The Virginia legislature recently introduced House Bill 1372 (“HB 1372”) which if passed, will amend and reenact portions of the Virginia code on notarial acts. The bill would add additional identity-proofing requirements to the state’s notarial requirements that are already common in other states.
The bill provides a new definition for “knowledge-based authentication assessment” under VA Code Ann. § 47.1-2 with the following meaning:
An identity assessment formulated from public or private data sources for which the principal has not provided a prior answer that meets the following requirements:
- The principal shall answer a quiz composed of at least five questions related to the principal’s personal history or identity;
- At least five possible answer choices shall be available for each question;
- The principal shall pass the quiz if he achieves a score of 80 percent or higher;
- The principal shall have two minutes to answer the questions on the quiz;
- If the principal fails to achieve a score of at least 80 percent, the principal may attempt up to two additional quizzes within 48 hours following the first failed quiz; and
- No more than 60 percent of the questions from the initial quiz can be reused on additional quizzes.
Additionally, under the definition of “Satisfactory evidence of identity,” for an electronic notarization, HB 1372 will update the requirements for a notary to communicate with and identify the principal by use of video and audio technology. One of the methods by which a notary may obtain satisfactory evidence of identity of a principal would change from “identity proofing by an antecedent in-person identity proofing process in accordance with the specifications of the Federal Bridge Certification Authority” to a “knowledge-based authentication assessment.”
The bill will also add new section, VA Code Ann. § 47.1-20.1(B), under Validation of Certain Acts. The new section clarifies that a notarial act is not invalidated by the failure of a notary to perform a duty or meet a requirement under Title 47.1 of the notary. Conversely, the validity of a notarial act does not prohibit a party from seeking to invalidate a notarized record or transaction or seeking other remedies authorized by state or federal law. If passed the subsection would be applied retroactively to any notarial act performed before July 1, 2024.
DocMagic fully supports electronic notarizations in Virginia and will continue to track HB 1372 to provide updates when available.
