Notary Law Update: MN House File 4605
State: Minnesota
Summary:House File 4605 expands the means by which a recording official may accept documents, signatures, or filings for recording a Notary commission during a peacetime public health emergency.
Signed:
May 16, 2020
Effective:
May 17, 2020
Chapter: TBD
Affects:Adds an as yet uncodified section to the Minnesota Statutes.
Changes:
- Authorizes a township, home rule charter or statutory city, or county to accept documents, signatures, or filings received by United States mail, or may use Minnesota Statutes, chapter 325L, to accept documents, signatures, or filings electronically or by facsimile, during a peacetime public health emergency for recording a Notary commission under Minnesota Statutes, section 359.061.
- Defines "peacetime public health emergency" as a peacetime emergency declared by the governor in an executive order that relates to the infectious disease known as COVID-19.
Analysis:Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, land title and recording offices have been closed or their services have been significantly curtailed. In an effort to continue business some states have authorized temporary procedures for recording documents. House File 4605 is Minnesota's solution for allowing Notary commissions to be filed, either by mail or fax or using electronic signatures.
House File 4605 expires on January 6, 2021, or 60 days after the peacetime public health emergency is terminated, whichever is earlier.
Read the bill text.