Chapter 10B

Notaries who charge for their notarial services shall conspicuously display in their places of business, or present to each principal outside their places of business, an English-language schedule of fees for notarial acts. No part of any notarial fee schedule shall be printed in…

When notarizing a paper record, a notary shall sign by hand in ink on the notarial certificate. The notary shall comply with the requirements of G.S. 10B-20(b)(1) and (b)(2). The notary shall affix the official signature only after the notarial act is performed. The notary shall …

(a) A notary shall keep an official seal or stamp that is the exclusive property of the notary. The notary shall keep the seal in a secure location. A notary shall not allow another person to use or possess the seal, and shall not surrender the seal to the notary's employer upon …

(a) A notary shall affix the notary's official seal near the notary's official signature on the notarial certificate of a record. (b) A notary's official seal shall include all of the following elements: (1) The notary's name exactly as commissioned. (2) The words "Notary Public"…

Each notary may maintain a journal of all notarial acts performed in the manner required for that type of notarial act and in accordance with rules adopted by the Secretary. (2023-57, s. 4(f); 2023-124, s. 4.1.)

The Secretary may adopt rules necessary to administer and enforce this Chapter in order to achieve the purposes of the Act. (2023-57, s. 4(a).) Part 2. Commissioning.

(a) A notary shall not make or give a notarial certificate unless the notary has either personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence of the identity of the principal or, if applicable, the subscribing witness. (a1) By making or giving a notarial certificate, whether or not stated …

(a) When properly completed by a notary, a notarial certificate that substantially complies with the following form may be used and shall be sufficient under the law of this State to satisfy the requirements for a notarial certificate for the acknowledgment of a principal who is …

(a) When properly completed by a notary, a notarial certificate in substantially the following form may be used and shall be sufficient under the law of this State to satisfy the requirements for a notarial certificate for the verification or proof of the signature of a principal…

(a) When properly completed by a notary, a notarial certificate in substantially the following form may be used and shall be sufficient under the law of this State to satisfy the requirements for a notarial certificate for the verification or proof of the signature of a principal…

(a) When properly completed by a notary, a notarial certificate that substantially complies with either of the following forms may be used and shall be sufficient under the law of this State to satisfy the requirements for a notarial certificate for an oath or affirmation. The au…

(a) Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, the Secretary shall commission as a notary any qualified person who submits an application in accordance with this Chapter. (b) A person qualified for a notarial commission shall meet all of the following requirements: (1)…

(a) Within 45 days after the change of a notary's residence, business, or any mailing address or telephone number, the notary shall send to the Secretary by an online notification to the extent it is made available by the Secretary, fax, email, or certified mail, return receipt r…

(a) Within 45 days after the legal change of a notary's name, the notary shall send to the Secretary by an online notification to the extent it is made available by the Secretary, fax, email, or certified mail, return receipt requested, a signed notice of the change. The notice s…

(a) A notary who has moved to another county in North Carolina remains commissioned until the current commission expires, is not required to obtain a new seal, and may continue to notarize without changing his or her seal. (b) When a notary who has moved applies to be recommissio…

Within 45 days after the legal change of a notary's name, and if the notary has also moved to a different county than as last commissioned, the notary shall submit to the Secretary a recommissioning application and fee pursuant to this Chapter. The notary may continue to perform …

(a) A notary who resigns the notary's commission shall send to the Secretary by an online notification to the extent it is made available by the Secretary, fax, email, or certified mail, return receipt requested, a signed notice indicating the effective date of resignation. (b) N…

(a) When a notary commission has expired, has been revoked, or the notary has resigned, the notary shall deliver the notary's seal to the Secretary within 45 days of the expiration, resignation, or revocation. Delivery shall be accomplished by hand delivery, courier service, cert…

Every application for a notary commission shall be made on paper with original signatures, or in another form determined by the Secretary, and shall include all of the following: (1) A statement of the applicant's personal qualifications as required by this Chapter. (2) A certifi…

(a) The Secretary may issue a warning, restriction, suspension, or revocation for a violation of this Chapter, rules adopted pursuant to this Chapter, and on any ground for which an application, registration, certification, approval, or license may be denied. Any period of restri…

(a) Any acknowledgment taken and any instrument notarized by a person prior to qualification as a notary public but after commissioning or recommissioning as a notary public, or by a person whose notary commission has expired, is validated. The acknowledgment and instrument have …

(a) Any acknowledgment taken and any instrument notarized by a person whose notarial commission was revoked on or before January 30, 1997, is hereby validated. (b) This section applies to notarial acts performed on or before August 1, 1998. (2005-391, s. 4.)

An erroneous statement of the date that the notary's commission expires shall not affect the sufficiency, validity, or enforceability of the notarial certificate or the related record if the notary is, in fact, lawfully commissioned at the time of the notarial act. This section a…

(a) Technical defects, errors, or omissions in a notarial certificate shall not affect the sufficiency, validity, or enforceability of the notarial certificate or the related instrument or document. (b) Defects in the commissioning or recommissioning of a notary that are approved…

(a) The notarial certificate contained in a form issued by a State agency prior to April 1, 2021, is deemed to be a valid certificate so long as the certificate complied with the law at the time the form was issued. (b) The notarization using a certificate under subsection (a) of…

(a) The application for a notary commission shall include at least all of the following: (1) The applicant's full legal name and the name to be used for commissioning, excluding nicknames. (2) The applicant's date of birth. (3) The mailing address for the applicant's residence, t…

(a) Any acknowledgment taken and any instrument notarized for a local government agency by a person prior to qualification as a notary public but after commissioning or recommissioning as a notary public, by a person whose notary commission has expired, or by a person who failed …

Any acknowledgment taken and any instrument notarized by a person who after recommissioning failed to again take the oath as a notary public is validated. The acknowledgment and instrument have the same legal effect as if the person qualified as a notary public at the time the pe…

(a) Any emergency video notarization performed in accordance with G.S. 10B-25, as codified on June 30, 2024, is validated. (b) Any emergency video witnessing performed in accordance with Article 3 of this Chapter, as codified on June 30, 2024, is validated. (c) This section appli…

(a) Every applicant for an initial notary commission shall, within the three months preceding application, take a course of classroom instruction of not less than six hours approved by the Secretary and take a written examination approved by the Secretary. An applicant must answe…

A person commissioned under this Chapter may perform notarial acts in any part of this State for a term of five years, unless the commission is earlier revoked or resigned. No commissions shall be effective prior to the administration of the oath of office. Any notarial acts perf…

(a) In the absence of evidence of fraud on the part of the notary, or evidence of a knowing and deliberate violation of this Article by the notary, the courts shall grant a presumption of regularity to notarial acts so that those acts may be upheld, provided there has been substa…