer of any
one of the following, if the document or other form of identification
is current or has been issued within five years:
(A) An identification card or driver's license issued by the
Department of Motor Vehicles.
(B) A passport issued by the Department of State of the United
States.
(C) An inmate identification card issued by the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, if the inmate is in custody in
prison.
(D) Any form of inmate identification issued by a sheriff's
department, if the inmate is in custody in a local detention
facility.
(4) Reasonable reliance on the presentation of any one of the
following, provided that a document specified in subparagraphs (A) to
(E), inclusive, shall either be current or have been issued within
five years and shall contain a photograph and description of the
person named on it, shall be signed by the person, shall bear a
serial or other identifying number, and, in the event that the
document is a passport, shall have been stamped by the United States
Citizenship and Immigration Services of the Department of Homeland
Security:
(A) A passport issued by a foreign government.
(B) A driver's license issued by a state other than California or
by a Canadian or Mexican public agency authorized to issue driver's
licenses.
(C) An identification card issued by a state other than
California.
(D) An identification card issued by any branch of the Armed
Forces of the United States.
(E) An employee identification card issued by an agency or office
of the State of California, or by an agency or office of a city,
county, or city and county in this state.
(c) An officer who has taken an acknowledgment pursuant to this
section shall be presumed to have operated in accordance with the
provisions of law.
(d) A party who files an action for damages based on the failure
of the officer to establish the proper identity of the person making
the acknowledgment shall have the burden of proof in establishing the
negligence or misconduct of the officer.
(e) A person convicted of perjury under this section shall forfeit
any financial interest in the document.