Gov. Wolf has signed House Bill 2370, which makes permanent the formerly temporary authorization for remote online notarization that was put into place under the Governor's COVID-19 emergency declaration. Signed into law as Act 97 of 2020 on Oct. 29, the provisions of this act are identical to to those in the COVID-19 emergency declaration.
Here are a few details about Act 97:
To learn more about Act 97, you may view the Department of State's notaries webpage.
- It amends Title 57 to allow a notary to certify a copy of an electronic record is a true and correct copy of the electronic record.
- A remotely located individual is able to comply by appearing before a notary via communication technology if the notary has personal knowledge of the identity of the individual, satisfactory evidence of the identity of the individual from a witness, or is able to identify the individual by two different forms of identity proofing.
- The notary must create an audio-visual recording of the performance of the notarial act.
- BA notary must notify the Department of State before performing a notarial act with communication technology.
To learn more about Act 97, you may view the Department of State's notaries webpage.
