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on behalf of Elaine Marshall the Honorable secretary of state of North Carolina bring you greetings and thank you for participating in this online training session of the temporary emergency video notarization laws that were recently signed into law here in the state of North Carolina in response to the corona virus pandemic we will review the laws very thoroughly such that you have a full and complete understanding of what the laws allow for and how to perform and video notarization utilizing video conferencing technology thank you so much for your participation again and please always feel free to contact us at the Secretary of State's office for any questions that you might have related to you any notary issues you you again welcome to the temporary emergency video notarization program we're going to get started right away and talk a little bit about what the new law entails you can find this in section four point one of the session law and under continuity of state government regulatory relief the emergency video notarization again it's in Section four point one now the effective date was May 4th 2020 and it runs through August 1st of 2020 now what this essentially means is that as of August 1st 2020 we will revert back to the in-person notarization for all notarial acts unless there is a legislative change of course we do recognize that this coronavirus situation has taken us to unexpected places just throughout our society across the country and so we'll have an opportunity to really ascertain what the good things are about video notarization and also what some of the perils may be as well but unless there is a change in the statute this particular temporary measure is due to expire on August first but I would ask each of you to do is to go ahead and make a notation of that right now such that you will not forget that after the date of August 1st 2020 you will no longer be able to perform video notarization and failure to comply with the law may result in disciplinary action so we don't want anyone to be caught in that situation so remember August the first 2020 this law is going to expire and it would take a new law which we would formula if you were to be able to continue to perform notarial acts in this fashion so let's consider what this new law allows and who it applies to this applies equally to notaries as well as to electronic memories both of them may perform bowls and affirmations and acknowledgments over video conferencing technology so what exactly is video conferencing technology most of us are familiar with WebEx GoToMeeting zoom Skype or various other forms of video conferencing technology that will allow you to engage with an individual over a computer experience whether or not again it is one of the more widely known conference technologies or something that is emerging the statute does not prescribe which one a notary may use now I will mention here that there are different industries that may have very specific requirements for what video conferencing technology they want to use based on security and you would do well to make sure that you were aware of what say the mortgage industry or the real estate industry or any other specific industries preference or policy is regarding video conferencing technology but the state law does not prescribe or limit a notary from utilizing any of the current video conference technologies that are out there as long as the requirements that we're going to go over are met and basically what those requirements are now that it allows the notary and the individual or individuals that the notaries performing the notarial act for to be able to see one another in here one another in real time in other words you cannot rely on any type of a recording that has been pre-recorded to perform a notarization all of this has to be done in real time now this also allows for wet ink signatures to be notarized as well as electronic signatures that are associated with an electronic notarization okay so we're going to break that down as we go through but understand that a traditional notarization that is made with an ink pen is going to be able to be performed using this video conferencing technology likewise if you are an electronic notary you will be able to also perform electronic notarization utilizing videoconference technology as well it is important to understand that notaries are not required to use a video conferencing technology to perform notarization although we do strongly encourage that notaries follow all of the social distancing guidelines that we have provided on our website and obviously that the governor has put forward there are ways that you might be able to perform notarial acts in person while still meeting the social distancing guidelines that are in place so it's also important that if you are utilizing this type of process to perform notarization x' that you make sure that you are secure in terms of your ability to positively identify the individual that you're performing the notarization for if you are not you certainly do have the ability to refuse to perform the no tario act based on the fact that you aren't certain of that individuals identity now there are a couple of other provisions that I'll make note of now and one of the things that the new law does is it extended the time period that notaries have to go to the Register of Deeds office in the county of their residents to take their oath typically it was 45 days but this new law is extended that time period to 90 days so notaries who are currently receiving their Commission's from the Secretary of State's office they will have 90 days to get to the Register of Deeds office to take their oath of office electronic notaries they must use the approved electronic notary solution provider when performing electronic notarization now that's really important to understand this is a new process for us in terms of being able to use video technology to perform no Theriot acts we have an existing law that governs electronic node reasons within that existing law we have to approve solution provides for use in North Carolina these are still the same electronic notary solution providers that must be used if an electronic notary is going to also perform a video notarization and again we'll talk a little bit more about that as we get later in the program today it's also important to understand what this does not allow there's certain notarial acts that you cannot perform using video conferencing technology the first of which is the verification or proof which is one of the three military or accident authorized in 10 B there's already a very high potential for fraud with the verification or proof and that is the primary reason why that particular type of notarization is not going to be able to be performed utilized in the video notarization with a verification improve the principle never appears before the notary they send someone else who is a subscriber witness to appear before the notary to prove that the principal signed the document and so we have entities like the Department of Motor Vehicles outlawed a verification or proof on any of their DMV forms due to the fact that there's just a higher possibility for fraudulent activity with a verification and/or proof because the principle never appears before the notary and so we also did not allow this type of material act for the video notarization now the other notarial act that notaries are authorized to perform that is prohibited with this particular type of material process is the absentee voter so notaries are authorized to execute absentee voter ballots but they would have to still do so in the personal presence awhile in the personal presence of the voter you are not allowed to perform a absentee voter ballot and notarial act utilizing the video conferencing technology that this law authorizes so understand that those are the limitations there are no other statutory limitations but these are two that you do need to be aware of so let's consider now the requirements for performing an emergency video notarization both parties must log in to a video conferencing platform like WebEx or goto meeting or zoom again the law doesn't specify nor does it limit the type of technology that you can use so it's going to be up to the notary and the person that they're performing the notarial act for to ensure that you are using one that is suitable for your business needs the notary is going to then positively identify the sign the forms of positive identification are going to be either personal knowledge utilizing a credible identifying witness or satisfactory evidence of identity now these are the same three methods that a notary typically is going to have when establishing the identity of a document signer personal knowledge can still be used of course the individual would have to personally know the notary in the notary would obviously Percy know the principal signer if a credible witness was going to be used to positively identify the signer and again in credible witnesses someone who personally knows the notary but who also personally knows the principal signer this type of identification would be used in a situation where the principal did not have a valid form of identification nor did they personally know the notary so a credible witness could be used now the credible witness could be in the presence of the notary or they could be on the other side of the video call with the principal signer or they could also be connected in the same video conference call as a third participant who would be able to see and hear and listen to the proceeding and they could act as a credible witness in that fashion you would still as a notary still have to administer an oath or an affirmation to the credible witness because they would have to swear or affirm that they did know the individual who was seeking to have their signature notarized now with satisfactory evidence of identity one of the things that the notary would need to make sure that the individual was going to do if they're going to use an identification card is they would need to hold that identification card up to the camera long enough so that the notary can determine that the signer is who he or she claimed to be the ID would have to be current or not expired prior to March 1st of 2020 if it is a North Carolina driver's license and I'll explain that this the difference between what the specific law states as it relates to the emergency video notarization section which has a date that states that the law is effective as of March the 10th or that the identification documents can't be expired prior to March the 10th but here we're talking about March the 1st and that is because with North Carolina driver's licences there is also an emergency law that was passed that essentially states that North Carolina driver's licenses and other forms of identification that are issued from the DMV such as a state ID um if expired they are going to be current as of March the 1st and because the law deems that they are current that is congruent with what our law says as it relates specifically to the electronic or video notarization in that you have to rely on what is a current identification card so in essence if it is a driver's license from North Carolina as long as it is not expired prior to March 1st of 2020 it's going to be acceptable now if it is not a North Carolina driver's license suppose it is a military ID card then what we're looking at is a date of March the 10th where it cannot be expired prior to March the 10th if it's anything other than a North Carolina driving license or other credential issue from the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles and we do have information related to this on our FAQ page on the Secretary of State's website if you want more information about that the ID also has to be issued by a state federal or tribal government agency pass out a picture of the person's face and here's another subtle difference I'm asked to have a physical description and the signature in the traditional law it only requires a physical description or a signature but for emergency video notarization both of these must be present on the identification document that is going to be presented to establish that individuals identity and so must first positively identify that individual when you are performing the notarial act now once you establish the identity of the individual each principle is going to have to indicate to the notary what county they are in and you are only able to perform video notarization for individuals who are in the state of North Carolina and of course you as a notary must also be in the state of North Carolina if the principal signer was in some other state or some other country you would not be able to perform that notarization now how is it that you're going to determine what County the individual is in you simply are going to need to ask them what county they are in and they're going to respond to you telling you what account they're in and you're going to need to record that not only in your journal but also on a special notary certificate that has been prepared for emergency video notarization as well the notary must watch the principal identify and sign each document also you're going to be required to indicate in your journal what type of document it was and that you watched that individual sign the document now let me make a point of distinction here between what you are accustomed to in terms of traditional notarization if the document required an acknowledgment in the past or prior to this law that document could have been signed at any point in time prior to the document being notarized however under the new eevn law the documents must be signed in the presence of the notary or while the notary is observing the individual sign the document that is true for both oaths and affirmations which had always been the case but it is now true for emergency video notarization for those signatures that need to be acknowledged also now in the event that individual needs to be warned in order to take an oath or an affirmation notary is authorized to administer oaths the video notarization is well this has great applicability to notaries who are also serving in the capacity as court reporters so court reporters certainly are able now to administer oaths utilizing the video conferencing technology all of the same procedures would need to follow or take place whereby you would positively identify the individual I will show you shortly how you would go about doing that and then you would have the person raise their right hand if you are administering in oath and you would literally administer the oath and take that person's over the video so let's break for just a second from the PowerPoint presentation and I'm going to demonstrate for you how you would go about positively identifying the individual that you're performing the notarization for and this is going to hopefully help you to be able to understand better how you are going to be able to make sure that the individual that you are performing a notarization for is who they say they are okay so what we're going to do is how we'll attempt to demonstrate to you what you as a notary will do in terms of positively identifying the individual so you're going to ask them to hold their identification document up to the camera so that you'll be able to get good for view of the ID and you want to have them hold it up there long enough so that you can make it out okay so you will see that I did cover up some of my personal information because you don't need that so and then what you can also do is have them hold the picture up so you're just looking at the picture side of the ID and then you can compare the image on the picture with the person who you are performing the notarization for now this obviously is not going to be as good as we can do with the individual being in person however this under these emergency circumstances this is what we are going to have to do in order to establish that person's identity and so you should be able to do a pretty good job if for some reason the identification is too blurry or you cannot make it out you cannot establish that this person is who they claim to be then you have the the right and should either request another form of identification or you would need to refuse to perform the notarization and so as it relates to the document that the individual is going to sign you're going to be required to view the document so that they tell you what that document is and so it's best to have them hold the document up to the computer screen sit to the camera so that you can see the document all right and then what you're going to need to do is record the type of document it is and you're also going to need to observe that person sign this document and so to the extent that you can watch the individual sign this document you want to do that and after they've sign the document you you and want to have them show you that document again this time with the signature on there all right and so you will have had satisfied the requirements for positively identifying the document signer but also you would have had satisfied the requirements for making sure that individual is sign that document in your presence so let's move on from the demonstration and kind of walk you through some of what it is that we just showed you four documents that need to have the original wet signature notarized there's a particular procedure that we will go through now let me make sure that you clearly understand that this law allows for let's say two types of signatures to be notarized the first one that we're going to look at is the original wet signature this is going to be important for documents that require an original wet signature as well as the original notarization and the types of documents that you might think about in terms of this would be documents that say are going to the Register of Deeds officer that will be filed with the Register of Deeds are those documents required of the original signature so nothing about this new emergency video notarization law has changed the requirements for the electronic or the recording ability or capabilities or requirements for the Register of Deeds office and so in some instances the signature that needs to be notarized will need to be the original wet signature notarization so that's one method of performing this notarization but there are other documents that may not be recorded out of public filing entity or anything like that and does don't need to have the originals of the principal signature or the notaries mature in seal and so we're going to take a look at how you have performed notarization xin instances where the original signatures are not also needed so let's focus on what has to happen when the original wet signature needs to be notarized the prince will must sign the document while being observed over the videoconference technology and we just demonstrated that for you the prince will must send a copy in of the signed document by electronic means on the same day so this document that I just signed in front of you over the video I would need to send a copy of that to you by electronic means I got fax that I could email it I could put it in Dropbox I could take a picture of it or send it to you that way doesn't make a difference how I get it to you in the electronic form but I would need to do that on that same day that we engaged over the videoconferencing technology now the principle must also send the original sign paper copy to the notary by mail or other delivering method so after I have submitted this to you electronically I'm then going to put it in the mail i'ma send it by courier I'm going to put it in you know some other type of delivery mechanism UPS FedEx or DHL or whatever it might be so that you will ultimately end up receiving the original document that you watched me sign now once you receive the originally signed paper copy of the the document you're going to compare it to the electronic version of that signed document that I sent to you on the day that you perform the notarization for me and I'm going to compare it to make sure that it is indeed the same document and that is the purpose and the reason for having the principal sin that electronic version of the document to you such that when you get the original document you're going to be able to compare it and then you're going to go ahead and complete the notary certificate now very important to understand that the date on this notary certificate is going to reflect the date that the notary observed the signing on a video conferencing technology in other words if it was Monday May the first and we had the videoconference technology going and I watched you sign the document after I positively identified you and then on that same day you sent me an electronic copy of the document and you put the original in the mail it might be two or three days later so now it's May 4th and I received the document in the mail after comparing it I would go ahead and I complete the let's call it the acknowledgement certificate where it would say on this particular day this particular person person appeared before me and acknowledged his signature well the date that I would include there would be the date of May first because that is the date that took your acknowledgement okay so it's very important to understand and remember that the date that you're going to put in the to traditional notarial certificate language wording is that of the same date that the notarial act actually took place so that is what is going to happen when you are performing a notarial act in the wet signature needs to be notarized now after you have a fixture stamp and signature on the bottom that you notarized what you would do is you would send that document back to the principal by whatever method was previously established in other words you might stick it in a envelope that they have prepared and sent a self-addressed stamped envelope so that you just stick it back in that envelope and send it to back to them or to wherever they wanted that document to go or they might have needed you to send it back by courier or whatever but that's something that you would agree to in advance now the other thing that I'll mention here about the statute does not make reference to is payment and how would the notary go about collecting payment number one the fees do not charge or change so it is still five dollars per signature for a traditional notarization and five in ten dollars per signature if you're performing in electronic notarization so that does not change you would need to work out with the individual that you're performing in notarization for how to go about receiving transmitting the funds that you might charge for a particular notarial act and so that's going to be between you and your principal signer to figure out how to make sure that you receive a compensation for the material act now I mentioned that signing and notarizing the original wet signature is one method of performing this particular service the other is when the document does not require the original signature and original notarization to be notarized in other words if a document that had been faxed over or emailed over that had been signed if the notary is able to print that document and then notarize the actual signature that was on the fax cotton or that was on the email document if that is going to be sufficient for the individual who needs this document the notary can perform that notarization on the same day now this is a little bit different also in terms of what the law formerly had required because the statute says or at least the Administrative Code indicates that you as a notary must notarize an original signature and you cannot notarize copies of signatures or fax signatures well with this new emergency video notarization law you are authorized to notarize a signature that has been faxed over to you or that you have received via email or Dropbox or other electronic method so what would happen if you are performing this particular type of notarization just like we talked about with the previous situation the principle would need to sign that document while being observed over video conference technology the principle would then fax or email or Dropbox that sign document to the notary on the same day now the notary is then going to need to print that document and then complete the notary certificate and send it back to the signer on the same day okay so this is going to be able to be utilized in situations where the original signature is not required if the original signature is going to be required to be notarized then we have to follow the previous process that we talked about but in instances where that is not something that is needful and the person is in a bigger hurry or they have a greater sense of urgency then the notary is going to be able to fix their signature and seal on the actual document that they retrieve in print from the fax Dropbox or email okay so now let's move on and talk a little bit about the journal requirements because the law specifically mandates that journals must be kept and they must be kept in a secure location for at least 10 years from the date that this particular video notarization has taken place now you are required to keep certain information in the journal including the time of day the date of the completion of the emergency video notarization in that notarial certificate a date that you completed both of those the name of the principal signer needs to be recorded the type of the notarial act that you perform whether it's an acknowledgment or an author and affirmation the type of document that you notarized or if it was some sort of a proceeding like a deposition you would record that in your journal as well the type of identification presented including if applicable the issuing agency the identification number that's on the ID it will take this moment to mention to you that a driver's license number can be recorded in the journal normally but under this new law it is a requirement for to be recorded in the emergency video note Journal if you turn in your notary public manual the required notary public manual that was published in 2016 on page number 34 down at the last sentence there it makes reference to the fact that the driver's license number should not be recorded in the journal you'll take a moment in lying through that and cross that out and understand that it can be recorded in the journal although it is protected under the 2005 identity theft Act that only protects the driver's license number in instances where the document that it is recorded in or would be recorded in is do or intend it to be published because the journal is not something that is designed to be published then you are able to under normal circumstances record the driver's license number in the journal that is not something that is required under our traditional laws but under this electronic video notarization a law or the temporary law that we're dealing with now it is a requirement for you to record the driver's license number or any other identification number that is outlined on the acceptable form of identification that you're going to rely on you also are going to need to record in the type in your journal a type of a video conferencing technology that you use during the emergency video notarization whether its web accessing more GoToMeeting or teen or whatever it is that needs to be recorded a statement that the notary and each principal signer could see and hear one another must also be included in the journal and if there are other people who are in the ring at the time of the notarization those individuals need to be documented in your journal as well it's not that you are performing a notarization for them but your purporting who was in the room there is a question that you may have regarding children if they are minors in the room they likely will not have identification documents anyway so you would just simply record in your journal that there were two or three or however many minors that were in the room while you're performing a notarization but for anyone who is of age or and the delt I mean you would record the names of those individuals and it would be best that you were able to have that those individuals provide identification so you could have an accurate accounting of the people who were in the room at the time that you were performing the emergency video notarization now we did include in an emergency COBIT video journal on our website such that you would be able to download it it is one that you can access you can complete it electronically as it is form fillable or you can just print it and make copies of it so that you can prepare your own journal in fact I have a sample of what that journal looks like and you can see here that it includes all the information that is required and some additional information to Beit complete at the time the name the type of notarial act the type of identification that was recorded and asked whether or not other persons were present and then if so who were they was the original wet signature notarized in that he would need to be answered yes or no enough yes on what date it was notarized and that has reference to the date that you interact with that individual over the video conference but also you would want to include the date that you complete did the actual certificate as well the county where the principal is located at the time of the notarization and that is why you're going to need to ask them what county they are in the signature is not something that is required but if you are working electronically it may be that you're able to capture their electronic signature and if you're able to do that we certainly encourage that but it is not something that is required due to the fact that typically they're not going to be able to be in close enough proximity to sign your journal unless of course they have it means to sign it electronically you want to indicate what type of audio-visual technology was used and could they see in here one another and so this is a sample of that journal again that is provided at no charge on our website for your use now there's also a very specific notary certificate that needs to be used when you're performing an emergency video notarization now this particular type of motorisation it does not do anything to change the customary language that you will find in the acknowledgement certificate or the jurat certificate for the oath or the affirmation however there is some additional language that needs to be included on every emergency video notarization that you perform the language is required to state in terms of the notary I sign this note area certificate on whatever date you signed the notarial certificate according to the emergency video notarization requirements contained in tin b25 now let me go back to that date we talked about the date that you would complete when you perform the actual notarial activate that you include in the acknowledgement certificate again if you interact with the individual over the videoconference on May the first that would be the date that you included in the actual acknowledgement certificate which would read something to the effect that on May 1st John Smith person appeared before me and acknowledged that he signed this document so on and so forth but if he mailed that document to you because it required an original signature in an original notarization and you didn't get that document until May the 4th then you would put may the 4th here in this date section because this is when you would have signed the notarial certificate 1 May 4th according to the emergency video notarization requirements ok the certificate is also required to indicate the county that the notary was in during the emergency video notarization but also the county where the principal signer stated they were in again this is not something that you're going to need to prove or verify beyond asking them what county they're actually in when you're performing the motorisation and then you're going to record that on this required section of the certificate as well if this wording is not on the notarial certificate and because this is such a new law there is a possibility that it may not be on the certificate that is presented to you you must understand that it is your responsibility to make sure that you have included this wording on the certificate you can write this wording on the certificate and in fact you have a responsibility to write this language on the certificate if you're completing the emergency video notarization now to assist you with this we have created certificates on our website for all the various notarial acts so that you can just go there and download them so that you won't have to worry about having to write all this information you can simply staple it to the back of the signature page and fill out the notary certificate that is included here and so this is a portion of the notary certificate that is a new and this is the language and how it would read on the certificates that are on the bottom of each of our certificates that are on posted on our website I sign this note Area certificate on May the fourth according to the example that we've been working with according to the emergency video notarization requirements contained in general statute can be then it goes on you fill this part out a notary public location during the video notarization was wait county and then the stated physical location of the principal during the video notarization was and then whatever county they indicated they were in whether it was Durham County at Johnson County or Mecklenburg County and you would include that here and that is the required statutory language that must be included on every notary certificate that's completed when you're performing an emergency video notarization now we've also included this optional section on to be filled out as well and it is optional but what it is is is some sort of a fraud determent or as much as we can make it a fraud deterrence such that you would fill out some of this in that kind of describes the document that this notary certificate would be attached to when you're stapling or attaching a notary certificate to a document we oftentimes got the question as to well how do we know that a person will not remove that certificate from the document that you notarized and attach it to another document well it's very difficult to prevent that from happening but one of the things that we thought we could do is to have this optional section where it says this certificate is attached to and in our example we use them affidavits for legal proceedings so we could include that signed by in the name of the person who signed it and then the date that they signed it and indicate the number of pages so this will make it that much more difficult for someone to remove this certificate from this particular document to another document that might not have been titled the same sign my different person on a different date and was a different number of pages so it's just a little bit of a fraud a term measure that we thought would be helpful now we also want to talk just a little bit about electronic notarization okay because not only can you perform what we kind of walk through at this point was how you would perform a emergency video notarization where the original signature wedding signature would be notarized or one that was faxed to you would be notarized but you're also able to perform electronic notary video notarization x' as well now what this would require is one of our approved electronic notary solution providers solutions they would need to be used and you can only use one that has been approved already and by the way only those who have registered as electronic notaries can perform electronic notarization so this law does not authorize regular notaries to perform electronic notarization you literally have to be an electronic notary which means that you have gone to take an additional three hour course of instruction and you've taken in oath of office for the electronic notary registration in order to become an electronic notary but those electronic notaries who use one of our approved solutions can also use one of the video conferencing platforms like WebEx GoToMeeting zoom or what have you in conjunction with their electronic notary solution such that the individual would no longer need to be in the same physical location but they would be able to be at a distance where they would be able to have their electronic signature notarized using a video conferencing solution now the approve solution providers that you can find on our website and website is listed here below worldwide notary simplify Isetta where doc verified DocuSign CSC basa these are the only authorized electronic and notary solution providers in the state of North Carolina so if you're using an electronic notary solution provider you must use one of these something quickly about the Register of Deeds I made reference to this earlier because it's really important the register of these they still require original signatures on recorded documents and so that's why it's really important to understand and to ask the individual you're performing that notarization for you know are original signatures needed on this document and if so they will follow the process that we walk through they'll sign that document in your presence via the video but then they're going to have to mail that document to you and once they mail that document to you you'd be able to fix your signature and seal on that original document and send it back to them by mail or courier or what have you right so that's a really important to know none of the Register of Deeds processes or policies have changed regarding the original signature requirements and as it relates to administering the notary oaths registers of Deeds are also authorized by this new law just as notaries are to be able to create minister oaths by videoconference technology as well and so you are renewing if you have to renew during this period of time you can check with them to find out what their process is for um getting you signed up to take the notary oath by video conferencing means as well finally we have some resources for you on our Secretary of State's webpage we are building this out you'll have frequently asked questions this video will live there as well the certificates the journal that we went over you'll be able to access all those things on this particular website you're also going to be able to contact our customer service department at notary at SOS NC gov or by telephone at nine one nine eight one four 5400 option number two so like to thank you so much for taking the time to make sure that you are up to speed and are aware of all of the new notary laws that have come about as it relates to emergency video notarization 'z that have occurred based on the kovat 19 pandemic and trust that you will continue to serve the notaries or the communities that you live in a very high level by providing this very important service that allows us to continue to keep our economy literally moving in the state of North Carolina so thank you so very much for your service and we do encourage each of you to practice social distancing guidelines while performing notarial acts to utilize these tools as much as you possibly can and to stay safe thank you so very much you