BILL ANALYSIS
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 898|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 898
Author: Lieu (D)
Amended: 6/30/09
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 4-1, 06/23/09
AYES: Corbett, Harman, Florez, Leno
NOES: Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 49-29, 05/21/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Notaries public: Power of Attorney, Protests,
and Other
Documents
SOURCE : Secretary of State Debra Bowen
DIGEST : This bill makes three changes to the law
governing notaries public: (1) it authorizes the Secretary
of State to refuse to process (authenticate) documents that
are clearly intended for fraudulent purposes, (2) it
prohibits the use of a subscribing witness when
establishing a power of attorney, just as a subscribing
witness cannot now be used for real property documents that
must be recorded, and (3) it eliminates the duty of a
notary public to process antiquated documents (i.e.,
"protests" of nonpayment of negotiable instruments), unless
the notary public works for a financial institution.
ANALYSIS : Existing law prohibits a proof of execution of
CONTINUED
AB 898
Page
2
any of several types of specified documents, including a
grant deed, mortgage, deed of trust, quitclaim deed, or
security agreement as it relates to the recording of
transfers of property, by use of a "subscribing witness."
(Civ. Code Sec. 1195.)
This bill adds, to the list of documents that may not be
acknowledged by use of a subscribing witness, a power of
attorney.
This bill expressly prohibits the use of proof of execution
to acknowledge any instrument that requires a notary public
to obtain a thumbprint from the party signing the document
in the notary public's journal.
Existing law provides that a protest is a certificate of
dishonor (of a payment claimed) made by a United States
consul or vice consul, or a notary public or other person
authorized to administer oaths by the law of the place
where the dishonor occurs. (Cal. U. Com. Code Sec.
3505(b).)
This bill permits only a notary public during the course
and scope of employment with a financial institution (in
addition to a U.S. consul or vice consul or other person
authorized by the law of the state, government or country
where the dishonor occurred) to issue a protest.
Existing law defines the duties of a notary public,
including the duty to demand acceptance and payment of
foreign and inland bills of exchange, or promissory notes,
to protest them for nonacceptance and nonpayment.
This bill limits this duty to notaries public who are
employed by a financial institution during the course and
scope of the notary's employment with the financial
institution.
The bill makes other conforming changes to the law
governing the charging of fees by notaries public.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
AB 898
Page
3
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/30/09)
Secretary of State Debra Bowen (source)
American Society of Notaries
City of Riverside
National Notary Association
United States Notary Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office:
As the economy worsens and home property values
continue to drop dramatically, blatant and costly
scams have arisen to defraud hardworking Californians
of their well-deserved money. Many of these scams and
fraudulent documents have become much more
sophisticated and appear to an average Californian as
being legitimate. These scams are pushing many
Californians into deeper debt and must be alleviated.
AB 898 addresses many of these activities by
preventing document fraud.
The National Notary Association is in support because it
"provides needed updates to certain California notarial
statutes and will better equip Notaries to serve as the
state's front line of defense against document fraud. ? The
NNA is in agreement with AB 898's stipulation that only
Notaries in financial institutions be allowed to perform
the Protest. Our experience has shown that Notaries who
perform this as a notarial act should have the appropriate
business/commercial training and we therefore concur that
the act should only be performed by Notaries within
financial organizations."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans,
Feuer, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, John A.
Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas,
Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico,
AB 898
Page
4
Yamada, Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson,
Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman,
Harkey, Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Smyth, Audra Strickland, Tran,
Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fong, Saldana
RJG:nl 6/30/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****