What is the Process for a RON Closing: A Step-by-Step Guide

Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney for guidance on specific laws regarding Remote Online Notarization (RON), digital signatures, and related legal matters. As laws concerning RON and notarization are subject to frequent changes, it is advisable to verify current regulations with your local government.

The closing table is disappearing from many real estate transactions. Not because deals are falling through, but because many lenders and title companies are rethinking what a closing actually requires. The question isn’t whether digital transformation will reach your operation, it’s understanding “what is the process for a RON closing” and how it can address the capacity constraints you’re facing right now.

Your closing coordinators spend half their day managing appointment logistics. Your notaries drive between offices, burning time and fuel. Your borrowers reschedule because they can’t take three hours off work. These friction points can’t just slow down individual transactions; they can cap your entire operation’s monthly volume.

That’s why it’s important to answer the question, “What is the Process for a RON Closing?” Remote Online Notarization (RON) changes the economics of closing management. When geography becomes irrelevant and scheduling constraints disappear, title companies can scale capacity without expanding physical infrastructure. Lenders can fund loans faster because documents flow digitally from signature to recording. The operational model shifts from managing physical logistics to orchestrating digital workflows.

Note: Remote Online Notarization laws vary by state and may not be permitted for all real estate transactions, so lenders and title companies should consult with legal counsel to verify compliance with local and state regulations before implementation.

What is Remote Online Notarization (RON)?

Remote Online Notarization (RON) is a digital process that allows notaries to verify identities and witness document signatures through secure video conference technology rather than in-person meetings. Unlike traditional closings where all parties involved must gather in the same physical location, RON enables real estate transactions to occur from virtually anywhere with an internet connection and a computer with a camera..

How RON Differs from Traditional Notarization

In a traditional closing, the notary public physically examines your driver’s license, watches you sign paper documents, and applies an ink stamp to each page. The entire process typically requires coordinating schedules, commuting to an office, and spending 60-90 minutes at a closing table, as well as multiple copies of the documents..

With remote online notarization, these steps happen digitally. The notary can verify your identity through multi-factor authentication that often exceeds in-person checks. You electronically sign documents on your screen. The notary applies a digital seal. The whole session may take 20-30 minutes and can occur from your kitchen table at 8 PM if that fits your schedule.

Key Components of a RON Closing

A complete remote online notarization platform typically includes:

• Identity verification technology: Knowledge-Based Authentication and credential analysis to help confirm the signer’s identity
• Video conferencing: Secure, encrypted audio-visual technology that allows the notary and signer to see and communicate with each other
• Electronic signature capability: Digital signing tools that create legally binding signatures on closing documents
• Audit trail and recording: Automatic documentation of every action, timestamp, and participant for compliance and security
• Document management: Secure storage and instant delivery of executed electronic documents to all parties involved

Why Traditional Closings Create Operational Headaches

The real cost of traditional closings can show up across multiple dimensions of your business:

• Financial overhead: Your lease payments cover conference rooms that are used maybe 30% of the time. Courier expenses for same-day document delivery can also add up to thousands monthly. Insurance premiums can increase when notaries spend hours on the road between signing appointments.
• Staffing constraints: You can’t handle more volume without hiring more notaries, but qualified notary publics can be scarce in many markets. Training new staff can take months, while your competitors close deals faster. Your experienced closers can spend valuable time on administrative tasks that don’t require their expertise.
• Competitive disadvantages: Borrowers working with your competitor might be able to close at 8 PM from their kitchen table while reviewing closing documents online. Your buyers have to take time off work, fight traffic, and find parking. When rate locks expire because scheduling couldn’t align, you can lose the loan entirely.

What is the process for a RON closing that turns these competitive disadvantages into operational advantages?

How RON Addresses Your Business Pain Points

Remote online notarization may offer several operational advantages that can transform how you handle closings:

• Increased capacity without additional staff: Title companies implementing remote online notarization often see immediate increases in their daily closing volume. Your notaries may be able to handle six to eight online closings per day instead of three to four. Without travel time between appointments, you can often schedule sessions back-to-back throughout the day and even extend into evenings and weekends to accommodate client schedules.
• Compressed funding timelines: For lenders, the shift to digital closings can dramatically accelerate your funding process. Closing documents may reach your processor’s desk within minutes instead of days, making same-day funding achievable on many routine purchases. Your loan officers can offer flexible signing appointments that fit borrowers’ schedules, which may help improve conversion rates on rate-locked applications before they expire.
• Fewer errors and cleaner files: Automated validation in remote online platforms can significantly reduce post-closing corrections. The system often enforces required fields and signatures automatically, which can significantly reduce post-closing corrections for title companies. Lenders typically see cleaner file submissions to underwriting, allowing your quality control team to focus on substantive review rather than tracking down missing initials across lengthy electronic documents.

Borrower Experience: A Modern Expectation, Not a Bonus

Today’s homebuyers deposit checks by phone, order groceries with an app, and sign contracts digitally. When they discover their real estate closing requires taking time off work and driving to an office for 90 minutes, the disconnect feels jarring. According to the American Land Title Association, 65% of customers have a positive perception of remote online notarization closings, and that number continues to grow. Here’s why:

• Convenience Drives Decision-Making: The ability to close online can become a deciding factor when borrowers compare lenders. A buyer working two jobs doesn’t need to choose between losing income and closing on their home. Military personnel stationed overseas can complete estate transactions without emergency leave. Your competitors offering remote closings may capture these borrowers by default, as convenience often outweighs minor rate differences.
• Transparency Builds Confidence: The pre-review period in a remote closing process fundamentally changes the borrower experience. Instead of seeing closing documents for the first time under pressure, borrowers can review them at their own pace 2-3 days in advance. They can research unfamiliar terms, call their loan officer with questions, and arrive at the live session confident rather than overwhelmed.
• Younger Buyers Expect Digital Options: Millennial and Gen Z buyers now represent a significant portion of the housing market. Real estate agents increasingly report that younger buyers specifically ask whether remote closings are available. When the answer is no, some actively seek lenders who can accommodate this preference. The ability to close online may determine whether you get the business at all.

Digital closings aren’t a premium service anymore. They’re becoming the baseline expectation for a modern real estate transaction. Meeting this expectation can differentiate your business before competitors make it the market standard.

Understanding the RON Infrastructure

The notary type you choose can significantly impact your operational flexibility. Some title companies build in-house teams of RON-commissioned notaries, which may offer tighter quality control and scheduling reliability. Others partner with national signing services that can provide vetted remote notaries on demand across multiple time zones. Your transaction volume, geographic footprint, and peak-hour capacity needs should drive this decision. There’s no universal right answer, but there may be a wrong one for your specific business model.

Change Management for Internal Teams

Address Resistance Early

Your most experienced closers may resist remote online notarization initially. They’ve perfected their in-person process and may view digital tools as unnecessary complexity. Involve skeptics in the platform evaluation process. When staff help shape the transition rather than having it imposed on them, adoption rates typically improve dramatically.

Training Needs Go Beyond the Platform

Your team needs more than button-clicking instructions. They need troubleshooting strategies, scripts for nervous borrowers, and techniques for keeping video sessions efficient. Consider designating RON champions, early adopters who can mentor colleagues through their first sessions. Peer support often proves more effective than vendor training alone.

Start With a Pilot Program

Don’t mandate remote closings company-wide on day one. Begin with willing staff and cooperative borrowers. Run traditional and digital processes in parallel until your team builds confidence. Track session duration, error rates, and customer satisfaction to demonstrate success. Once champions prove the system works, gradual expansion becomes easier.

Expect a Learning Curve

First RON sessions almost always take longer than traditional closings. Technology hiccups occur and staff second-guess themselves. Set expectations that the first 10 remote closings per team member may feel clunky. But the more sessions they conduct, the more often staff can match or beat their traditional closing times.

Step-by-Step: What is the Process for a RON Closing?

Step 1: Document Preparation and Distribution

The system typically assigns a unique session ID and generates secure access links that route to the borrower’s email.

Most borrowers receive their credentials in advance the scheduled closing. This advance access allows them to review documents at their convenience, bookmark questions, and arrive at the live session prepared.

Step 2: Borrower Pre-Review

This preview window can make a significant difference in session efficiency. When borrowers review closing documents online ahead of time, they often arrive with fewer basic questions about loan terms or payment calculations. Your notaries can focus on execution rather than education, which may reduce appointment times.

Step 3: Identity Verification Begins

Before the live session starts, borrowers can complete credential analysis by uploading images of their government-issued ID using their device camera. The system can scan for security features, detect alterations, and flag potential forgeries using advanced algorithms. This automated analysis often exceeds what a notary public can verify during an in-person meeting. 

Step 4: Knowledge-Based Authentication

Next, Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA). The platform pulls questions from data, previous addresses, loan amounts, or account details that only the legitimate borrower should know. This creates your second fraud prevention checkpoint.

Step 5: The Live Video Session

At the scheduled appointment time, the remote online notary and signer connect via encrypted video conference. The notary visually confirms that the signer’s identity matches the verified credentials..

As each page requires a signature, the signer clicks to electronically sign. The notary applies their digital seal at the completion of the signing. The entire session records automatically, creating a tamper-proof audit trail.

Step 6: Technical Support (If Needed)

What is the process for a RON closing if technical issues occur? Most platforms include support staff who can join the video conference in real-time. They may troubleshoot connectivity issues, guide signers through the interface, or resolve authentication problems, often within minutes.

Step 7: Instant Document Delivery

The moment the final signature completes, your processor typically gains access to the executed documents. No courier wait times, no scanning queues. Lenders using online notarization can often initiate funding the same business day for closings completed before cutoff times.

Step 8: Recording and Archiving

Title companies can often submit electronic documents to county recorders immediately after the real estate closing. Many jurisdictions now accept electronic recordings, which may compress the entire cycle from signing to recording into just a few hours.

The completed files automatically archive in cloud-based storage with encryption. Your compliance team can retrieve any closing file instantly during audits. Access controls help to ensure only authorized personnel can view borrower information, which may help you meet privacy requirements more consistently.

Compliance and Legal Framework

Title companies operating across multiple states face varying RON regulations. Your compliance team needs to track which states allow RON, which require witnesses, and which documents can be notarized remotely.

Additionally, lenders must ensure RON closings satisfy investor requirements. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have specific guidelines for remote closings. FHA and VA loans may have additional restrictions. Your secondary marketing desk should verify that RON-executed documents meet purchase criteria before implementing remote closings across your product mix.

Key Performance Indicators for Measuring RON Success

What Executives Need to Track

Executives want to know: What should we track to confirm RON is actually working? The answer depends on your original pain points, but certain metrics consistently reveal whether remote online notarization delivers value or just creates digital busywork.

Essential Metrics to Monitor

Once implemented, your team may want to track these key performance indicators:

• Average time from “clear to close” to funding:  This metric can reveal whether digital document delivery actually accelerates your funding cycle or if bottlenecks simply moved elsewhere in the process.
• Notary utilization rate: Compare how many closings each notary completes per day with remote sessions versus traditional in-person appointments. Increased capacity without added headcount often provides the clearest ROI signal.
• Post-closing error rate: Track missing signatures, incomplete fields, and document corrections. If your error rate doesn’t drop significantly, your platform may not be enforcing validation properly.
• Borrower satisfaction scores: Survey customers after both traditional and remote closings. A 10-15 point difference in satisfaction often justifies the technology investment alone.
• Cost per closing: Calculate total expenses including platform fees, notary time, courier costs, and administrative overhead. Many title companies can see significant cost reduction within the first year.
• Rescheduling rate: Remote closings typically reduce no-shows and last-minute rescheduling because borrowers can join from anywhere. If your rescheduling rate doesn’t improve, investigate whether scheduling flexibility is actually being offered.
• Hybrid versus full RON ratio: Track what percentage of closings are fully remote versus hybrid. A high hybrid rate may indicate regulatory constraints, borrower resistance, or staff hesitation about going fully digital.

Benchmarking Timeline

Don’t judge success in week one. Most organizations need 60-90 days of data to identify meaningful trends. Early metrics may look worse as your team learns the technology. By month three, patterns typically emerge that can guide decisions about scaling, training adjustments, or platform changes.

Common Implementation Challenges

Like any operational shift, remote online notarization comes with growing pains. Most challenges fall into predictable categories, and understanding them upfront can help you build effective workarounds.

Technology Won’t Be Perfect on Day One

Internet connections may drop mid-session. Borrowers can struggle with camera angles or navigating the document interface. First-time users often need extra hand-holding. The good news? Most technical issues resolve quickly when you have tech support on standby. Build backup plans into your process—whether that’s a support hotline borrowers can call or a secondary device ready if the primary one fails.

Some Borrowers Will Prefer the Old Way

Not everyone embraces digital change at the same pace. Older buyers or tech-averse clients may request traditional closings, at least initially. Forcing everyone to adopt remote closings can backfire. Successful title companies typically run parallel systems during the transition—offering both options lets clients choose their comfort level while your team gains experience with lower-stakes transactions first.

The Future of Remote Closings

The numbers tell a clear story. According to the National Notary Association, hybrid closings jumped 228% while remote online notarizations surged 547% in recent years. More states continue passing permanent RON laws, and more borrowers now expect digital options as standard practice.

Lenders are driving change from the top down. Many now require their title company partners to offer remote online notarization capabilities. Buyers increasingly view digital closings as a baseline service, not a premium feature. Companies without online closing infrastructure may risk losing business to competitors who’ve already made the investment.

Meanwhile, the technology keeps improving. Identity verification becomes more sophisticated, document processing accelerates, and security features strengthen with each platform update. What is the process for a RON closing today will likely look even smoother in two years as the industry refines best practices and builds on lessons learned.

Taking the Next Step

What is the process for a RON closing in your specific market? That depends on your state’s laws, your current technology stack, and your borrowers’ readiness. Start by researching state requirements and vetting platform options. Most RON providers offer free demos and consultation calls to walk through your specific needs.

Don’t reinvent the wheel alone. Connect with title professionals who’ve already implemented remote online notarization. Industry associations host webinars, publish case studies, and facilitate peer discussions. Learning from others’ mistakes costs far less than making them yourself.

The shift to digital closings isn’t trivial. It can require investment, training, and patience during the learning curve. But with proper planning, remote online notarization can transform your operation from fighting scheduling conflicts to offering the flexibility that modern real estate transactions demand. The market is moving in this direction whether individual companies follow or not. The question is whether you’ll lead the shift or scramble to catch up later.

Frequently Asked Questions About RON Closings

How long does a RON closing typically take compared to a traditional closing?

Remote online notarization sessions often take 20-30 minutes, compared to 60-90 minutes for traditional in-person closings. The time savings come from several factors: borrowers can pre-review documents in advance, digital platforms can enforce field completion automatically, and there’s no travel time required. However, first-time RON users may need additional time to navigate the technology. The efficiency typically improves significantly after borrowers and notaries complete their first few remote sessions.

Will my borrowers accept a remote closing, or will they prefer in-person?

According to the American Land Title Association, 65% of customers have a positive perception of remote online notarization closings. Acceptance typically varies by demographic. Younger, tech-savvy borrowers often prefer digital options, while some older clients may initially request traditional closings. Many successful title companies offer both options during their transition period, allowing borrowers to choose their comfort level. As remote closings become more common, resistance typically decreases as borrowers hear positive experiences from friends and family.

Do RON closings work with FHA, VA, and conventional loans?

Yes, major mortgage investors, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, accept documents executed through remote online notarization for loan purchases. FHA and VA loans can also close using RON, though they may have additional documentation requirements. However, it’s essential to verify that your specific RON platform and process meet investor guidelines before implementing remote closings across your product mix. Your secondary marketing team should confirm that electronically signed documents satisfy purchase criteria for each loan type you originate.