Currently, the Illinois Notary Public Act limits notary fees to $1. This amount eventually will increase to $5 for some notarial acts, but not until the Illinois Secretary of State finalizes rules implementing recent changes to the Illinois Notary Public Act.

In 2021, the Illinois General Assembly amended the Illinois Notary Public Act, including increases in maximum fees charged for notarial acts. The amendments do not become effective until the Illinois Secretary of State finalizes implementing rules, which have been proposed but not yet adopted. When the bill goes into effect, the maximum fees will be $5 for most non-electronic notarizations, $25 for non-electronic notarizations of documents conveying residential real estate, and $25 for electronic notarizations.

Additionally, as you are a national bank, we note that the OCC has not specifically addressed whether a state’s notary public fee limitations apply to national banks, but we are not aware of any federal laws that would preempt a state’s notarial fee limitations.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Illinois Notary Public Act, 5 ILCS 312/3-104(a) (“Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Section [regarding immigration forms], the maximum fee in this State is $1.00 for any notarial act performed and, until July 1, 2018, up to $25 for any notarial act performed pursuant to Section 3-102 [notarizations of documents of conveyance in residential real property transactions].”)

• Illinois Notary Public Act, 5 ILCS 312/3-104(a), effective on adoption of final rules by the Secretary of State (“Except as otherwise provided in this subsection (a), the maximum fee for non-electronic notarization in this State is $5 for any notarial act performed and up to $25 for any notarial act performed pursuant to Section 3-102.”)

• Illinois Notary Public Act, 5 ILCS 312/3-104(b), effective on adoption of final rules by the Secretary of State (“The maximum fee in this State up to $25 for any electronic notarial act performed pursuant to this Act. An electronic notary public may charge a reasonable fee to recover any cost of providing a copy of an entry or a recording of an audio-video communication in an electronic journal maintained pursuant to Section 3-107.”)

• Public Act 102-160, Section 99 (“Effective date. This Act takes effect on the later of: (1) January 1, 2022; or (2) the date on which the Office of the Secretary of State files with the Index Department of the Office of the Secretary of State a notice that the Office of the Secretary of State has adopted the rules necessary to implement this Act, and upon the filing of the notice, the Index Department shall provide a copy of the notice to the Legislative Reference Bureau; except that, the changes to Sections 1-106, 2-103, and 2-106 of the Illinois Notary Public Act take effect July 1, 2022.”)