HR198

WHEREAS, the Attorney General appoints and commissions notaries public for the State as the Attorney General deems necessary for the public good and convenience; and

WHEREAS, every notary public must keep an engraved seal of office or a rubber stamp facsimile seal that clearly shows, when embossed, stamped, or impressed upon a document, the notary's name and the words, "notary public" and "State of Hawaii"; and

WHEREAS, the notary public must authenticate all the notary's official acts, attestations, certificates, and instruments and always add to an official signature the typed or printed name of the notary and a statement showing the date that the notary's commission expires; and

WHEREAS, each time a notary public notarizes a document the notary public must record the type, date, and time of day of the notarial act, the title or type and date of the document or proceeding, the signature, printed name, and address of each person whose signature is notarized and of each witness, other parties to the instrument, and the manner in which the signer was identified; and

WHEREAS, all copies or certificates granted by the notary must be under the notary's hand and notarial seal and shall be received as evidence of such transactions; and

WHEREAS, notwithstanding the requirements that attend notarization of documents, there is an alarming increase in the alteration of notarized documents for the purpose of identity theft and fraud; and

WHEREAS, other states are trying to counter this trend by adopting additional requirements for authentication of signatures and documents; and

WHEREAS, misrepresentation often takes the form of a scam which may involve naive and trusting senior citizens who are often tricked into signing away property.

WHEREAS, there is ongoing in Hawaii the investigation of a man with a federal criminal record involving bank fraud, bogus names, and false checks who has traveled to the Philippines with at least two business associates who have never been seen alive again, one of whom was later found murdered; and

WHEREAS, the man is now charged in one case with identity theft and other offenses arising from the use of a notarized document relating to the sale of a Land Rover automobile and to transfer land and property owned by the murder victim to the man; and

WHEREAS, a third man who was an associate of the charged man has been missing for sixteen years and his home is now owned and occupied by the charged man's girlfriend; and

WHEREAS, the Attorney General is a member of the identity theft task force established by Act 140, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006, which is required, among other things, to identify best practices to reduce identity theft and to report its final findings and recommendations to the Legislature, including any proposed legislation, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2008; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, that the Attorney General and the Identity Theft Task Force are requested to identify ways in which the process of notarizing documents can be improved to reduce identity theft, by requiring the notary's seal to be placed over a succinct phrase identifying the nature of the document and the underlying transaction; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Attorney General and the Identity Theft Task Force are requested to report findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2008, provided that the findings and recommendations may be included in the final report of the Identity Theft Task Force to be submitted pursuant to Act 140, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Attorney General and the Chair of the Identity Theft Task Force.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Notaries Public; Identity Theft

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	198
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII