Fingerprint Law Goes into Effect June 1, 2009 for Cook County
Government Affairs, License Law Friday, May 22, 2009 at 12:36PM 
A new Illinois law regarding the transfer of real property in Cook County goes into effect on June 1, 2009. Public Act 095-0988 amends the Illinois Notary Public Act by describing the manner in which a notary must sign each certificate at the time of notarization.The law requires that a paper or electronic form must be completed and retained, for a period of seven years, for each notarial act relating to real property in Cook County.
One key change is that fingerprinting now is a part of the process. As part of the record to be kept, the law provides that the notary require the person signing the document of conveyance, including an agent acting on behalf of a principal under a duly executed power of attorney, to place his/her thumbprint on the notarial record.
In an effort to fight mortgage fraud in Cook County, the new law creates this process as a pilot program. Often straw purchasers and fraudulent mortgage brokers will work together to commit mortgage fraud. This law places responsibilities on a notary to verify the identities to a real estate transaction in Cook County, and keep a thumb print of them as well. Proponents believe this will deter individuals from participating in these schemes and will reduce the amount of mortgage fraud in Cook County.
As a pilot program, the law will sunset on July 1, 2013. Learn More About Public Act 095-0988
Reader Comments (2)
Although this new law makes sense in this world of techno-identity, I'm not sure it's fair or "right" that the notary has the ultimate responsibility of confirming the true identities of the parties. In many cases the notary at the transaction site is a title company representative or an attorney - not sure it makes sense to have them absorb this responsibility. Let's see how this plays out in the "real world"! Of course, as Realtors, we don't need or want any more responsibilities on our shoulders - we have enough!
Its seems like a great idea, but with the amount of transactions in our city I am concerned about the real value of the program. Is the notary going to take a forensic science class, "Finger printing on the go" or "Finger Printing 101"? Finger printing is not easy and the record keeping process is going to lead to mistakes or higher costs to the buyer and seller. I would like to see how this pans out, I hope it works because we need to stop the fraud! But I think there are better ways of doing this.
Alexander R. Chaparro
2006 CAR President