Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has signed Senate Bill 841, now known as Act 15 of 2020, into law, allowing remote notarization of documents, municipalities to meet by telecommunication devices and flexibility with property tax deadlines.

Effective immediately, Act 15 covers a range of other topics, providing various types of relief related to the COVID-19 crisis. The section of the legislation regarding remote notarization expires 60 days after the termination or expiration of the COVID-19 disaster emergency and the section on municipal meetings expires upon the termination or expiration of the COVID-19 disaster emergency.

The remote notarization portion of the law is modeled closely after language prepared by the Uniform Law Commission and adopted in 10 other states. Notaries should carefully review the requirements.

Act 15 also permits a municipal governing body, authority, planning commission, zoning hearing board or other entity of a political subdivision to meet remotely by telecommunication devices during the COVID-19 disaster emergency after meeting certain requirements. These requirements include pre- and post-meeting notifications. The legislation also tolls the statutory review periods by which a municipality is required to act on certain matters until 30 days after the disaster emergency declaration is lifted.

Finally, Act 15 permits local governments to provide greater flexibility on property tax deadlines for tax payments due on or before before Dec. 31, 2020.

Additional Information

Full Text: SB 841 (COVID-19 section begins on page 47)