# Virginia HB163: Notarization, filing, & recordation of certain land records; duties of notary or settlement agent.

Virginia HB163, Notarization, filing, & recordation of certain land records; duties of notary or settlement agent., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Marcus B. Simon (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-08 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0364)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB163-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB163
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Notarization, filing, & recordation of certain land records; duties of notary or settlement agent.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-06
- Last action: 2026-04-08, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0364)
- Sponsor: Marcus B. Simon (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 8 (233 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 11

## Summary

Notarization, filing, and recordation of certain land records; duties of notary or settlement agent; acknowledgement and satisfactory evidence of identity; requirements for commission or recommission of notary; clerk of circuit court to establish property alert notification system. Removes personal knowledge of identity from the methods by which a notary public, electronic notary public, or other person authorized by law to perform a notarial act may identify an individual for purposes of performing a notarial act such as acknowledgement or affirmation. Under current law, the identity of an individual for such purpose may be established if such individual is personally known to the person performing the notarial act or by a presentation of satisfactory evidence of identity, as defined by law. The bill also adds a requirement that, within the six months immediately preceding the submission of his application, a person applying for commission to be a notary public or electronic notary public, or an existing notary public or electronic notary public applying for recommission, complete a course of instruction developed and approved by the Secretary of the Commonwealth. The bill specifies that one hour of such course of instruction shall be on the topic of real estate fraud and financial exploitation of elderly persons and shall include training on current trends on such topics and on recognizing instances of such fraud or financial exploitation. The bill directs the Secretary of the Commonwealth to develop the curricula for such courses of instruction by January 1, 2027, and has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027, for those provisions related to the requirement that applicants for commission and recommission complete and present proof of completion of such courses of instruction. The bill also requires any clerk of a circuit court that has established a network or system of electronic filing of land records to also establish a property alert notification system for owners of real property within the circuit court's jurisdiction. The bill provides that an owner who enrolls his real property into such property alert notification system may do so at no cost and that such system shall send notifications to such owner when documents affecting or purporting to affect the enrolled property are filed with the clerk's office. The provisions related to the establishment of the property alert notification system have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. Finally, the bill requires notaries public to keep a record of all notarial acts occurring on or after July 1, 2026, and to include in such record the form of satisfactory evidence of identification used to verify the identity of the principal and credible witnesses. Similarly, the bill requires settlement agents responsible for recording deeds, deeds of trust, or other documents relating to land records to obtain satisfactory evidence of identity of a seller of real property prior to settlement. This bill is identical to SB 316.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Court clerks avoid notary application fees: benefit, low. Beginning July 1, 2027, circuit and district court clerks and deputy clerks pay no notary application fee. The waiver covers applications for both regular and electronic notary commissions.
- Notaries gain more renewal filing options: benefit, low. Beginning July 1, 2027, notaries and electronic notaries can submit renewal applications in person, by first-class mail, or online. Online applications must include an electronic signature authorized under Virginia’s electronic transaction law.
- Free filing alerts for property owners: benefit, low. Beginning July 1, 2027, circuit courts with electronic land-record filing systems must provide free property alerts. Individuals can enroll property whose records are filed there, or enroll their name or tax identification number. Alerts report filings affecting enrolled property or containing an e…
- Notarizations require clear identity checks: benefit, low. Notaries must verify a person’s identity unless they know that person personally. Accepted evidence includes approved unexpired photo identification or credible witnesses meeting the law’s requirements. Assisted-living and nursing-home residents can use listed documents that expired within the prev…
- Home closings require checks and deadlines: benefit, low. Settlement agents must use ordinary care to reasonably verify the seller’s identity before a real estate sale closes. Agents must record required documents and pay out settlement money within two business days after settlement. Before recording, payouts are limited to overpayment refunds, costs nee…
- Clerks must protect electronic property records: benefit, low. Circuit court clerks must keep disaster recovery plans for electronic land records in their care. These plans support recovery of records used to document property ownership.
- Notaries must keep records and proof: cost, low. Notaries must protect records of their acts and make them available for lawful inspection. Electronic-act records must be kept for at least five years, as must paper-act records for transactions from July 1, 2026. Electronic notaries must keep recordings used to verify identity and take reasonable…
- Property alert lawsuits against clerks barred: cost, low. Beginning July 1, 2027, individuals cannot bring civil claims against circuit court clerks over the property-alert system. The protection covers acts or failures involving the system’s setup, maintenance, or operation.
- Closing agents gain limited liability protection: cost, low. Settlement agents are protected from liability for acts or failures resulting from reliance on seller identity information checked through authorized methods. The protection covers proceeding with settlement and recording documents. It does not apply when agents actually know the information is fal…
- Paper property filings can cost more: cost, low. Beginning July 1, 2027, circuit court clerks with electronic land-record filing systems can charge for paper filings. The optional fee is capped at $5 per document. Paper filings remain valid. Fee money stays in the clerk’s local fund, does not expire, and pays only for operating costs.
- Notaries face new training and tests: cost, low. Beginning July 1, 2027, first-time notary and electronic-notary applicants must complete a four-hour approved course and pass a written test. Each renewal requires a two-hour course; both courses must be completed within six months before applying. Each course includes one hour on real estate fraud…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Marcus B. Simon (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-02-27 | Senate | Passed Senate Block Vote | pass | 37 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-26 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-26 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) | pass | 40 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-25 | Senate | Reported from Finance and Appropriations | pass | 15 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-18 | Senate | Reported from Courts of Justice and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations | pass | 14 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-03 | House | Read third time and passed House Block Vote | pass | 98 | 0 |   |
| 2026-01-28 | House | Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute | pass | 19 | 0 |   |
| 2026-01-21 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute | pass | 10 | 0 |   |

## Actions (32)

- 2026-04-08: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0364) (Governor)
- 2026-04-08: Approved by Governor - Chapter 364 (effective - see bill) (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 (House)
- 2026-03-04: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB163) (House)
- 2026-03-04: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB163ER) (House)
- 2026-03-04: Enrolled (House)
- 2026-03-04: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2026-03-04: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2026-02-27: Passed Senate Block Vote (37-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Read third time (Senate)
- 2026-02-26: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-26: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-26: Rules suspended (Senate)
- 2026-02-25: Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-18: Reported from Courts of Justice and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-06: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB163) (House)
- 2026-02-04: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice (Senate)
- 2026-02-04: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate)
- 2026-02-03: Read third time and passed House Block Vote (98-Y 0-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-02-02: Engrossed by House - committee substitute (House)
- 2026-02-02: committee substitute agreed to (House)
- 2026-02-02: Read second time (House)
- 2026-01-30: Read first time (House)
- 2026-01-28: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB163) (House)
- 2026-01-28: Committee substitute printed 26105742D-H1 (House)
- 2026-01-28: Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (19-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-01-21: House subcommittee offered (House)
- 2026-01-21: Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (10-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-01-19: Assigned HCJ sub: Civil (House)
- 2026-01-06: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice (House)
- 2026-01-06: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104586D (House)

## Bill text

- Chaptered, 2026-04-08: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217655.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217654.PDF)
- Enrolled, 2026-03-04: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1191213.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1191212.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-01-28: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1100123.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1100122.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-01-21: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1093006.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1093040.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1093005.PDF), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1093039.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082671.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082670.PDF)

## Related bills

- HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with rental agreement. (signed)
- HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for certain individuals. (signed)
- HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, termination by landlord. (signed)
- HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil penalty. (signed)

## Sources
- [Chaptered (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217655.HTML)
- [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217654.PDF)
- [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1191213.HTML)
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1191212.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1100123.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1100122.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1093006.HTML)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1093040.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1093005.PDF)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1093039.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082671.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082670.PDF)

## Related
- [HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB5-2026)
- [SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB199-2026)
- [HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB95-2026)
- [HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1393-2026)
- [HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, terminat…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB834-2026)
- [HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB675-2026)
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- [Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB163-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).