NJ Notary Public Identification and Record-keeping 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under New Jersey law, what constitutes 'satisfactory evidence of identity' for a notarial act?
- A utility bill with the signer's name and address
- A government-issued photo ID, oath of a credible witness, or personal knowledge of the notary (Correct answer)
- Any two forms of non-photo identification
- A signed statement from the signer's employer
Correct answer: A government-issued photo ID, oath of a credible witness, or personal knowledge of the notary
New Jersey accepts government-issued photo ID, a credible witness's oath, or the notary's personal knowledge of the signer as satisfactory evidence of identity.
Under the New Jersey Notary Public Act (based on the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts), satisfactory evidence of identity can be established through: (1) a government-issued photo ID such as a passport or driver's license; (2) a credible witness who personally knows the signer and vouches under oath; or (3) the notary's own personal knowledge of the signer. Utility bills, employer statements, and non-photo IDs alone do not meet this standard.
Question 2: When a credible witness is used to identify a document signer in New Jersey, the credible witness must:
- Be a relative of the signer to have personal knowledge
- Be personally known to the notary OR present satisfactory ID to the notary (Correct answer)
- Be a licensed professional such as an attorney or doctor
- Sign the document as a co-signer
Correct answer: Be personally known to the notary OR present satisfactory ID to the notary
A credible witness must either be personally known to the notary or present satisfactory identification to the notary, and must personally know the signer.
Under NJ's notarial law, a credible witness must personally know the document signer. The witness must be either (a) personally known to the notary, or (b) able to provide satisfactory ID to the notary. The witness then swears or affirms under oath to the notary that the signer is who they claim to be. The credible witness is not a co-signer, cannot be a party to the document, and does not need to be a licensed professional.
Question 3: How long must a New Jersey notary retain their notarial journal if they voluntarily choose to maintain one?
- 1 year after the last entry
- 3 years after the last entry
- 5 years after the last entry
- 10 years after the last entry (Correct answer)
Correct answer: 10 years after the last entry
Although maintaining a notarial journal is not universally mandated in NJ for all notaries, when kept, best practices and certain regulatory guidance recommend retaining the journal for at least 10 years.
Under New Jersey notary guidance, notarial journals should be retained for a minimum of 10 years after the last entry. This retention period ensures records are available if disputes arise about notarial acts, as legal proceedings can sometimes be filed years after a transaction. Even though NJ does not mandate a journal for all traditional notarizations, electronic notarization rules do require record-keeping, and best practice strongly favors maintaining a paper journal as well.
Question 4: A New Jersey notary public's journal entry should include which of the following for each notarial act?
- The signer's social security number for identity verification
- The date and time of the act, type of act, document type, and identification method used (Correct answer)
- A copy of the document notarized
- The fee charged and the notary's profit margin
Correct answer: The date and time of the act, type of act, document type, and identification method used
A proper journal entry includes the date and time of the notarial act, the type of act performed, a description of the document, and how the signer's identity was verified.
A thorough notarial journal entry should include: the date and time of the act, the type of notarial act (acknowledgment, jurat, etc.), a description or title of the document, the method of identification used, the signer's name and signature, and any fee charged. Social security numbers should not be collected — this poses a privacy and security risk. Copies of documents are not routinely required. Recording profit margins is not a notarial record-keeping requirement.
Question 5: In New Jersey, when performing electronic notarization, what additional record-keeping requirement applies compared to traditional notarization?
- Electronic notarizations do not require any records to be kept
- The notary must maintain an electronic journal and an audio-visual recording of the session (Correct answer)
- Only paper journals are acceptable for electronic notarization records
- Records must be filed with the state within 24 hours
Correct answer: The notary must maintain an electronic journal and an audio-visual recording of the session
For electronic and remote online notarizations in NJ, notaries must maintain an electronic journal of acts and retain audio-visual recordings of the remote notarization sessions.
New Jersey's Remote Online Notarization (RON) regulations require notaries to maintain an electronic journal of all remote notarial acts and to retain the audio-visual recording of each RON session. These records must be kept secure for a specified retention period. This enhanced record-keeping requirement reflects the need to verify that proper identity verification and procedures were followed in the absence of physical presence.
Question 6: If a New Jersey notary's journal is stolen or destroyed, what should the notary do?
- Replace the lost journal with a new blank journal immediately, with no further action required
- Notify the State Treasurer and file a report about the loss or destruction (Correct answer)
- Reconstruct the journal from memory within 30 days
- Notify only the most recent signers listed in the journal
Correct answer: Notify the State Treasurer and file a report about the loss or destruction
A notary whose journal is lost, stolen, or destroyed should notify the State Treasurer and take appropriate steps to report the incident, as journal records are official documents.
If a notarial journal is lost, stolen, or destroyed, the New Jersey notary should promptly notify the State Treasurer's office. Depending on how the journal was lost (e.g., theft), a police report may also be appropriate. The notary should not attempt to reconstruct records from memory, which would be unreliable and potentially fraudulent. The State Treasurer's office can advise on next steps and any reporting obligations.
NJ Notary Public Identification and Record-keeping 2
Under New Jersey law, what constitutes 'satisfactory evidence of identity' for a notarial act?