New York State Bar Association Commends Legislature For Passing Law Easing Burdensome Record-Keeping Regulations on Notaries
6.6.2024
New York State Bar Association President Domenick Napoletano released the following statement after the state Legislature passed the notary reform bill A07241A/S8663:
“New York State regulations mandated that notaries keep records of every transaction for 10 years. It was so difficult and time consuming that many attorneys chose to stop doing notary work altogether. We worked closely advising lawmakers on the impact of the notary law and we thank them for addressing the issue. We commend Assembly Member Charles Lavine and state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal for acting quickly to improve the law. We call on Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign this much-needed reform.”
Soon after the initial notary law was signed in 2022, the New York State Bar Association formed a Task Force on Notarization to study the new rules. Working quickly, the task force produced a report concluding that the new rules are unnecessary for attorneys who already are bound by professional rules of conduct. The report also found that the law would do little to prevent or reduce consumer fraud, which was its intent.
NYSBA Immediate Past President Richard Lewis, who chaired of the Task Force on Notarization, praised the new law:
“This reform allows attorneys to spend less time on paperwork and more time helping New Yorkers in need. This is an example of government working for the people by removing onerous state regulations,” he said.
Background
Executive Law § 135-c was enacted in 2022 to establish requirements and procedures for electronic notarization. Under the new law, notaries were required to keep a journal of each document notarized for 10 years. Electronic notaries must maintain a journal plus audio and video files. While the law was intended to address new technology, it added more work for all types of notarizations.
The 2022 law had a negative effect on New York’s lawyers by adding hours of work retaining records and logging them for inspection by state regulators. The storage of the documents for inspection opened the door to exposing private, privileged information between attorneys and clients to the government. The 2024 law remediates this error by exempting non-electronic notary acts from those bookkeeping and storage regulations.
