performing this notarization wasn’t regulation. You are letting customers pressure you to notarize. You should have called the notary hotline for advice (NNA).
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I disagree with calling any service from NNA "the notary hotline’’ [emphasis added]. NNA is nobody special and has no official standing.
About “wasn’t regulation”. As alluded to above, Ohio regulations are vague; who is to say what is or isn’t regulation?
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Are you in Oklahoma? Because I sure can use a credible witnesses. Also, the NNA is not a reliable source.
Question: For RON, do you accept creditable witness if you don’t know both the signer and the witness personally?
No , I wouldn’t for RON.
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Good girl! Correct answer! 
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I know you know a lot about RON so I’m sure you know they have to take a picture of the drivers license in order to get into the session. Along with passing the KBA. Along with holding up their driver’s license in order for us to compare them.
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Yep, to comply with federal law don’t forget to get their consent to be recorded on audio and video and it’s entirety. If they forgot to say “yes” or “I consent” in the recording, you’re in trouble! I know in my state, I have to ask them to state their name, their location and what they are signing, all on recording. And check to make sure they have the mental capacity to understand what they are signing, and make sure to look for signs of anyone hiding in the room coercing the signer to sign, etc. you know what I mean.
Also, this is important if you have two signers sitting next to each other and on the same computer make sure they don’t sign or click on the mouse for each other! Each signer must grab the mouse and click on their own signature.
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Yes, I also have to ask those questions.
California requires the notary to physically examine the ID
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I would be careful about the claim that California requires the notary to physically examine the ID. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the California SOS put out a statement that looking at an unofficial photo of an ID that the phone owner photographed him/herself isn’t good enough. The California law for identifying a person who is giving an acknowledgement, as given in the CA Notary Handbook, states:
(4) Reasonable reliance on the presentation of any one of the following, provided that a
document specifed in subparagraphs (A) to (F), inclusive, shall either be current or have been
issued within fve years and shall contain a photograph and description of the person named
on it, shall be signed by the person, and shall bear a serial or other identifying number:
(A) A valid consular identifcation document issued by a consulate from the applicant’s
country of citizenship, or a valid passport from the applicant’s country of citizenship.
(B) A driver’s license issued by a state other than California or by a Canadian or Mexican
public agency authorized to issue driver’s licenses.
The law says nothing about what form the driver license takes. It doesn’t say it has to be a card you can hold in your hand. If the state issues an official driver license that is on a phone, there is nothing in the text of the law that forbids that.
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Thank you so much for sharing this.
credible witness 2 , yes I had notarizing without id
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Colorado Digital ID app, MyColorado, is the only approved digital driver’s license image we can accept. CO Driver license Regulations say one must also carry the physical license, also, for interactions with law enforcement and the digital version is only useable within Colorado. I have checked with my Secretary of State, who told me I can accept the MyColorado Digital ID as satisfactory evidence of identification. I had someone present her digital ID with a smartphone screen so badly cracked I couldn’t read the ID, which I refused to accept. This person did not have her physical ID; in light of the original poster’s situation, has the client not volunteered that her license was suspended, I can think of no way I would know that. Also, we could run into a situation where I license is suspended, but not surrendered. We wouldn’t know that either. I think, if the license is suspended and we know it, it wouldn’t be valid satisfactory evidence of identification.
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Yes I will certainly use it next time.
Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge.
Consider this: If a person walked into your office and asked you to notarize a document, and their only form of ID was a hard copy photo of a driver license… would you accept it?
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This is a different situation; I cannot accept a photocopy of any identification as satisfactory evidence under any circumstance. The digital ID, for me - My Colorado digital ID, is acceptable according the Drivers License regulations and according to the Secretary of State’s office for a notary to use as satisfactory evidence. For me, the question is if the person requesting a notarization only has a digital ID, ie. they do not have a physical drivers license, what situation exists that causes that person to not have their physical drivers license?
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In AZ, you must be able to physically look at the original ID, not a copy. ADOT has that version but it is not listed as an option for a notary, according to our manual.
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