Legislation
State: Ohio
Signed: January 05, 2023
Effective: April 06, 2023
Summary
House Bill 567 makes changes to Ohio's Notary Public statutes and removes the notarization requirement for certain documents related to the titling of motor vehicles.
Affects
Amends Sections 147.01, 147.011, 147.022, 147.542, 147.55, 147.551, 4505.031, 4505.063, 4505.071 of the Ohio Revised Code.
Changes
Definitions
- Defines “peace officer” as having the same meaning as in ORC 2935.01 and exempts a peace officer applying to become a Notary Public from submitting a criminal records check.
- Removes from the definition of “acknowledgment” that the signer acknowledges that the signer (a) has signed the document, (b) understands the document, and (c) is aware of the consequences of executing the document by signing it.
- Defines “acknowledgment” to mean a declaration by an individual before a Notary Public that the individual has signed a record for the purpose stated in the record, and if the record is signed in a representative capacity, that the individual signed the record with proper authority and signed it as the act of the individual or entity identified in the record.
Certificate of Notarial Act
- Eliminates the prior provision duplicated in ORC 147.542(B) stating that for an acknowledgment or jurat, the corresponding notarial certificate must include the type of notarization being performed.
- Eliminates the prior provision duplicated in ORC 147.542(D)(1) stating that an acknowledgment certificate must clearly state that no oath or affirmation was administered to the signer with regard to the notarial act.
- Adds a notarial certificate form for an acknowledgment by a limited liability company.
- Makes technical corrections for the statutory notarial certificate form for a jurat.
Motor Vehicle Provisions
- Provides that related to the sale or disposal of a motor vehicle or acquisition of a motor vehicle by a minor, if the minor's parents, guardian, or other person having custody of the minor signs the form prescribed by the registrar of motor vehicles for the transaction in the presence of a motor vehicle dealer or the dealer's designee and the transaction involves that dealer, no notarization is required for the form and the form does not need the additional signature of a clerk of courts, deputy clerk of courts, or Notary.
- Provides that notwithstanding any provision of the Ohio Revised Code to the contrary, when a motor vehicle dealer is a party to the transfer of a motor vehicle, the certificate of title, application for a motor vehicle certificate of title, assignment of ownership to the motor vehicle, a power of attorney used for the purpose of titling a motor vehicle, or any other document related to the titling of a motor vehicle that the dealer is required to provide to the clerk of a court of common pleas, does not require any of these documents to be sworn to before or signed in the presence of a Notary or other officer empowered to administer oaths.
- Authorizes a clerk of courts to request a notarized affidavit to make corrections to any of the documents mentioned in #2 immediately above.
- Exempts a power of attorney designating a vehicle dealer as the principal’s attorney in fact from the notarization requirement in Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4505 and Section 1337.25.
Other Changes
- Makes technical corrections.
AnalysisHouse Bill 567 makes changes to Ohio’s Notary Public statutes. Peace officers who become Notaries are exempted from the criminal records check requirement. The definition of “acknowledgment” is amended to resemble the Uniform Law Commission’s definition of the term in the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts. A couple of redundant notarial certificate provisions are eliminated, a new notarial certificate form for an acknowledgment by a limited liability company is added, and technical corrections are made to the statutory jurat notarial certificate. Certain documents in motor vehicle titling no longer must be notarized.
Read House Bill 567.