Notarization, filing, & recordation of certain land records; duties of notary or settlement agent.

Notarization, filing, and recordation of certain land records; duties of notary or settlement agent; acknowledgement and satisfactory evidence of identity; requirements for commission or recommission of notary; clerk of circuit court to establish property alert notification system. Removes personal knowledge of identity from the methods by which a notary public, electronic notary public, or other person authorized by law to perform a notarial act may identify an individual for purposes of performing a notarial act such as acknowledgement or affirmation. Under current law, the identity of an individual for such purpose may be established if such individual is personally known to the person performing the notarial act or by a presentation of satisfactory evidence of identity, as defined by law. The bill also adds a requirement that, within the six months immediately preceding the submission of his application, a person applying for commission to be a notary public or electronic notary public, or an existing notary public or electronic notary public applying for recommission, complete a course of instruction developed and approved by the Secretary of the Commonwealth. The bill specifies that one hour of such course of instruction shall be on the topic of real estate fraud and financial exploitation of elderly persons and shall include training on current trends on such topics and on recognizing instances of such fraud or financial exploitation. The bill directs the Secretary of the Commonwealth to develop the curricula for such courses of instruction by January 1, 2027, and has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027, for those provisions related to the requirement that applicants for commission and recommission complete and present proof of completion of such courses of instruction. The bill also requires any clerk of a circuit court that has established a network or system of electronic filing of land records to also establish a property alert notification system fo