California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2566

Introduced by Assembly Member Nazarian

February 19, 2016

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

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2566, as introduced, Nazarian. Notaries public: acceptance of identification.

Existing law relating to property transfers prohibits the acknowledgment of an instrument 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. Existing law provides that an officer may reasonably rely on a passport issued by a foreign government, a driver’s license issued by another state or a Canadian or Mexican public agency, an identification card issued by another state or a branch of the Armed Forces of the United States, or an employee identification card issued by an agency or office of this state or a city, county, or city and county in this state, provided that the document meets certain requirements. In the event the document is a passport, it must be stamped by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services of the Department of Homeland Security.

This bill would also authorize the acceptance of a passport, whether or not it is stamped by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services of the Department of Homeland Security, and a valid, unexpired consular identification document issued by a consulate from the person’s country of citizenship, as proof of identity.

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

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 begin delete (E), end delete begin insert (F), end insert 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, begin insert and end insert shall
bear a serial or other identifying begin delete 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: end delete begin insert number: end insert

(A) A passport issued by a foreign begin delete government. end delete begin insert government,
with or without a stamp by the United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services of the Department of Homeland Security. end insert

begin insert

(B) A valid, unexpired consular identification document issued
by a consulate from the applicant’s country of citizenship.

end insert begin delete

(B)

end delete

begin insert (C) end insert  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.

begin delete

(C)

end delete

begin insert (D) end insert  An identification card issued by a state other than California.

begin delete

(D)

end delete

begin insert (E) end insert  An identification card issued by any branch of the Armed
Forces of the United States.

begin delete

(E)

end delete

begin insert (F) end insert  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.