“NAR has strongly supported remote online notarization since 2018 and commends members of the House for passing the SECURE Notarization Act of 2023.”
Kenny Parcell, president of the National Association of REALTORS®
The integrity of notarized public records is crucial. Without it, deed transfers and other transactions could lose the public’s trust. So, people have signed official documents while face-to-face with notaries. This gave everyone involved in buying, selling, and financing of real estate confidence in the notary’s stamp.
But the pandemic disrupted personal appointments. Suddenly, businesses hastened to find remote workarounds for procedures they’d always done in person. State rules for notarizations were among those things.
Could the notary seal still be reliable if created through computers? The House of Representatives recently said yes. Next up: the Senate.
A Sacred Legal Tradition Is Becoming Optional.
When people buy homes, they have their deeds notarized for recording in the property’s county. An in-person visit to the notary reflected a sacred legal rule. So, at the beginning of the going-remote trend, notaries called for caution. (We did too!)
But in 2020, as we all know, things changed. And they changed with remarkable speed in many places. State after state began accepting remote online notary acts as official.
But these states’ updates raised a question. Everyone needed to know if what was done from out of state would be accepted in a state that had yet to modernize its notary laws.
That question was the seed for the SECURE (Securing and Enabling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic) Notarization Act of 2023. With this bill, e-recording of remotely notarized paperwork will be acceptable anywhere.
Even when it does become a federally regulated norm, remote online notarization will be optional. People will still be able to use the traditional, in-person alternative. So the outcome of the law will be a major stride for consumer choice. The real estate industry is on board.
NAR Says: Let’s Do This Thing.
Kenny Parcell, president of the National Association of REALTORS®, calls remote online notarization — RON, for short — a “long-awaited technological advancement.” NAR has steadily backed the RON method in each state that has taken the plunge.
But unless it’s available in all states, the RON system can create confusion regarding the interstate validity of a document. And it means some notaries can do their work remotely while others cannot, depending on where they work.
This is why the real estate trade association now wants a federal standard. NAR applauded the House of Representatives for passing its bill, H.R. 1059, saying the SECURE Act will enable “accessible, efficient, and secure real estate transactions” to be done remotely.
Parcell said NAR will now press ahead in the hope of getting remote online notarization technology, which is one step beyond e-Signatures, passed in the Senate.
What’s Happening in the Senate, Then?
Sen. Kevin Cramer, joined by Sen. Warner, introduced the bill in the U.S. Senate on April 19, 2023. Throughout April and May, it’s collected seven (bi-partisan) co-sponsorships.
The bill in the Senate is S.1212 for the 118th Congress (2023-2024 session) under the same name: the Securing and Enabling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic Notarization Act of 2023.
Once the Senate passes this bill, it’ll have passed both houses of Congress. It will then go to the president to be signed into law.
And then, whenever there’s a state or federal requirement for in-person notarization, that requirement can be satisfied remotely — as long as the parties follow the new law’s provisions.
Here’s How the New Law Will Impact You.
Here’s what the SECURE Notarization Act will mean for you.
You’ll sit in front of your screen for an audio-visual recording of the notarization. Under the SECURE Act, the notary officer or notary public must communicate with a remotely located person “simultaneously by sight and sound” during the notarization. Each party needs a quiet place and a sound connection, so that “each party communicates substantially simultaneously and without unreasonable interruption…”
If your state has already passed a RON law, great! Nothing should substantially change when the SECURE Notarization Act passes into law.
If your state is in the middle of putting regulations together to enable the RON process, then your state will use the federal law while it readies its own law. In other words, the SECURE Notarization Act will enable notaries to use RON as soon as the federal law is in place. Your state’s regulations can later take over, as long as they meet or exceed the minimum federal requirements. (If they fall short, then notaries in your state will need to take additional compliance steps.)
Will the Modernized Version Be as Safe as an In-Person Notarization?
Yes. When the U.S. House passed the SECURE Act, it telegraphed its assurances that RON is trustworthy.
You’ll use multi-factor authentication when you have a document notarized. In most cases, that will include submitting a photo of your ID and another method as well. The multi-step process will let the notarial officer, or a person officially commissioned as a notary public, proceed with reasonable certainty that you are who you say you are.
Of course, notarizations can be challenged. That has always been the case.
Although they’ll be presumed valid, people will still be able to contest the new notarial acts. Common claims include:
- A signature is missing or not real.
- A party did not have the authority or capacity to sign.
- A party did not sign knowingly and voluntarily.
- The notary’s commission is invalid.
- There is some other invalidating factor present, such as alleged fraud or undue influence.
Finally, the notary’s e-Signature will be filed with the digital record. The record will be tamper-resistant, to prevent any later alterations, and retained according to the new law’s provisions.
Let’s Goooooo! NAR Is Now Urging Agencies to Get Up to Speed With Remote Online Notarization.
With the SECURE Notarization Act, RON will be the legal equivalent of in-person, paper notarizations. To support this effort, NAR wants to see the mortgage world, as a whole, accept electronic documents and signatures.
This will be a substantial change to the process as we buy our homes. It will take us in the direction of convenience, without sacrificing security.
The trade group has pressed for all federal (and federally backed) mortgage professionals to treat RON with tamper-evident technology as a standard procedure. This way, we’ll know that any remote notarization, for any transaction, in any state, has to meet the same minimum requirements.
So, again, it’s good for consumers, and it’s good for keeping the transaction safe and secure.
Agencies can help with the transition NAR is expecting once the SECURE Act of 2023 passes the Senate and is signed into law. Then, we’ll see notaries doing their work remotely, across the country, with federal legislation as uniform guidance.
Supporting References
Tori Syrek for the National Association of REALTORS®: NAR Supports Passage of SECURE Notarization Act (Feb. 27, 2023, in which the National Association of REALTORS® describes itself as “America’s largest trade association”).
Mark R. Warner via Warner.Senate.gov: Sponsored Legislation in the 118th Congress (2023-2024 session).
American Land Title Association via ALTA.org: Advocacy – How Does the Secure Notarization Act Impact My State? (PDF).
Deeds.com: Remote Online Notarization Takes a Major Step in 2022 (Oct. 24, 2022).
Deeds.com: Remote Online Notarization Wins Home Buyer Confidence (Oct. 18, 2021).
And as linked. Photo credits: Ken Tomita and Mikhail Nilov, via Pexels.