LA House Bill 470

Legislation

State: Louisiana
Signed: May 31, 2012

Effective: August 01, 2012
Chapter: Act No. 397

Summary

House Bill 470 clarifies that any Louisiana Notary Public may issue an affidavit of correction to correct an error in a notarial act affecting movable or immovable property or any other rights, if the Notary who issued the original authentic act or the Notary who prepared the act of correction is deceased, incapacitated or whose whereabouts are unknown, and if the Notary has access to the records of the Notary who is deceased, incapacitated or whose whereabouts are unknown and the records contain information to support the correction.

Affects

Amends Section 35:2.1(A) of the Louisiana Revised Statutes.

Changes

Provides that a clerical error in a notarial act affecting movable or immovable property or any other rights, corporeal or incorporeal, may be corrected by an act of correction executed by a Louisiana Notary who is not the Notary who issued the original authentic act or the Notary who prepared the act of correction in the event the Notary in either case is deceased, in-capacitated, or whose whereabouts are unknown.
Clarifies that the Notary who performs the act of correction must have access to the records of the Notary who is deceased, incapacitated or whose whereabouts are unknown, and the records contain information to support the correction.

Analysis

In Louisiana, Notaries Public are given broad powers to draft documents and perform acts that Notaries across the rest of the United States are not authorized to perform. For example, a Louisiana Notary may draft and execute a contract of sale for real property. If the Notary makes a mistake in drafting the original document – say, by incorrectly noting the legal description of the property – the procedure for correcting it is for the Notary who performed the original act to issue an “act of correction.” The act of correction is an affidavit that is drawn up by the Notary containing a typical jurat. House Bill 470 clarifies that any Louisiana Notary Public may issue an affidavit of correction to correct an error in a notarial act affecting movable or immovable property or any other rights, if the Notary who issued the original authentic act or the Notary who prepared the act of correction is deceased, incapacitated or whose whereabouts are unknown, and if the Notary has access to the records of the Notary who is deceased, incapacitated or whose whereabouts are unknown and the records contain information to support the correction.

Read House Bill 470.