# Virginia SB316: Notarization, filing, & recordation of certain land records; duties of notary or settlement agent;.

Virginia SB316, Notarization, filing, & recordation of certain land records; duties of notary or settlement agent;., is a 2026 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by T. Travis Hackworth (Republican); status signed, last action 2026-04-08 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0365)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB316-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia SB316
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Notarization, filing, & recordation of certain land records; duties of notary or settlement agent;.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: Senate
- Introduced: 2026-01-13
- Last action: 2026-04-08, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0365)
- Sponsor: T. Travis Hackworth (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 9 (266 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 8

## 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 HB 163.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- More ways to verify notarization identity: benefit, low. Residents of qualifying assisted living facilities or nursing homes may use specified expired documents to prove identity for notarization. Facilities must be licensed by the Virginia Department of Health or exempt from licensing. Eligible documents include U.S. passport books or cards, foreign pas…
- Prompt recordings and safer closing payments: benefit, low. Settlement agents must record required property documents and pay out settlement proceeds within two business days after closing. They generally cannot release loan funds or other held money before recording. Exceptions cover returned overpayments, recording costs, and payments the fund provider di…
- Less paperwork for eligible notary applicants: benefit, low. Eligible notaries renewing their commissions can leave out the application oath and proof of course completion. They must be in good standing, face no investigation or proceeding, and never have been removed from office. The renewal course still must be completed. The Secretary of the Commonwealth…
- Required fraud training for Virginia notaries: cost, low. Beginning July 1, 2027, new notary applicants must complete a four-hour approved course and pass a written examination. Both must occur within six months before applying. Applicants renewing a commission must complete a two-hour course within six months before each application. Both courses cover n…
- Electronic land filing with paper fees: mixed, low. Virginia circuit court clerks may accept electronic land records, but paper filing remains allowed. Courts with electronic filing systems may charge up to $5 for each paper-filed record. The fee may be lower or zero and must support the clerk's local operating costs. Electronic systems must follow…
- Free property alerts with lawsuit limits: mixed, low. Circuit court clerks with electronic land-record filing systems must provide free property alerts. You can enroll a name or property tax identification number to monitor covered records filed in that court. Alerts include the document number, type, recording date, and the name or tax identification…
- Seller identity checks with liability limits: mixed, low. Before a property sale closes, the settlement agent must use ordinary care to reasonably verify the seller's identity. Listed methods include identity documents, attorney statements, land-record searches, signature comparisons, credit checks, and detailed property questions. Agents using listed met…
- Notaries must keep five-year record trails: mixed, low. Consumers gain record trails, while notaries face added recordkeeping and security duties. Records must identify the act, date and time, document, signer and address, identity evidence, witnesses, and fees. Notaries must keep paper-act records dated July 1, 2026, or later for at least five years fr…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: T. Travis Hackworth (Republican), Senate

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-02-25 | Senate | House substitute agreed to by Senate | pass | 40 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-23 | House | Passed House with substitute Block Vote | pass | 97 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-18 | House | Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute | pass | 22 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-06 | Senate | Read third time and passed Senate Block Vote | pass | 40 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-05 | Senate | Committee substitute agreed to (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-04 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-04 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) | pass | 40 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-03 | Senate | Reported from Finance and Appropriations | pass | 13 | 0 |   |
| 2026-01-26 | Senate | Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations | pass | 14 | 0 |   |

## Actions (34)

- 2026-04-08: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0365) (Governor)
- 2026-04-08: Approved by Governor-Chapter 365 (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 (Senate)
- 2026-03-02: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB316) (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB316ER) (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Enrolled (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2026-02-25: House substitute agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-23: Passed House with substitute Block Vote (97-Y 0-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-02-23: Engrossed by House - committee substitute (House)
- 2026-02-23: committee substitute agreed to (House)
- 2026-02-23: Read third time (House)
- 2026-02-20: Read second time (House)
- 2026-02-18: Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (22-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-02-18: Committee substitute printed 26108149D-H1 (House)
- 2026-02-13: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB316) (Senate)
- 2026-02-12: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice (House)
- 2026-02-12: Read first time (House)
- 2026-02-12: Placed on Calendar (House)
- 2026-02-06: Read third time and passed Senate Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-05: Committee substitute agreed to (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-05: Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-05: Read second time (Senate)
- 2026-02-04: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-04: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-04: Rules suspended (Senate)
- 2026-02-03: Reported from Finance and Appropriations (13-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 2026-01-27: Committee substitute printed 26106118D-S1 (Senate)
- 2026-01-26: Senate committee offered (Senate)
- 2026-01-26: Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 2026-01-13: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice (Senate)
- 2026-01-13: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26105036D (Senate)

## Bill text

- Chaptered, 2026-04-08: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217675.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217674.PDF)
- Enrolled, 2026-02-27: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1182108.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1182107.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-02-18: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1169316.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1169315.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-01-27: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1098205.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1098204.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-01-26: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096392.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096391.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1088842.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1088841.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/1217675.HTML)
- [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217674.PDF)
- [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1182108.HTML)
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1182107.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1169316.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1169315.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1098205.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1098204.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096392.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096391.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1088842.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1088841.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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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB316-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).