BILL NUMBER: AB 2566	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


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
 (E),   (F),  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,  and  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:
  number: 
   (A) A passport issued by a foreign  government. 
 government, with or without a stamp by the United States
Citizenship and Immigration Services of the Department of Homeland
Security.  
   (B) A valid, unexpired consular identification document issued by
a consulate from the applicant's country of citizenship. 

   (B) 
    (C)  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) 
    (D)  An identification card issued by a state other than
California. 
   (D) 
    (E)  An identification card issued by any branch of the
Armed Forces of the United States. 
   (E) 
    (F)  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.