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April 22, 2024

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1. Notarial Acts

   1. Personal Knowledge: “A notarial officer has personal knowledge of the identity of an individual appearing before the notarial officer if the individual is personally known to the notarial officer through dealings sufficient to provide reasonable certainty that the individual has the identity claimed” (57 Pa.C.S. 307[a]).

   2. Satisfactory Evidence: 57 Pa.C.S. 307(b) states that a notarial officer has satisfactory evidence of the identity of an individual appearing before the notarial officer if the officer can identify the individual by
      (1) Documentary identification consisting of a current and unexpired passport, driver’s license or government-issued nondriver identification card, or another form of government identification which is current, contains the signature or a photograph of the individual, and is satisfactory to the officer; or
      (2) by a verification on oath or affirmation of a credible witness personally appearing before the officer and personally known to the officer. Each form of satisfactory evidence is discussed below.

   3. Additional Information or Credentials: “A notarial officer may require an individual to provide additional information or identification credentials necessary to assure the notarial officer of the identity of the individual” (57 Pa.C.S. 370[c]).

2. Remote Notarial Acts

   1. Definition: “'Identity proofing.' A process or service by which a third person provides a notary public with a means to verify the identity of a remotely located individual by a review of personal information from public or private data sources” (57 Pa.C.S. 306.1[i]).

   2. Requirement: “A notary public located in this Commonwealth may perform a notarial act facilitated by communication technology for a remotely located individual if … [t]he notary public:
      ”(i) has personal knowledge under section 307(a) (relating to identification of individual) of the identity of the individual;
      ”(ii) has satisfactory evidence of the identity of the remotely located individual by oath or affirmation from a credible witness appearing before the notary public under section 307(b)(2) or under this section; or
      ”(iii) is able to reasonably identify the individual by at least two different types of identity proofing processes or services” (57 Pa.C.S. 306.1[b][1]).

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