Senate Bill S398

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Relates to duties of notaries with respect to instruments conveying residential real property

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Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2025	referred to finance

2025-S398 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Finance
Law Section:: Executive Law
Laws Affected:: Add §137-a, Exec L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2021-2022: S9404
2023-2024: S218

2025-S398 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Specifies additional duties of notaries with respect to instruments conveying residential real property; requires a specific colloquy to determine that the principal understands the conveyance.

2025-S398 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S398

SPONSOR: MYRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to duties of notaries
with respect to instruments conveying residential real property

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of the bill is to establish a clear set of notary duties in
an effort to prevent deed theft.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the Executive Law with the addition of section 137-b,
which outlines the duties of notaries concerning instruments conveying
residential real property. A notary public must complete and retain a
journal entry for each notarization performed where there is a convey-
ance of residential real property. Each entry shall include specific
information on the principal as provided in this section - location,
date, time, etc. The notary shall maintain such a journal for the dura-

tion of their time in office and five years thereafter. Notaries are
also required to perform a colloquy form with the principal in the writ-
ten form outlined in paragraph (f) of subdivision 2 of section 137-b of
the Executive Law. The notary public must maintain the colloquy form in
their records for the duration of their time in office and five years
thereafter. Finally, the Secretary of State is required to set forth a
mandatory program for educating notaries of such duties.

Section 2 provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The current law does not adequately protect homeowners from deed theft.
The notary public is often the last line of defense before a homeowner
signs a deed. However, some fraudulent notaries will misrepresent to the
homeowner what they are signing, which results in an unintentional
conveyance of real property. This bill amends the current law to ensure
homeowners understand their actions before conveying their property and
that all steps in this process are thoroughly documented. Both the jour-
nal requirements and the colloquy form would reinforce to the signer the
seriousness of such a transaction, which will hopefully prompt them to
ask the necessary questions before taking any action.  This type of
thorough record-keeping would also assist law enforcement in rooting out
bad industry actors.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S218 of 2023-24: Referred to Finance S9404 of 2022: Referred to Finance

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one-hundred-eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.

2025-S398 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    398
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 8, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  MYRIE  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
 
 AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation  to  duties  of  notaries
   with respect to instruments conveying residential real property

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new section  137-a
 to read as follows:
   §  137-A.  DUTIES  OF  NOTARIES  WITH RESPECT TO INSTRUMENTS CONVEYING
 RESIDENTIAL REAL PROPERTY. REGARDING INSTRUMENTS THAT CONVEY RESIDENTIAL
 REAL PROPERTY SITUATED IN THIS STATE, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DEFINITIONS
 IN SECTION ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-FIVE-C OF THIS ARTICLE,  A  NOTARY  PUBLIC
 MUST:
   1.  MAINTAIN A JOURNAL OF EACH NOTARIZATION PERFORMED WHERE THERE IS A
 CONVEYANCE OF RESIDENTIAL REAL PROPERTY, WHICH  UPON  DEMAND,  SHALL  BE
 SUBJECT TO INSPECTION BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE. THE JOURNAL REQUIRED BY
 THIS  SUBDIVISION  SHALL BE MAINTAINED BY EACH NOTARY PUBLIC FOR AS LONG
 AS SUCH NOTARY PUBLIC REMAINS IN OFFICE AND THEN FOR AN ADDITIONAL  FIVE
 YEARS THEREAFTER. EACH JOURNAL ENTRY SHALL:
   (A)  BE  MADE  CONTEMPORANEOUSLY  WITH THE PERFORMANCE OF THE NOTARIAL
 ACT;
   (B) INDICATE THE LOCATION, DATE AND TIME OF THE NOTARIAL ACT;
   (C) INDICATE THE CHARACTER OF THE INSTRUMENT;
   (D) INDICATE THE FULL NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE PRINCIPAL;
   (E) IF A REMOTE NOTARIZATION, INDICATE THE TECHNOLOGY USED TO  PERFORM
 SUCH REMOTE NOTARIZATION;
   (F) INDICATE IF THERE WERE ANY OTHER NOTARIAL SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE
 SAME NOTARY PUBLIC TO THE SAME PRINCIPAL ON THE SAME DAY AND IF SO, LIST
 ALL OTHER DOCUMENTS NOTARIZED BY TITLE OR TYPE OF DOCUMENT;
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD01560-01-5

 S. 398                              2
 
   (G) INDICATE THE TYPE OF CREDENTIAL USED TO IDENTIFY THE PRINCIPAL AND
 MAINTAIN IN THEIR RECORDS A COPY OF SUCH CREDENTIAL;
   (H) INDICATE THE AMOUNT OF ANY FEE CHARGED; AND
   (I)  HAVE  THE  PRINCIPAL SIGNING THE INSTRUMENT PLACE AN INKED THUMB-
 PRINT INTO THE JOURNAL.
   2. PERFORM A COLLOQUY WITH THE PRINCIPAL,  IN  THE  WRITTEN  FORM  SET
 FORTH IN PARAGRAPH (F) OF THIS SUBDIVISION.
   (A)  IF  A NOTARY PUBLIC IS NOT SATISFIED THAT THE PRINCIPAL IS COMPE-
 TENT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE CONVEYANCE OF REAL PROPERTY, THE  NOTARY  PUBLIC
 MAY REFUSE TO CERTIFY SUCH ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
   (B) THE COLLOQUY FORM MUST BE SIGNED AND CERTIFIED BY BOTH THE PRINCI-
 PAL  AND  NOTARY PUBLIC. IF AN INTERPRETER IS USED FOR THE COLLOQUY, THE
 INTERPRETER MUST ALSO SIGN AND CERTIFY THAT A TRUE AND CORRECT INTERPRE-
 TATION WAS MADE TO THE PRINCIPAL AND SPECIFY THE LANGUAGE USED.
   (C) THE PRINCIPAL MUST INITIAL NEXT TO EACH QUESTION IN  THE  COLLOQUY
 FORM.
   (D) THE COLLOQUY FORM SHALL BE MAINTAINED BY EACH NOTARY PUBLIC FOR AS
 LONG  AS SUCH NOTARY PUBLIC REMAINS IN OFFICE AND THEN FOR AN ADDITIONAL
 FIVE YEARS THEREAFTER.
   (E) ANY CONVEYANCE OF RESIDENTIAL REAL PROPERTY THAT DOES  NOT  COMPLY
 WITH THIS SUBDIVISION SHALL BE DEEMED VOID.
   (F)  THE COLLOQUY FORM IS TO BE READ BY THE NOTARY PUBLIC TO THE PRIN-
 CIPAL AS FOLLOWS:
 
               COLLOQUY FORM FOR CONVEYANCE OF REAL PROPERTY
   1. "DO YOU SPEAK AND UNDERSTAND ENGLISH?"
       {IF NO, AN INTERPRETER MUST BE PRESENT AND INTERPRETER MUST SIGN A
       CERTIFICATION}
   2. "A DEED IS AN IMPORTANT LEGAL DOCUMENT THAT TRANSFERS THE TITLE  OR
       OWNERSHIP  TO  PROPERTY  FROM  ONE OWNER TO ANOTHER. DO YOU UNDER-
       STAND?"
       CIRCLE: YES/NO? GRANTOR TO INITIAL _____
   3. "YOU ARE CURRENTLY {AN/THE}  OWNER  OF  {STATE  PROPERTY  ADDRESS}?
       CIRCLE: YES/NO? GRANTOR TO INITIAL____
   4.  "YOU  ARE ABOUT TO SIGN A DEED THAT WILL TRANSFER YOUR INTEREST OR
       OWNERSHIP OF THE TITLE OF  {STATE  PROPERTY  ADDRESS}  TO  ANOTHER
       PERSON  OR  ENTITY.  THIS  MEANS YOU ARE SELLING YOUR HOME. DO YOU
       UNDERSTAND?"
       YES/NO? GRANTOR TO INITIAL
   5. "WHAT HAS BEEN PROMISED TO YOU IN EXCHANGE FOR  YOUR  SIGNATURE  ON
       THIS DEED"?
       {NOTARY PUBLIC TO RECORD WHATEVER THE ANSWER IS}
   6.  "HAS  ANYONE  THREATENED YOU, FORCED YOU, OR PRESSURED YOU TO SIGN
       THIS DEED?"
       CIRCLE: YES/NO? GRANTOR TO INITIAL___
   7. "ARE YOU SIGNING THIS DEED OF YOUR OWN FREE WILL?"
       CIRCLE: YES/NO? GRANTOR TO INITIAL___
   8. "DO YOU WISH TO SIGN THIS DEED"
       CIRCLE: YES/NO? GRANTOR TO INITIAL___
           I, ________________________, CERTIFY THAT I AM KNOWINGLY AND
              {PRINCIPAL NAME PRINTED}
         VOLUNTARILY SIGNING THIS COLLOQUY FORM.
 
                                       ____________________
                                           {SIGNATURE}
 S. 398                              3
 
           I, _______________________, CERTIFY THAT I BELIEVE THE PRINCIPAL
            {NOTARY PUBLIC NAME PRINTED}
         IS KNOWINGLY AND VOLUNTARILY SIGNING THIS COLLOQUY FORM.
                                       ____________________
                                           {SIGNATURE}
 
         IF LANGUAGE INTERPRETATION PROVIDED:
 
           I, __________________________, CERTIFY THAT A TRUE AND CORRECT
              {INTERPRETER NAME PRINTED}
         INTERPRETATION OF THIS FORM WAS MADE IN ______________________ TO
                                                 {LANGUAGE INTERPRETED}
         _____________________.
             {INDIVIDUAL}
 
                                       ____________________
                                           {SIGNATURE}
 
   3.  THE  SECRETARY  OF  STATE  SHALL SET FORTH A PROGRAM FOR EDUCATING
 NOTARIES ON THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION. A NOTARY PUBLIC WHO HAS  NOT
 COMPLETED THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM IS UNQUALIFIED TO CERTIFY ANY ACKNOWL-
 EDGEMENT  OF  A CONVEYANCE OF RESIDENTIAL REAL PROPERTY SITUATED IN THIS
 STATE AND ANY SUCH INSTRUMENT CONVEYING SUCH REAL PROPERTY BY THE NOTARY
 PUBLIC IS VOIDABLE.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
 it shall have become a law.

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Senate Bill S398

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance Committee

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2025-S398 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S398 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S398 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S398 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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Sponsored By

Zellnor Myrie

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance Committee

Actions

2025-S398 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S398 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S398 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S398 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments