VirginiaNotarization, filing, & recordation of certain land records; duties of notary or settlement agent;.
What it does
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.
More detail
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 for owners of real property within the circuit court's jurisdiction. The bill provides that an owner who enrolls his real property into such property alert notification system may do so at no cost and that such system shall send notifications to such owner when documents affecting or purporting to affect the enrolled property are filed with the clerk's office. The provisions related to the establishment of the property alert notification system have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.Finally, the bill requires notaries public to keep a record of all notarial acts occurring on or after July 1, 2026, and to include in such record the form of satisfactory evidence of identification used to verify the identity of the principal and credible witnesses. Similarly, the bill requires settlement agents responsible for recording deeds, deeds of trust, or other documents relating to land records to obtain satisfactory evidence of identity of a seller of real property prior to settlement. This bill is identical to HB 163.
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Where it stands
- Introduced
- Passed Senate
- Passed House
- To Governor
- Became Law
Looking ahead
No hearings or votes scheduled.
History
- 2026
- Apr 8Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0365)Latest
- Apr 8Approved by Governor Abigail Spanberger-Chapter 365 (effective 7/1/2026)Became Law
- Mar 10Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026To Governor
- Mar 10Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026Minor
- Mar 2Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB316)
- Feb 27Signed by PresidentMajor
- Feb 27Signed by SpeakerMajor
- Feb 27Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB316ER)Major
- Feb 27EnrolledMinor
- Feb 25House substitute agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A)Major
- Vote recorded Concur House Substitute R. Result: pass.Upper
- Feb 23Passed House with substitute (97-Y 0-N 0-A)Passed House
- Vote recorded H VOTE:. Result: pass.Lower
- Feb 23Engrossed by House - committee substituteMajor
- Feb 23committee substitute agreed toMajor
- Feb 23Read third timeMinor
- Feb 20Read second timeMinor
- Feb 18Committee substitute printed 26108149D-H1Major
- Vote recorded Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute. Result: pass.Lower
- Feb 18Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (22-Y 0-N)Minor
- Feb 13Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB316)
- Feb 12Referred to Committee for Courts of JusticeMinor
- Feb 12Read first timeMinor
- Feb 12Placed on Calendar
- Feb 6Read third time and passed Senate Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A)Passed Senate
- Vote recorded Passage R. Result: pass.Upper
- Feb 5Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute Block Vote (Voice Vote)Major
- Feb 5Committee substitute agreed to (Voice Vote)Major
- Feb 5Read second timeMinor
- Feb 4Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- Vote recorded Constitutional reading dispensed R. Result: pass.Upper
- Feb 4Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- Feb 4Rules suspended
- Feb 3Reported from Finance and Appropriations (13-Y 0-N)Minor
- Vote recorded Reported from Finance and Appropriations. Result: pass.Upper
- Jan 27Committee substitute printed 26106118D-S1Major
- Jan 26Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N)Minor
- Vote recorded Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute. Result: pass.Upper
- Jan 26Senate committee offered
- Jan 13Referred to Committee for Courts of JusticeMinor
- Jan 13Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26105036DIntroduced