North Carolina passed a law last year that would enable full Remote Online Notarizations in the state, to be effective July 1, 2023 (NC SB 776). However, on June 23, 2023, North Carolina State Bill 552 (“S.B. 552”) was signed into law, delaying the effective date for the Remote Electronic Notary Act (the “Act”) from July 1, 2023 to July 1, 2024. After passage of the bill last year, the NC Secretary of State had indicated it would take up to a year before new administrative rules could be finalized which would be required before any remote notarial act could be performed under the new law.
S.B. 552 extends the use of Emergency Video Notarization and Emergency Video Notarizations from June 30, 2023 to June 30, 2024, acting as a bridge until the effective date of the Act. This was previously aligned with the effective date of S.B. 776, which if that law was unable to be effective as planned on July 1, 2023, would have left the state without any rules for remote/electronic notary acts. The changes under S.B. 552 effectively maintain the status quo in the state for another year.
The recent bill also includes other changes beyond just a change to the effective date of the Act. It also adds additional definitions to the Electronic Notary Public Act, Article 2 of Chapter 10B of the General Statutes and makes other conforming changes.
Before North Carolina notaries can conduct remote notarizations, they must register to do so with the Secretary of State and identify the platforms they will use.
To view the full text of S.B. 552, click here. DocMagic will continue to monitor developments in the state so that our clients are able to offer fully electronic closings in North Carolina.
