Chapter 08. Notary Public: General Regulations

“Acknowledgment” means a declaration by an individual before a notarial officer that:

“Affirmation” means a solemn statement of truth, made under penalty of perjury before a notary public.

“Communication technology” means an electronic device or process that:

Notarial Act.

“Notarize” means to perform a notarial act with respect to a record.

“Notarization” means the act of notarizing.

“Oath” means a sworn solemn statement of truth made under penalty of perjury by an individual who believes in and appeals to a Divine Being to evidence the seriousness of the individual's actions or words.

“Original notarial act” means the completion of a single notarial act involving one record.

“Remote notarial act” means a notarial act performed by a notary public for a remotely located individual using communication technology.

“Remote online notary vendor” is a company that provides communication technology primarily used to facilitate a notarial act for a remotely located individual and the technology offered by the vendor includes identity proofing and credential analysis that the notary public may use when required by law to identify a remotely located individual.

“Remotely located individual” means an individual who is not in the physical presence of the notary public who performs a notarial act.

“Verification on oath or affirmation” means a declaration made by an individual on oath or affirmation before a notarial officer that a statement in a record is true or that a remotely located individual has the identity claimed.

$8 for the performance of a notarial act; or

$30 for the performance of a remote notarial act.

The vendor shall be incorporated to do business in the United States of America;

The vendor shall be a company based in the United States of America that has been lawfully operating in the United States of America for at least 3 years;

All encryption and decryption services provided by the remote online notary vendor shall occur in the United States of America; and

The vendor shall utilize commercially reasonable practices, procedures, and technology consistent with or better than the practices, procedures, and technology generally used by other vendors engaged in offering remote notarization services.

Allow the notary to securely identify the remotely located individual by personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence as described in State Government Article, §18-214(a)(1)(i)—(iii), Annotated Code of Maryland;

Allow for the retention of audio-visual recordings created under State Government Article, §18-214(a)(3), Annotated Code of Maryland, for at least 10 years; and

Ensure that the notary public has access to the audio-visual recordings of their notarial acts.

Provide training to the Maryland notary public on how to use the remote online notary vendor’s technology; and

Check with the Office of the Secretary of State or the Office’s website to confirm that a notary public is in good standing:

Notify the Office of the Secretary of State in writing of their intent to perform remote notarial acts using a form prescribed by the Office of the Secretary of State for this purpose before they may perform remote notarial acts;

If the notary public intends to perform remote notarial acts using a remote online notary vendor:

If the notary public intends to perform remote notarial acts without identifying remotely located individuals through identity proofing and credential analysis the notary public shall submit a form used by the Office of the Secretary of State for this purpose and acknowledge that the notary public must have personal knowledge under State Government Article, §18–206(a), Annotated Code of Maryland of the identity of the remotely located individual or have satisfactory evidence of the identity of the remotely located individual by verification on oath or affirmation from a credible witness appearing before and identified by the notary public under State Government Article, §18–206(b), Annotated Code of Maryland or as a remotely located individual under this section.

Use technology that can make an audio-visual record of the entire physical location of the notarial act and all persons physically present for the remote notarial act;

Require all persons physically present with the remotely located individual for the remote notarial act to identify themselves and their role in the transaction;

Charge no more than the allowed fee for a notarial act under State Government Article, §18–214, Annotated Code of Maryland, as set forth in Regulation .02F of this chapter; and

Create and retain an audio-visual recording of each performance of a remote notarial act for a minimum of 10 years.

Failure to adequately identify a signer under the standards set forth in State Government Article, §18-206(a) or (b), Annotated Code of Maryland;

Failure to properly execute a certificate of a notarial act in accordance with State Government Article, §18-215, Annotated Code of Maryland;

Charging a fee for notarial services higher than allowable by Regulation .02 of this chapter;

Failure to maintain an accurate record of notarial acts in a journal as required by State Government Article, §18-219, Annotated Code of Maryland; and

Performing a remote notarial act before notifying the Secretary of State as required by Regulation .07A(1)—(3) of this chapter and State Government Article, §18-214(e), Annotated Code of Maryland.

A list of Maryland notaries public and applicants who have completed a course of study and examination including the date or dates of the course and examination or examinations, as well as methods used to identify the notary public or applicant;

The provider shall transmit applicant data in a timeframe as established by the Secretary of State’s Office using a secure and mutually agreeable format; and

The provider shall ensure that all course and examination data is accurate and valid prior to its secure, electronic transmission to the Secretary of State’s Office.